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Hole Punch




My classroom is a compilation of over a decade of memories, experiences and stuff.

     I have things that were given to me long before I was a teacher, things given to me as I became a teacher, and still other things given to me as I am presently a teacher.  I've collected items myself from garage sales, yard sales, stores, and things around the house.  I have even gathered things from my late mother's house...things which I use on an almost daily basis.

     One of the "mother" things I have is a hole-punch.  This isn't an ordinary hole-punch though.  It is circa 1932.  It's made of steel, through and through.  It has some weight to it.  It is a three-hole punch and is adjustable.  It boasts a squeak as one pushes down on the lever that engages the "hole-making mechanisms".  It has survived 82 years on this earth and undoubtedly has seen some incredible papers passing through it's rounded "teeth".  My mother was a chemist and a university professor. She was a brilliant woman who came over from Germany during WWII. She built a life for herself complete with a family, a career, and a purpose.

     The hole-punch sits quietly in my desk most of the year.  It makes an appearance every so often as I need it.  It's familiar sound reminds me of my mother;  it's strength and resilience echoes her personality.  The quiet life of the hole-punch comes to an abrupt halt during State Report time.  
 
    The kids get a good look at it and often question, at first, what it is.  Once they know they watch as I use it.  They tilt their heads, squint their eyes, and usually let out a "hmmm...that's cool".  They become fascinated by its simplicity, captured by it's structure, and enthralled by how it works...without batteries, without a plug, without a switch.  Over time I allow them to use it on their own.  I begin to hear the squeak as kids are putting together their State Binders.  They take care of the hole-punch; they respect it;  maybe for what it is...maybe for who it represents to me, or maybe for the simple fact that it allows them to work with a tool that has been around for more than eight times their lifespan.  
 
    As I work through the years as a teacher, the hole-punch will undoubtedly hold more than the memory of my mother...it will also carry the memories of my career as a teacher. 


  
Mr. Casten
May 9, 2014
Copyrighted material of Michael C. Casten
Edited for clarity (August, 2026)  

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