CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE: SCHOOL DAZE: IT'S TIME TO HEAD BACK TO CLASS

In a little more than a week, I'll be molding young minds.

Or warping them beyond all recognition. I guess we shall see what we shall see.

I'm going to be a teacher.

The powers-that-be at our local university have seen fit to make me a member of their adjunct faculty, and I'll be teaching newswriting.

I'd like to think I'll have something intelligent to say on the topic, but I've been wrong before. And since I got stuck with the 8 a.m. class, I have a feeling I'm about to be wrong again.

But I've never taught before, and it sounded like it might be an interesting experience, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I took newswriting when I was a freshman. It was an afternoon class, but frankly, all I remember about the instructor is he seemed to lack eyelashes. And we went over the elements of a news lead a lot.

Let's see. Who, what, where, when, why and ... how. That's it. A college degree and 10 years of newspapering, and that's all I remember.

I don't want to think about how these kids are going to remember me. I just want to get through the first class.

It's amazing how things come full circle. Long before I was ready to graduate, I vowed I would never see the inside of a classroom (or Cape Girardeau) again once I got my degree.

Of course, the classrooms then weren't equipped with computers and all kinds of high-tech gadgetry. We had chalkboards (remember chalk?) and students were not allowed within 10 feet of the two or three computers on campus.

And now I'm wondering if I need to worry about seating charts and lesson plans and what in the name of God I'm going to say to these people.

(The elements of a news lead are ...)

Cape has a way of pulling people back, though -- I think it's the river -- and I like the idea of people taking notes while I talk for a change.

The first person to start singing the "Welcome Back Kotter" theme song dies.

I have this recurring nightmare of flunking somebody for not learning the proper use of "alleged" and then finding out they've won a Pulitzer for investigative reporting.

I think I'm worrying too much.

Hah.

I never wanted to be a teacher when I was growing up. I always wanted to be a reporter.

My sister is a teacher -- high school journalism and English. No, she's not the reason I became a reporter, though God knows I'd like to be able to blame it on someone besides myself.

I like to write and I'm nosy. What else am I supposed to do for a living?

I have a feeling Sis and I are going to be talking a lot over the next few months.

She has to help me. I'm her baby sister. It's a genetic obligation.

Teaching will be a challenge. And an opportunity for some first-class education.

Mostly mine.

Peggy O'Farrell is a copy editor for the Southeast Missourian.