Share some school memories from Grade School
Finally a question I can really enjoy! I happen to remember a lot from my childhood and it's always fun to reminisce. :) I think I'll go grade by grade.
Preschool
-The name of my preschool was called Rainbow Preschool. How cool is that? It was in one of the churches in Page.
-My mom carpooled with my best buddy Ethan's mom. I remember one time pulling into the parking lot (this was back before booster seats and before we regularly wore seat belts) with Ethan and his mom. I thought she had parked and since Ethan and I were sharing the front seat, I opened the door, reaching across Ethan to do so. His mom started driving and Ethan almost fell out! I was so traumatized!
-I remember they always gave us cranberry juice to drink with our snacks. I hated it and the teachers wouldn't let me get a drink from the drinking fountain instead. :(
-One time Hector Soto came to school with cotton in his ears because he was recovering from an ear infection. We all thought it was so cool!
-At circle time I decided to try and rest my head on Nick White's shoulder (just the mom did on a commercial I had seen) because I thought he was a cute little boy. He looked at me like I was crazy and moved to the other side of the circle! Ha Ha!
-I remember sitting on the floor in front of our TV watching Alvin and the Chipmunks. I was waiting for my carpool and was singing along to the theme song. I remember my mom walking by and asking me if I was a chipmunk too and thinking it was weird she didn't know I was a kid. ;)
Kindergarten
-The name of my teacher was Mr. Greisch. He was the same teacher my sister Jessica had and I was excited to have him be my teacher. He had two teacher aides, Mrs. Thorn and Mrs. Schneider.
-I remember walking down the long ramp that went to the library for our class picture. A different teacher walked by and stopped to tell me I had had beautiful brown eyes. I was so insulted because I knew, even in kindergarten, that my eyes are not brown. They are hazel. I still get annoyed when people tell me I have brown eyes. ;)
-Anthony Adair was the mean kid in class. He once punched Heather Salvaggio in the stomach at recess. And he ate newspaper which I thought was weird. One day he lost a tooth at school and was so traumatized he cried in the corner for a long time. I was not afraid of him after that!
-There were three of us that had similar names in my class. Me, Tara Contratto and Ciara McClean. Mr. Greisch called us the "rhyming girls".
-I brought my baby brother Sterling for show and tell once. :)
-Back when I was in school they focused not only on educational things but also on developmental ones. Thus we all had to learn how to tie our shoes. We would sit in a circle with Mrs. Thorn and she would untie her white tennis shoe and have us tie it for her. Those who could tie it would get an M&M. I was the last one in our circle to learn it and I was so sad! I desperately wanted that M&M! I practiced and practiced at home by tying Sterling's little baby shoe and was finally able to get it.:)
-I remember sitting with my mom in the bathroom while she bathed Sterling and reading "No More Tears" that was written on his baby shampoo. My mom was so excited for me! After that reading was a breeze. :)
-I once stapled my thumb in class. I can still see the staple poking out of it! I went to the bathroom to wash it off and shut that same thumb in the stall door. That was a bad day! :(
-I remember taking a fieldtrip to the Fit Stop so my mom could teach an aerobics class to my class.
-Being Momma Bunny in our class play and remembering how hot the costume was. I also got to sing "She'll be coming 'round the mountain" with Tara Contratto.
-Winning second place in the Track Meet and then losing my mom after it was over temporarily. It was scary but thankfully I found my teacher and he helped me get back to her. :)
-I remember riding the bus with Jessica home. One of the bus drivers would yell something that we couldn't understand so we assumed he was speaking Navajo. He would then start driving away before we had a chance to sit down so we'd just fall into a random seat. Our other bus driver was Mrs. Yazzie and she was nice to the good kids. I do remember her yelling in the intercom, "Everybody sit down and shut up!" though! Ha ha!
