"To those women we forget too soon, who taught us the Three R's - Rapped our knuckles with a ruler - Looked behind our ears - To those second mothers, our school teachers, this picture is dedicated." Agatha Stanton is an old-fashioned schoolteacher unaffectionately nicknamed "Old Ironsides." Her style of education favors harsh discipline instead of coddling. When a new school principal starts taking the students' complaints seriously, i