Mrs. Grimley

"As far as substitute teachers go, I'M YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE! And if you think it's going to be a party 24/7 while I'm here, THINK AGAIN!."

- Mrs. Grimley

Mrs. Grimley is the antagonist of the As Told by Ginger episode "Driven to Extremes". She is a substitute teacher who terrorizes Ginger's class by ruling with an iron fist.

When Ginger's teacher, Ms. Zorski, is unable to come in due to having the pan-Asiatic flu, Mrs. Grimley fills in. She makes it clear that she is strict by declaring herself the students' worst nightmare. She starts out by forcing everyone to move theri desks facing a wall. Her rules include: no passing notes in class, no drfting off into space, no hall passes, no smiling, no laughing, no breathing (if she hears you doing it), and no exchanging distressed looks with fellow students.

Mrs. Grimley starts off with a pop quiz, and then she hears Chet Zipper clearing his throat. She says Chet, "with the overactive pharynx", must write a 300-word essay on 20th-century Czechoslovakian poets, increases the word count to 400 because Chet talked, and then asks if he wants to go for 500, and adds it on, saying "it's the thought that counts." Miranda laughs at the incident, and Mrs. Grimley (addressing Miranda as "Ms. Chuckle Hut") asks Miranda what she has planned for that night; Miranda guesses a 500-word essay on 20th-century Czechoslovakian poets.

Over the next few days, Mrs. Grimley maintains a firm grip on the class. Macie breaks out in hives after a tongue lashing, and Miranda complains about the amount of essays she's been given. When Ms. Zorski is quarantined by her doctor and will be out another three weeks, she is delighted, much to the students' dismay. Later, Courtney asks Ginger to pass a note to Miranda, saying it's an "emergency" - Miranda's tag was sticking out of her shirt. Before Miranda can receive the note, Mrs. Grimley snatches it, declaring Courtney, Ginger, and Miranda guilty (and also reading the note to the class). She promptly forces the three girls to write a 16,000-word essay on the invention of the cotton gin. When Courtney, Ginger, and Miranda complain, she makes the essay 17,000 words.

Miranda declares it's time to get even, and Courtney suggests that the students TP her house. All the students agree - even Ginger. But when Miranda decides to add egging too the prank, Ginger thinks the prank has gone too far, and backs out, later convincing Dodie and Macie to do so too. On Saturday night, the students cover Mrs. Grimley's house in toilet paper. Ginger shows up just as the students are to egg Mrs. Grimley. Ginger tries to convince the students not to egg, and defends Mrs. Grimley when she opens the door, getting covered in raw eggs.

When Ginger tries to tell Mrs. Grimley what's going on, Mrs. Grimley doesn't care, telling Ginger her house has been TP'd and egged before. She also tells Ginger that she doesn't care what students think of her - she just has to stick it out until her tour of duty is over. After Mrs. Grimley goes inside, Ginger is disappointed, declaring that she doesn't care.

On Monday, when Ginger returns to class, she decides to protest Mrs. Grimley's authoritarian rules by moving her desk to its normal position. Mrs. Grimley walks in as soon as Ginger sits down and angrily asks if Ginger wants to write a 20,000-word essay. Ginger says "Bring it on - I have a lot to say" and suggests making the essay 30,000 words. She declares that all of the students (including those not involved in the prank) will write 20,000-word essays because of the prank. The rest of the students move their desks forward. Mrs. Grimley threatens to tell Ms. Zorski. Ginger then gives a speech about how unfair Mrs. Grimley is, declaring that the students should be punished for not only TP'ing and egging Mrs. Grimley's house, but for not standing up to her from the start. She ends it with telling Mrs. Grimsley she has to earn respect - she can't just demand it.

The episode ends with Ginger getting detention. After this episode, Ms. Zorski returns. It is unknown what happened to Mrs. Grimley afterwards.

Description
Mrs. Grimley is an old woman with curly grey hair, a long face, and wrinkles. She wears a green jacket and matching skirt, a yellow shirt, yellow earrings, red lipstick, and red boots. Judging by being addressed as Mrs., it can be assumed that she is either married, widowed, or divorced.

She is very strict and unfair in her method of substitute teaching, using drastic measures to prevent distractions and giving kids essays on very specific topics for minor infractions such as passing notes in class. The essays seem to increase in length after previous ones are finished, eventually getting long enough to pass off as novellas. She apparently expects students to come in early. She seems to dislike Ms. Zorski, seeing that she is happy about her being quarantined and throwing away her apple and putting her name tag in the drawer. She is universally despised by her students (her house being TP'd on multiple occasions), but she does not care that they hate her so much.