First Grade
-My first grade teacher's name was Mrs. Smith. I loved her! Her aide's name was Mrs. Marques and she was also very nice. Mrs. Smith was totally unconventional and fun. She dressed up as Richard Nixon for Halloween. She also had a rainbow dress complete with rainbow tights that she would wear regularly.
-I remember the first day of school was scary. I was nervous because I didn't know who Mrs. Smith was and I was going to have to go to school all day long. My mom walked me to the classroom and when we got there the teacher wasn't in there but there were some kids sitting at desks. My mom suggested I go sit next to a little girl named Nicole with giant glasses. When I tried to sit next to her she said meanly, "You can't sit here! It's saved!" I burst into tears and my mom had to stay with me until Mrs. Smith came back.
-For the first half of first grade we went to the old elementary school. For the second half we went to the new school that had just been built. While we were going to the old school, Jessica would ride her bike to school with her friend Melody Lucas. I was way too afraid to try that and also too afraid (I was afraid of many things) to ride the bus alone. My mom, I think, had an aerobics class to teach so she arranged for me to ride to school with our neighbor across the street, Nina Fisher. She was a teacher too. I had to cross the street and knock on her door. She had two loud chocolate labs that would bark and bark when I'd knock. I was terrified of them and refused to wait in her house while she finished getting ready. Instead I would just sit in her car. :)
-Mrs. Smith would pull out loose teeth of her students. She pulled out a couple of mine. :)
-I was introduced to chapter books in first grade. Mrs. Smith read us Mrs. Piggle Wiggle among other things. I still love those books and have read them to my own kids.
-We sang lots of patriotic songs in first grade. I'm pretty sure we were the only first graders who knew all the words to "You're a Grand Ol' Flag." :) Mrs. Smith always sang a Goodbye song to us when we left for the day too. It went like this, "Goodbye busers, goodbye busers, goodbye busers! I'll see you in my dreams!"
-Sometimes Mrs. Smith had to leave the classroom for a moment and she would leave me in charge. She'd let me sit at her desk and keep an eye on things.:)
-Mrs. Smith had a very dry sense of humor. She told my mom at parent/teacher conference that sometimes she'd crack a joke and it would go over all the kids' heads but that I would just "reach up and grab the joke from out of the sky" and start laughing. I always liked that. Thanks Dad for helping me understand dry whit at a young age. ;)
-I remember being sent out into the hallway to help Kerri Webb practice reading. She was my friend but I was really trying to help her. All she wanted to do was play though. The next year we all moved on to 2nd grade but Kerri stayed behind and had to repeat 1st grade again. :(
-Dexter Clark threw up all over himself in first grade. He just sat there covered in puke with his arms folded like nothing had happened! He also pooped in the pool during our mandatory swimming lessons. They made us all get out and line up they could check our bums. When it got to my turn the aid told me she didn't need to check my bum because I was a "good girl". That's right. I was no pool pooper. ;)
Second Grade
-My 2nd Grade teacher was Mrs. Moore. She was also in our ward and I really liked her. She had a teacher aide named Mrs. Soto. She was Hector Soto's mom "the cotton ball in his ear boy" from preschool. ;)
-At the start of school Mrs. Moore asked me if I wanted to go by my first name or my middle name. I didn't know how to respond. No one had ever asked me that before because my middle name is Anne. Turns out she thought my middle name was actually Anna. :)
-Mrs. Moore liked to sing songs with us. She had a piano in her classroom and everything. I remember her teaching us "Great Green Gobs" at Halloween. She also sang "Waddly Atcha" with us.
