I remember, a couple of years before we left, he (Mr Zandhuis) moved into the house right accross the road from ours, in 2nd Street. He was the headmaster at the time, so it was every schoolkids duty to hate him, especially after you've been to his office a few times!
Since he now lived right accross the road, I used to take a tennis racket, and hit smallish round stones with it, high up in the air, all aimed to come down on his roof. You'd get to hit like 10 before the first one hit his roof, and then we'd stand dead still behind the fence, peeping between the planks and watch him parade up and down his fence looking for the culprits... After 2 minutes, he'd go back inside, and the barrage would start all over again.
Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! Ping! ..... Dok! Dok! Dok! Dok! Dok! Cling-a-ling!! and so on...
If you were really lucky, you'd hear glass break sometimes! Now that I'm big, I can only imagine how it must have driven him nuts! I'd be at him for an hour at a time, and he never thought about looking in the other yards! He always appeared to be looking for kids around the corners playing tok-tokkie!
Someone else wrote about how we kept ourselves busy, and were never really bored, and I have to admit, they were dead right saying that...!!!
i think i spent more time in his office than i did in any classroom. i used to think that his canings were the be all and end all of life , then i got used to them , after which i ended up laughing more than anything else .......until i got to high school
Mr Zandhuis, was actually a very nice chap and a most excellent geography teacher..... I enjoyed it when he taught geography...
:o
Absolutely Michele, he was the one teacher who broke the mould from the old fashioned way of teaching to the modern method. He really made his lessons fun and different. I can still recall him now, explaining the difference between "John O Groat's" and "Land's End" in Britain. He would knock on the door and let "John O Groats" in. He would then knock on the door and let "Lands End" in. He would "introduce" them to each other, and have them "talk about themselves". All this was done, with us all in fits of laughter, and because we were enjoying it, the information stuck, even to the present day. He was strict without being over the top, and always struck me as a very fair man. If you crossed him though, look out!!
I can remember one evening, just on dusk, Richard Gerstener and I were bouncing a bouncy ball to each other, over oncoming cars in 13th ave. As bad luck would have it, I misjudged the distance of a particular car, and the ball became trapped beneath the chassis and the road, bouncing really fast between the two surfaces. The sound inside the car must have sounded quite amplified, as the car in question came to a rapid halt, and who should step out ....., non other than Zandie ..... Eish !!
I copped an absolute mouthful, and was told to report to his office first thing the following morning. Needless to say, I bunked the rest of the week due to " a sudden onset of stomach cramps".
Where did He and Budgie end up retiring to?, and where are the girls?
Spoke to them in Hermanus a few years back.Do believe they retired there. Zandie taught me in Std 4 + 5. 1968 1969
Thanks for that info Diana.
I remember him bringing the Great Trek to life with demonstrations of how ox wagons were ridden by perching on the back of a chair and the class roaring with laughter.
Hey Nicky.
You're description is just perfect. A teacher we all respected and learnt a lot from.
I remember one of his favorite sayings: "Do you want to get a hiding, hey!" or "Watch your step, hey!". But he never hit anybody. Compared to the two fellows (don't remember their names) that taut?! us Afrikaans and PT. We were scared sh*tless by them.
Hi again George
Yeah the Zandhuis's have retired to Hermanus.... they live in a retirement complex called "Kidbrooke" just before Hermanus in fact. I am sure they are in the phonebook if you want to get hold of them.
regards
Zandie always appeared to us as an old man because of his grey hear. His brain cells were always fit. I remember he played hockey and cricket.
I still see him walking about. It seemed, he was always moving, but never in a rush
What a gem of a teacher
Quote from: Julie on November 12, 2007, 11:16:23 PM
What a gem of a teacher
When did you have him as a teacher, Julie?
Gosh it feels like 100 years ago, '75/'76 not sure
Nice to see you're online again Julie.
If you went to his classes at that time, we must know each other. I did std. 7 in Mrs. Ralphs class 1976.
I had Mr. Dickens in Maths. That's all I remember now.
Link check: http://www.oranjemundonline.com/Forum/index.php?topic=214.15
Mr Zandhuis was my class teacher for part of Std 4 and also my geography teacher and general science teacher in Std. 5. I was a lazy pupil that didn't put too much effort into my work but enjoyed his classes. He seemed to be able to bring the best out in the pupils. I used to draw the most detailed pictures of pigeons etc for general science, he had so much enthusiasm, it was catchy. I tend to think of the teachers we had in those days as dedicated and that they loved their jobs. Today I get the feeling that the teachers aren't enthusiastic, aren't dedicated and don't love their jobs. I count myself lucky to have had the teachers we had in OPS. My teachers in std 5 were Mrs O'Brien for English, Mr Heunis for Afrikaans and history, Mr Dickinson for maths and Mr Zandhuis for geography and general science.
Mrs. Williams, or Juffie for Afrikaans, the woman had a mean grip on your shoulder.... whatta pinch!
Who remembers Mr Koch (Afrikaans teacher) and his wooden ruler that he would 'punish' us with ... girls on the hand and boys on the butt. Think he nicknamed it 'Tranedraal' or something like that. And then there was Mr Berg, who had a leather strap called Willie Hoerie (or something like that) ... God that was painfull ...
Ja, Kris Koch - Hugo van Rooyen once challenged him when that ruler had to be swung about again. Koch was sitting in his chair still - tilted backwards, balancing on only the hind legs - when he told Hugo to come and bend over by the black/green board. Hugo waited for just the right moment, then kicked the hind legs of the chair out from under Koch, who fell backwards. Needless to say........... same, Hugo might still have a "cheeckburn" till this day. That ruler was called Tranedal.
I though Mr Koch was the Maths teacher?
Hugo is still nuts.....
He was - could that be the reason why I'm still poor at algebra till this day?
i have just read mr zandhuises reply to you mike,concerning the website,what an inspirational teacher he was,his wife was so friendly too.i recall a moment from my childhood where he held me up as an example of beating the odds,we were in the school auditorium and had been shown a black and white short film[paper puppets]about a kid that beat the odds.mr zandhuis ,who was also great in motivating me at athletics,for rhodes,always told me that if i tried hard enough,i could win the 400 mtrs and the 100 mtrs.that year ,with his motivation and coaching i beat brian ayre in the 100 and won the school sports 400.i then became namaqaland 100 mtr champ and got school colours.this from being taught by zandy,till this day i thank him for all he did,not only for me but for all the others he taught and motivated at ops,great teacher,well done that man.
Mr Zanhuis a geography teacher!!!!?????
the only geography i can relate Mr Zandhuis to is the lines latitude on my ass after visiting him in his office and then doing the "TRAINJIE" with Mr Cloete a few doors down, not to mention Mr Koch, ouch!!!!!! Mr Zandhuis had the weakest swing of the lot lol, was actually a relief when he was doing the caneing, maybe it was the sympathy the great man had!! daman. the worst has gotta be Mr Nell the mathematics teacher damn that man had some kind of a swing and all his weapons too,lol. anybody know where he got all those weapons from???? , and then Juffie, oh man!!!! i remember leaving the seat and making the exit out the front of the desk, the memories are just pouring in now. I love this site Michael, thanx man
So we say to Hokkas. Keep the stories coming... daman