[Today’s run: 3.75]
Recent events had me thinking about my elementary school days.
I started school at Longfellow Elementary, which is long gone. We were bused in from the suburbs to this “inner city” school.
Kindergarten – I think my teacher was Mrs. Keller ? I’m not sure about that name. I remember taking naps on the floor and having the letters of the alphabet on big cards up on the wall. I remember that Randy Harvey started our class a couple of weeks late… he was “the new boy” for a little while.
First Grade – I don’t remember my teacher’s name. I remember that I had a problem that year with warts on my fingers. So on a few occasions I went to class with bandaged fingers. I had a friend, Glennis Yeager. She lived not too far from me and I remember going over to her house a couple of times. She had a dog named Snoopy.
Second Grade – My teacher was Mrs. Noyes. I remember that because she said to spell it like “no – yes” but it sounded like noise. I remember that we read a book in class “Tan – story of a wild dog”, and she let me take the book home on weekends and read ahead.
Third Grade – We had two teachers, two classes put together. I think one of them was Mrs. Thompson, not sure about that. I started piano lessons too.
Fourth Grade – Mrs. Machessney (?) I can say it but I don’t remember how to spell it. I had a friend named Jimmy Moseby. He was a character. One of the girls in my class was Karen Clay. She told me her cousin was Cassius Clay (I wasn’t sure who that was). This was the memory which is connected to recent events. I think this was the year when we had square dancing in the lunchroom/gym. And one time we all lined up (in the gym again) and got vaccinated for something, with air guns.
Fifth Grade – I started at the new school down the street from my house. No more school bus! Mrs. Sharp. Mrs. Sharp liked to wear low cut dresses (or so they seemed to me). One of the kids in my class was very good at swearing. So… I learned a lot of interesting stuff at the suburban school which I had not learned at the inner city school! We had a class on sewing and I made a vest.
Sixth Grade – The new school had “open classroom”, four classes in one large space with each teacher having their own bunch in one corner of the large space. We did some things in our corner and some with other groups in the open area. I did have music class in a separate room and some days the teacher wasn’t there. We had eraser fights instead. And we had an art class room too. I had two friends named Richard. One of the Richards was very good at chess. I went to his house sometimes and played chess with him. He always won; actually he just mopped the floor with me every time.