-We read "Little House in the Big Woods" that year. I fell in love with The Little House on the Prairie books and have had Ainsley and Aftyn read them. Breah will be next and Gavin if I can convince him. ;)
-Mrs. Moore had short, curly hair. Sometimes she would put her bangs up in a comb that made them poke straight up. It seemed every time she wore her hair like that she was in a bad mood. Bad hair day, I guess. ;)
-In the spring we had to write a story about a kite and the adventures it took. In my story I made my kite get dirty somehow and it went to a car wash to get clean. I overheard Mrs. Moore telling Mrs. Soto how imaginative that was. It made me feel proud. :)
-Our class did a school play called The Safety Kids. It was all about not talking to strangers, etc. I was chosen to sing a solo in it called, "The Safety Don'ts". I wore a sea green drop waist dress for my performance and don't remember feeling scared at all. How I was ever brave enough to do that still baffles me!
-The night before the Valentine party I was up all night with an ear infection. I got those a lot when I was a kid. I was so sad that I was going to miss the party that I begged my mom to let me go. She did and I remember just feeling awful the whole time I was there. I was running a fever and didn't have any fun. To make matters worse Brandy Bellar tripped me and I fell flat on my face. She claimed she was trying to trip Scott Grygla but I had my doubts. ;)
-When I got into high school I took a class where I was able to intern in an elementary classroom. I chose Mrs. Moore to intern with because I knew her and admired her as a teacher. She ran a very neat and orderly classroom. She always had perfect control over her classroom. Had I ended up becoming an elementary school teacher I wanted to be just like her. I loved interning with Mrs. Moore. I learned so much from her and ended up interning for all of my junior and senior years, plus one semester in college.
Third Grade
-My 3rd grade teacher was Mrs. Stephens. She had an aide named Mrs. Berry. I was really disappointed to get Mrs. Stephens. The other two 3rd grade teachers were Mr. and Mrs. Fadely and were favorites among the students. My best friend Sari got Mrs. Fadely and I was so jealous!
-To be honest I didn't really like Mrs. Stephens all that much. Probably because I was still wishing I had gotten into Sari's class! Ha ha!
- I remember Mrs. Stephens talked about her two sons who were teenagers, a lot. Their names were Glen and Mark.
-Mrs. Stephens taught us a song about evaporation. She made it up herself and was very proud of that fact. I can still sing the whole thing. "I am a drippy little raindrop..." Ha ha!
-We learned cursive in 3rd grade. Mrs. Stephens was convinced that I held the pencil wrong and was always bugging me about it. I hated learning cursive and Mrs. Stephens didn't help. Often times she would send me back and make me redo my whole cursive worksheet because she said it wasn't neat enough. She also gave me a C in handwriting on my report card. Rude. I used to bribe Jessica into doing some of my cursive homework so I could get a better grade. ;)
-There was a boy named Justin Stewart in my class. He and I were good friends. I used to bring some of my Cabbage Patch dolls to recess and he confessed that he had a Cabbage Patch boy doll. I talked him into bringing it to school so I could "babysit" it at recess. I told his wife about that once on facebook. She liked it. ;)
-Third grade was the first and only year the school had us take our class picture outside. That was a mistake because it was of course sunny, being Arizona and all ,so it was so hard to smile and not squint!
Fourth Grade
-My 4th grade teacher was Mrs. Maddox. I don't remember if she had an aide or not. I don't have a copy of my fourth grade class picture because I was blinking in it and didn't like that fact so I threw it away. I regret that now because I can't remember who was in my class. :(
-Mrs. Maddox was old. She retired the following year when I was in 5th grade.
-I remember liking Mrs. Maddox but she was pretty strict. Lots of kids were afraid of her. I was one of those kids however that teachers liked because I was smart, responsible, and obedient. ;)
-Mrs. Maddox read aloud to us a lot. I remember her reading us "Where the Red Fern Grows." We loved hearing her read it to us. One day the power went out while we were at school. It seemed like the other classes all went outside to recess while we waited for the power to come back on. Because we wanted to keep reading, Mrs. Maddox turned on a flashlight and read to us in the dark.
