Welcome to Monologue Mania- one new free* monologue a day- -and still going!
(This is a true story - ok, maybe it's my story about a very special person. The actress will bring out a cell phone, holds it up)
Something happened today that made me use my magic machine to look up the past.....you see, back when I was in junior high school, I had a PE teacher that I have never forgotten. Her name was Mickey, Mickey Tyler, and she was amazing for several reasons. One, she was a teacher unlike all other PE teachers I had had before.
She cared about all of us - even the students who were not the best athletes. Now, in New York, where I was born, I was the tallest in the class, except for Pamela who was like a giant, and I was, therefore, the best athlete in the once a week gym class.
But then we moved to California, and I was no longer the tallest, in fact, I was now somewhere in the....horror of horrors!....the middle! And those very tall Amazon women were fast! And PE was not one day a week, but...horror of horrors....every day!
So where I had loved gym, now it was dreaded. In those days, I could not run a mile, and the whole class was dull and very depressing, much worse because it had once been a beloved event.
Then came Mickey. She changed everything - not just for that year, but for my life. She took a look at us the first week, and there were the Amazonian girls, flying by during the mile run, pulling up and pushing up, gymnastium and doing all types of top level athletics.
On the other hand, my friends and I did what we always did - the minimum. We knew what was coming for the next year. Or so we thought. We were - happily - wrong.
Mickey sat us down at the end of the week and told us what was going to happen. To everyone's surprise, there was no longer an automatic A or B or C for running a mile in a certain time. No, her goal was improvement. She had clocked all our abilities - and if we improved by a certain per cent - we would get an A! Even if we were slower than everyone else! It was a true miracle!
For the first time, I actually worked at PE. I ran a little bit more every day until I actually could run a full mile - no walking. And I was the best in the class for sit-ups and in basketball - and all my friends were doing well as well.....and the amazing thing was, all the fast girls, they had to work hard to improve enough to get B's, let alone As! Suddenly, we were all in the same boat.
How did she do this? Well, Mickey was someone who had actually won big - she had won a bronze medal in the Olympics! In track and field - so she really knew what she was talking about.
It had been years before, and she was never bragging about it, but everyone knew....or so we all thought. She had a track and field team, Mickey's Missiles, and two of her athletes went on to the Olympics. A sign of good training, but also a sign of all the work Mickey did to help young people.
Why did I think of her? Because there was something on about Jesse Owens, and I realized Mickey might have known him. She was black, perhaps there was some connection. Okay, she didn't win a gold, but still, Olympic is Olympic.
So I looked her up, and there she was. She looked exactly the same as when I knew her in the late 60's and early 70s. And in the picture from 1948....with her was President Harry Truman. It turns out that she was the very first African American woman to win an Olympic medal! She had never mentioned it that I recall, and I think I would have. The first! And she never bragged - and there, online, in Wikipedia!, was Mickey! A very accomplished woman, I cried when I read she had died, even while remembering my mother had cut out the article and given it to me. Had I read it carefully? Or was I too involved in my busy life, two small kids, just getting over a serious illness.....but now, I tip my hat to Mickey, because she taught me more than most of the teachers I had put together.
How to work hard even if you couldn't be the top - you could be the best of you. And proud of it.
She was incredible and I am honored to have been in her class - although I know she was in a class all her own.
Most people know about Jesse Owens - his gold medals at the Olympics in Nazi Germany. And his was an amazing story of course, but....so was Mickey Tyler's! And no one has put it out there - so here I am, saying a prayer that one day, a movie will be made about Mickey. Because she deserves it.
(Hopefully not the end!)
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For the whole true story, please click here and here in Wikipedia
first year - Feb. 13, 2014 - Feb. 12, 2015 second year - Feb. 13, 2015 - Feb. 12, 2016 third year - Feb. 13, 2016 - today!
I've continued with a monologue a day until the spirit moves me to stop - if you have any ideas for a monologue you want me to write, please let me know at tigerteam1@gmail.com.
I've continued with a monologue a day until the spirit moves me to stop - if you have any ideas for a monologue you want me to write, please let me know at tigerteam1@gmail.com.
If you just started this blog and want to read the earlier monologues- for a list of the titles and blurbs from each day, click here There are now over 1240!
Get more great award-winning monologues - MonologueZone.com
If you'd like to write your own monologues, I happen to have a book for that -
Thank you for your comments - and for liking and sharing this site. Wishing you much success!
