Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

NNSL (May 07/99) - Yellowknifers, friends and former students-alike were saddened to hear that retired Sir John Franklin high school math teacher, Barbara Mills, passed away Sunday, May 2.

Miss Mills was the stuff of legend at Sir John, students say. She evoked both fear and respect among her pupils she taught during her tenure.

Mills taught at Sir John from 1968 until she retired in 1986. Many remember her as a stern disciplinarian, but also someone entirely dedicated to that which she loved most -- teaching math.

"She would stay until 10 o'clock at night after class to help anyone that wanted to learn math," Doug Witty remembers.

"She taught me self-discipline. She was one of the most respected teachers at the school."

Everyone remembers the three golden rules she enforced upon her students at the beginning of every school year: No gum, no clicking of ball-point pens, and no spitting.

Henry Adams remembers those rules well from a particular point of irony back when he was in Grade 10.

"I was chewing sunflower seeds when she caught me," Adams reminisces. "I couldn't swallow them, but I couldn't spit them out either. I just sat there looking sheepish until she told me to get up and leave the room."

Fearing for the worst, Adams nervously left the classroom with the strict math teacher following right behind him.

"I thought I was in big trouble, but then she saw the dilemma that I was in and she just laughed and said, 'that's OK, Mr. Adams. spit out the seeds and come back to class.'"

That's the kind of teacher Miss Mills was. For all the toughness she showed in her external shell, there was enough of a soft spot in her for everyone to have seen at least once.

"We gave her flowers at the end the school year back in 1981," Witty recollects. "She was always so tough, but we all saw the tears in her eyes that day."

Wes Hinchey, who, like many of her former students, kept in touch with her long after school was over remembers fondly of her.

"She was my teacher first, my friend second, and if it wasn't for her I would never have passed math."

For many of her former students, the feeling is mutual. With her passing, a large chapter in Yellowknife's educational history comes to a close.