-Mrs. Maddox had some friend who was a literary expert or something. She invited her to come talk to us about books. I remember this lady droning on and on while pacing back and forth. This lady was really old and I remember Mrs. Maddox having to keep moving the overhead projector's cord so the old lady wouldn't trip. Finally this person started telling us what books we should be reading. I remember her telling us the Ramona Quimby books were great. She asked the girls in the class what we were reading and we told her we read The Baby-Sitters Club books. This lady had never heard of them! After that I didn't think she was much of an expert. ;)
-Mrs. Maddox had weird ways of pronouncing certain words. She said the word, "woman " as "wo-man" and she said "wash" as "warsh".
-Mrs. Maddox raised finches. Somehow she told me I could have two of her baby birds after they had hatched. My mom took me to Sprouse Reitz and we picked out a bird cage, etc. so we'd be all ready. I remember my mom taking me to Mrs. Maddox's house so we could pick up the birds. I got two female gray finches. I named them Harriet and Henrietta. They lasted for about a month and then they died because my dad had sprayed for cockroaches and it poisoned them. Evidently, finches aren't very hardy. It was traumatizing. :( I cried and cried over my poor birds. I still remember coming to class the following morning and overhearing the phone call my mom was making to Mrs. Maddox to tell her and trying to be brave.
-My friends Jenny and Robin Hamilton were in my class and I remember when we were learning long division Jenny cried because it was so hard! That was the first time I remember realizing that school, especially math, was going to be difficult sometimes.
Fifth Grade
-My fifth grade teacher's name was Mr. Murray. He didn't have an aide. Mr. Murray was young and energetic. He was my favorite teacher ever. I really loved him. Fifth grade was fun because we were the biggest kids in the school. We got to be the leaders and all the other grades looked up to us.
-Mr. Murray was very into science. In fact we traded with Mr. Winkler's class across the hall so Mr. Murray could teach Mr. Winkler's class science while we learned Social Studies from Mr. Winkler.
-Mr. Murray had a rock cutter and had us bring in a rock to cut. It was nerve racking because he told us if we slipped, we'd cut off our fingers. I managed to cut my rock and not my finger. ;)
-We also made robots. The instructions were very complicated but Mr. Murray insisted his class the year before had made several robots with no problems. Our class couldn't figure it out at all. We finally managed to make one that was a line tracker. He could follow a line of black electrical tape and we had him walk all the way to the school office.
-Fifth grade was the beginning of "big kid world". It seemed like lots of girls had boyfriends and kids started breaking off into cliques more. There was a boy in my class named Andy Lamer. He had a huge crush on me, though he never actually told me, he walked me and Sterling home every day. He wrote in permanent marker on the back of his jean jacket, "I love 47". That was me. 4 letters in my first name, 7 in my last. Ha ha. I wonder what ever happened to good ol' Andy Lamer?;)
-Sari and I used to stay after school to "help" Mr. Murray get ready for things. We loved hanging out with him. He'd turn on oldies music and we'd dance and dance.
- Mr. Murray never yelled at us. Instead he'd just get "disappointed" in us. I can still see him sitting on his desk in front of us and sighing while shaking his head. It felt awful to let him down and it would've been better to be yelled at I think.
-Mr. Murray video recorded us doing all kinds of things. I remember him recording us reciting a poem and my personal favorite-- he took a video of Sari and I performing a dance to "Kokomo" that we made up.
-Mr. Murray loved to run. He'd make us go for runs around campus as a class. He still loves to run now. I follow him on facebook. ;)
-I was a lightweight as a kid (and now too). I was the lightest kid in my class. I remember Mr. Murray teaching us about the walk on the moon. He had me stand on a chair and say, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." When I said the word "leap" Mr. Murray lifted me up and carried me around the room. Fun times!
-I had Mr. Winkler for Social Studies and also Math. Mr. Winkler was the most popular fifth grade teacher and everyone loved him. We had to learn all fifty states and their capitals and memorize them. I worked so hard to learn them. I can still see Mr. Winkler pointing at the states while I named them.
