Medalist
It was the bronze medal for the high bar from the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. That's what everyone said. And it belonged to one of the P. E. teachers, Mr. Thom. They said it was on display in the P.E. office at Sun Valley Jr. High where he taught. If you got Mr. Thom for P.E. then you were in for some serious gymnastics from an Olympic medalist. In 7th grade, I had 1st period P.E. Mr. Schorr was my teacher, but I got plenty of glimpses of Mr. Thom and a few of the medal in a window display near the Boys locker room. That first year was uneventful, except for the time Ernest Takimoto forgot to put his shorts on and came to attention in his tightie whities. We were all barely awake by the start of 1st period and Ernest paid the ultimate price. My 8th grade year began with new teachers and...of course...Mr. Thom The word gymnastics was enough to strike fear into my 13 year old self, but when coupled with the thought of Mr. Thom, it became sheer terror. I