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Monologue Mania Day # 1259 Bronze Medal (for Mickey Tyler) by Janet S. Tiger (c) July 26, 2017
Bronze Medal (c)
(for Mickey Tyler)
Bronze Medal (c)
(for Mickey Tyler)
by Janet S. Tiger (c) 2017 all rights reserved
tigerteam1@gmail.com
tigerteam1@gmail.com
(This is a true story - ok, maybe it's my story about a very special person. The actress will bring out a cell phone, holds it up)
Something happened today that made me use my magic machine to look up the past.....you see, back when I was in junior high school, I had a PE teacher that I have never forgotten. Her name was Mickey, Mickey Tyler, and she was amazing for several reasons. One, she was a teacher unlike all other PE teachers I had had before.
She cared about all of us - even the students who were not the best athletes. Now, in New York, where I was born, I was the tallest in the class, except for Pamela who was like a giant, and I was, therefore, the best athlete in the once a week gym class.
But then we moved to California, and I was no longer the tallest, in fact, I was now somewhere in the....horror of horrors!....the middle! And those very tall Amazon women were fast! And PE was not one day a week, but...horror of horrors....every day!
So where I had loved gym, now it was dreaded. In those days, I could not run a mile, and the whole class was dull and very depressing, much worse because it had once been a beloved event.
Then came Mickey. She changed everything - not just for that year, but for my life. She took a look at us the first week, and there were the Amazonian girls, flying by during the mile run, pulling up and pushing up, gymnastium and doing all types of top level athletics.
On the other hand, my friends and I did what we always did - the minimum. We knew what was coming for the next year. Or so we thought. We were - happily - wrong.
Mickey sat us down at the end of the week and told us what was going to happen. To everyone's surprise, there was no longer an automatic A or B or C for running a mile in a certain time. No, her goal was improvement. She had clocked all our abilities - and if we improved by a certain per cent - we would get an A! Even if we were slower than everyone else! It was a true miracle!
For the first time, I actually worked at PE. I ran a little bit more every day until I actually could run a full mile - no walking. And I was the best in the class for sit-ups and in basketball - and all my friends were doing well as well.....and the amazing thing was, all the fast girls, they had to work hard to improve enough to get B's, let alone As! Suddenly, we were all in the same boat.
How did she do this? Well, Mickey was someone who had actually won big - she had won a bronze medal in the Olympics! In track and field - so she really knew what she was talking about.
It had been years before, and she was never bragging about it, but everyone knew....or so we all thought. She had a track and field team, Mickey's Missiles, and two of her athletes went on to the Olympics. A sign of good training, but also a sign of all the work Mickey did to help young people.
Why did I think of her? Because there was something on about Jesse Owens, and I realized Mickey might have known him. She was black, perhaps there was some connection. Okay, she didn't win a gold, but still, Olympic is Olympic.
So I looked her up, and there she was. She looked exactly the same as when I knew her in the late 60's and early 70s. And in the picture from 1948....with her was President Harry Truman. It turns out that she was the very first African American woman to win an Olympic medal! She had never mentioned it that I recall, and I think I would have. The first! And she never bragged - and there, online, in Wikipedia!, was Mickey! A very accomplished woman, I cried when I read she had died, even while remembering my mother had cut out the article and given it to me. Had I read it carefully? Or was I too involved in my busy life, two small kids, just getting over a serious illness.....but now, I tip my hat to Mickey, because she taught me more than most of the teachers I had put together.
How to work hard even if you couldn't be the top - you could be the best of you. And proud of it.
She was incredible and I am honored to have been in her class - although I know she was in a class all her own.
Most people know about Jesse Owens - his gold medals at the Olympics in Nazi Germany. And his was an amazing story of course, but....so was Mickey Tyler's! And no one has put it out there - so here I am, saying a prayer that one day, a movie will be made about Mickey. Because she deserves it.
(Hopefully not the end!)
---------------------------------------------------------
For the whole true story, please click here and here in Wikipedia
----------------------------------------------------
* Note: A few words about 'free' - all these monologues are protected under copyright law and are free to read, free to perform and video as long as no money is charged. Once you charge admission or a donation, or include my work in an anthology, you need to contact me for royalty
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Janet S. Tiger 858-736-6315 CaregiversAnon.org
Member Dramatists Guild since 1983
Playwright-in-Residence
Swedenborg Hall 2006-8
2 comments:
What a wonderful woman. Great story!
What a wonderful woman. Great story!
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