-In math we were going over our homework. Mr. Winkler called on Lance Shakespear to say what his answer was for the story problem. I remember Lance saying his answer in bushels which was way off. Mr. Winkler said, "Let me guess. Your dad helped you with that one didn't he?" Ha ha!
-Someone hit me in the temple with a rock at recess. No one ever fessed up. I blacked out for a second or two though and got an exciting trip to the nurse's office. :)
-I made it into the spelling bee but neglected to study that much. I was the first one out and was so embarrassed! Sharon Chief, who was also in my class, ended up winning and got to move onto district in Flagstaff. Some of us wanted to go cheer her on so Mr. and Mrs. Murray made it into a road trip. Mrs. Murray took me, Brandy Bellar, and Ruthie Millet in her car. Mr. Murray took Ethan Schulz, Jared Mulder, and Andy Lamer in his car. We had so much fun and Sharon ended up getting third place!
-We did a fifth grade play called "How the West was Won" I got cast in one of the lead parts as Martha. She was a pioneer woman who was corresponding with a friend back east about how life was in the west. I also got to sing in a girls chorus group for some of the musical numbers where we sang harmonies. It was lots of fun. The day of our performance for the parents I came down with the flu. We stayed after school practicing and I remember when it was time to go home the thought of having to walk three blocks home was daunting. I had to call my dad to come get me. The show must go on however and I made it through the night somehow. I learned that when people are depending on you, sometimes you have to do things you don't want to. :)
Random Memories
Here are some random things I remember about elementary school in general.
-Our principal's name was Mr. Stone and he was so nice. He'd bring us suckers on our birthday and I can still hear him saying "TGIF! Thank goodness it's Friday!" Every Friday on the morning announcements. Also I remember seeing his "paddle board" hanging on the wall in his office and being unable to imagine him ever using it. He was too nice! He passed away recently from cancer. :(
-Bright Spots. They were little yellow papers that we got for being good. You could save them up and cash them in for prizes. I really wanted the bike that was in the display case even though it was impossibly expensive. I did buy a glitter baton once though.
-The cafeteria food was gross and I hardly ever ate it unless they were serving hamburgers and milkshakes. ;) Once a month they made "Sand Devil Sandwiches" which was a fancy way to say fish burgers. They made the whole school smell like fish. Gross!
-Amongst the kids we had nicknames for the days of the week. Monday was Marriage Day. You couldn't drink out of the drinking fountain in the girls' restroom the same time as a boy was drinking out of his or that meant you liked him. Tuesday was Toes Day and you couldn't wear sandals on that day or else the boys would stomp on your toes. Wednesday was Wedding Day and it was the same as Monday. Thursday was Throw-up Day. It was the day they served Sand Devil Sandwiches. ;). Friday was Flip-up Day and you didn't wear a dress to school unless you wanted the boys to flip up your dress. School was a stressful place! Ha ha!
Nathan said I didn't record my memories. I wrote a book instead. Can I help it if I remember lots of things?!? Now the highlights are recorded. Till next week!
Preschool
-The name of my preschool was called Rainbow Preschool. How cool is that? It was in one of the churches in Page.
-My mom carpooled with my best buddy Ethan's mom. I remember one time pulling into the parking lot (this was back before booster seats and before we regularly wore seat belts) with Ethan and his mom. I thought she had parked and since Ethan and I were sharing the front seat, I opened the door, reaching across Ethan to do so. His mom started driving and Ethan almost fell out! I was so traumatized!
-I remember they always gave us cranberry juice to drink with our snacks. I hated it and the teachers wouldn't let me get a drink from the drinking fountain instead. :(
-One time Hector Soto came to school with cotton in his ears because he was recovering from an ear infection. We all thought it was so cool!
-At circle time I decided to try and rest my head on Nick White's shoulder (just the mom did on a commercial I had seen) because I thought he was a cute little boy. He looked at me like I was crazy and moved to the other side of the circle! Ha Ha!
