School Days

I recently found Mary Jane's kindergarten report card and gave it to Jessie to share with her sisters.  I think Mary Jane had Mrs. Rocker and so did I.  It got me to thinking about my days in school.  I think I can remember all of my elementary teachers.  I have memories of each year which I cherish. 

Although I don't remember it, the story goes that I missed my first day of kindergarten due to poison ivy.  This would have been the fall of 1961 when grades K-2 were housed in the Babcock School .  I think I remember the kindergarten rooms were to the right after you entered the building.  I kind of remember the cubbies and the general layout of the room.  Perhaps I was a little sickly because the story is also told that I missed the Valentine's Day party that year and Russell Stebbins (and his mother) delivered my valentines to me at home.  I do remember that Russell was my boyfriend that year. 

First grade was Mrs. Millar.  Maybe because it was the way things were done then, Mrs. Millar tried to get me to use my right hand to write but Mom insisted I be allowed to use my left hand.  I can recall the Dick and Jane books and that there was a word that appeared in the title of the next chapter that I did not recognize.  I saw that word on television that night and asked what it was--it was something like "too"--and I felt extraordinarily proud of myself for figuring that out before we got to that next chapter.  In later years, I babysat for the Millar family.  I think they had a lumber yard.

Second grade was Mrs. Smith.  I remember reading groups were called by bird names--I think I was a Bluebird.  We did clock faces and clock faces and clock faces to learn to tell time.  I guess all that needs to be done today is to teach students to recognize numbers.  Reading a clock is becoming a lost art. 

For third grade, you moved to the Main Street school.  I had Mrs. Lesso.  I think she was Mrs. Smith's sister.  My outstanding memory from that year is returning to school with my first pair of glasses.  I clearly remember being able to see every minute mark on the wall clock.  We must have had lockers because I remember standing outside the classoom looking down the hallway into the room with my new glasses and being able to see so clearly!!!

In fourth grade I had Mrs. Moore.  I liked her a great deal.  She had kind of a deep gravelly voice.  I'm friends on Facebook with her daughter Darra.  I think they lived on Olive Street across from the house we lived in before we moved to Dennison Road.  We did lots of math that year.

Mrs. Langer was my fifth grade teacher and those rooms were upstairs.  I shared a locker with (probably) the only black girl in the school.  I thought that was pretty special.  I remember I had trouble with the word vineyard one day and Mrs. Langer gave me the hint that we had them all around our house so I could come up with the right word.  Today I realize this means she knew where we lived and now I know that our house was on the very edge of the district, I wonder how she knew.  Her husband was a science teacher in the high school.  That was the year that I was apparently chosen to participate in chorus but somehow never knew that and I was asked why I wasn't attending the rehearsals.  Can you imagine anyone choosing me for chorus?  Maybe it's a false memory........but I don't think so.

Miss Sullivan was my 6th grade teacher and no one wanted mean old Miss Sullivan.  I remember we were assigned some kind of project--I think it might have been ancient civilizations.  We were given these packets of stuff to present to the class about the topic.  It was brand spanking new stuff and I loved that.  Miss Sullivan told me I'd be presenting first.  Too bad I can't quite recall the actual topic.  I do remember being very jealous of Sheree Restivo (first of all--what an exotic name) because she wore STOCKINGS and they made her legs look so soft.  I really wanted my legs to look soft like that but Mom's rule was no stockings til Confirmation.  Now my legs look soft without stockings. 

The Babcock Elementary was completed in 1952 so it was still a fairly new building when we went through there.  In 1986 it became apartments.  I'm not sure what is there today.  The Main Street school building still stands though it is in very rough shape.  Sometimes when I have trouble falling asleep, I walk myself through that building from classroom to classroom and office in my memory.  Mr. Hall was the principal and Paula made her debut on the stage in that auditorium, if memory serves correctly.  It was in that auditorium that we were gathered to be informed of the results of our music tests to see what instruments we might be best suited for.  Clarinet for me.  Short lived career.

It had previously served as the high school.  There was a big parking lot behind the building that faced the elementary school so these buildings were very close to each other. 

I know some of you don't have these specific Silver Creek school memories, but I hope you have some memories of the years you spent in school that bring smiles to your face every now and then.