Miss Wendy Nogard

— Narration in "Glum and Blah"

* Heitz
* McCauley

**Miss Wendy Nogard** is a character in the *Wayside School* books. She does not appear in the cartoon. She appears in *Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger* as a substitute for Mrs. Jewls's class where she uses the ear on top of her head to read thoughts and turn the students against each other, though she has a change of heart after hearing the thoughts of Mavis Jewls.

## Appearance

In "Ears," it is revealed that Miss Nogard's most notable feature is the third ear on top of her head, which is obscured by her thick, frizzy brown hair. This ear does not look different than the other two, though she is bothered by the quantity. In the same chapter, it is additionally revealed that she has dark eyes. Louis seems to believe Miss Nogard is very beautiful, and the two end up getting together by the end of the *Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger*.

## Personality

Miss Wendy Nogard's backstory is revealed in "Ears" when it is shown that at one point, she was a gentle and kind person before her heart was broken by Xavier Dalton. At this point, Miss Nogard thought it was rude to listen to others' thoughts, especially since she rarely ever heard anything that interesting. However, after the breakup, she became bitter and evil, knowing how shallow Xavier's love for her actually was. Her redemption, as shown in "The Little Stranger," shows that Miss Wendy Nogard's behavior is largely influenced by how she perceives humans, from the ones she interacts with.

## Relationships

### Xavier Dalton

Miss Nogard met Xavier Dalton in a museum, as is seen in "Ears," and quickly developed a crush on him, reading his thoughts so she could appeal to his interests better. The two started dating for a few months and grew close, but upon Xavier learning about her third ear, he believed she was disgusting, and although he never said it, Miss Nogard heard anyway. Miss Nogard's sour break-up with Xavier eventually led to her becoming bitter and evil, breaking the heart of any man who tried to date her prior to Louis.

### Mrs. Jewls's class

Like all children, Miss Nogard hated Mrs. Jewls's class most of all because they were always so happy. First, she made them feel awful by making them think about their worst thoughts that she read. Then she gave them a test on a dictionary page saying it was for their own good since Maurecia ripped it. The longer Miss Nogard stayed in class, the meaner the class got, and they didn't know why. Although they went back to being happy after Mac told them a false story, a homework assignment where Miss Nogard made it seem like nobody had a correct answer made everyone hate each other (especially Ron who didn't even know about the homework). But despite all this, the class loves Miss Nogard, they think she's very nice and fair. After Mavis caused everyone to be happy again, including Miss Nogard, she became genuinely nice to the class, even hugging Stephen and fluffing Maurecia’s hair. By the time of the fourth book, Miss Nogard is one of the best substitutes they ever had.

### Louis

    When Miss Nogard first met Louis, she had the intention of breaking his heart just like any other man, though admittedly, she felt kind of sorry for him, thinking he was actually cute, as is seen in "Flowers for a Very Special Person." In "Way-High-Up Ball" and "Flowers for a Very Special Person," she seems to often keep herself out of the way of Louis, though she is aware of his crush on her, hearing it from all the students. By "The Little Stranger," however, when Louis rescues her from falling out of a window, and with the bitterness caking her heart being dissolved after listening to Mavis Jewls's thoughts, she eventually agrees to date Louis, especially since he is able to accept her despite her third ear. In "Jump Rope Arithmetic," she turns Joy's ropes alongside him, and it's described that Louis considers her to be his favorite substitute teacher.

## Appearances

Currently, Miss Wendy Nogard has only appeared nine times in the *Wayside School* books. Major appearances are denoted in **bold**.

* "**Ears**"
* "**Glum and Blah**"
* "**Guilty**"
* "Never Laugh at a Shoelace"
* "Way-High-Up Ball"
* "Flowers for a Very Special Person"
* "**Stupid**"
* "**The Little Stranger**"
* "Jump Rope Arithmetic"

## Trivia

* While she isn't the teacher of the thirtieth story for as long as Mrs. Drazil, she appears in as many chapters in *Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger*, as Mrs. Drazil is absent in "Time Out."
* Her last name "Nogard" is "dragon" spelled backwards. It also may be a pun on "no guard" since the students' thoughts basically have no guard from Miss Nogard.

## Gallery

"Ears" (1995)"Ears" (2003)"Ears" (2004)"Ears" (2019)"Glum and Blah" (2004)"Guilty" (2004)"Guilty" (2004)"The Little Stranger" (2004)"Jump Rope Arithmetic" (2020)
### Other designs

Peter Allen design (British edition, 2004)