-I remember sitting on the floor in front of our TV watching Alvin and the Chipmunks. I was waiting for my carpool and was singing along to the theme song. I remember my mom walking by and asking me if I was a chipmunk too and thinking it was weird she didn't know I was a kid. ;)
Kindergarten
-The name of my teacher was Mr. Greisch. He was the same teacher my sister Jessica had and I was excited to have him be my teacher. He had two teacher aides, Mrs. Thorn and Mrs. Schneider.
-I remember walking down the long ramp that went to the library for our class picture. A different teacher walked by and stopped to tell me I had had beautiful brown eyes. I was so insulted because I knew, even in kindergarten, that my eyes are not brown. They are hazel. I still get annoyed when people tell me I have brown eyes. ;)
-Anthony Adair was the mean kid in class. He once punched Heather Salvaggio in the stomach at recess. And he ate newspaper which I thought was weird. One day he lost a tooth at school and was so traumatized he cried in the corner for a long time. I was not afraid of him after that!
-There were three of us that had similar names in my class. Me, Tara Contratto and Ciara McClean. Mr. Greisch called us the "rhyming girls".
-I brought my baby brother Sterling for show and tell once. :)
-Back when I was in school they focused not only on educational things but also on developmental ones. Thus we all had to learn how to tie our shoes. We would sit in a circle with Mrs. Thorn and she would untie her white tennis shoe and have us tie it for her. Those who could tie it would get an M&M. I was the last one in our circle to learn it and I was so sad! I desperately wanted that M&M! I practiced and practiced at home by tying Sterling's little baby shoe and was finally able to get it.:)
-I remember sitting with my mom in the bathroom while she bathed Sterling and reading "No More Tears" that was written on his baby shampoo. My mom was so excited for me! After that reading was a breeze. :)
-I once stapled my thumb in class. I can still see the staple poking out of it! I went to the bathroom to wash it off and shut that same thumb in the stall door. That was a bad day! :(
-I remember taking a fieldtrip to the Fit Stop so my mom could teach an aerobics class to my class.
-Being Momma Bunny in our class play and remembering how hot the costume was. I also got to sing "She'll be coming 'round the mountain" with Tara Contratto.
-Winning second place in the Track Meet and then losing my mom after it was over temporarily. It was scary but thankfully I found my teacher and he helped me get back to her. :)
-I remember riding the bus with Jessica home. One of the bus drivers would yell something that we couldn't understand so we assumed he was speaking Navajo. He would then start driving away before we had a chance to sit down so we'd just fall into a random seat. Our other bus driver was Mrs. Yazzie and she was nice to the good kids. I do remember her yelling in the intercom, "Everybody sit down and shut up!" though! Ha ha!
First Grade
-My first grade teacher's name was Mrs. Smith. I loved her! Her aide's name was Mrs. Marques and she was also very nice. Mrs. Smith was totally unconventional and fun. She dressed up as Richard Nixon for Halloween. She also had a rainbow dress complete with rainbow tights that she would wear regularly.
-I remember the first day of school was scary. I was nervous because I didn't know who Mrs. Smith was and I was going to have to go to school all day long. My mom walked me to the classroom and when we got there the teacher wasn't in there but there were some kids sitting at desks. My mom suggested I go sit next to a little girl named Nicole with giant glasses. When I tried to sit next to her she said meanly, "You can't sit here! It's saved!" I burst into tears and my mom had to stay with me until Mrs. Smith came back.
-For the first half of first grade we went to the old elementary school. For the second half we went to the new school that had just been built. While we were going to the old school, Jessica would ride her bike to school with her friend Melody Lucas. I was way too afraid to try that and also too afraid (I was afraid of many things) to ride the bus alone. My mom, I think, had an aerobics class to teach so she arranged for me to ride to school with our neighbor across the street, Nina Fisher. She was a teacher too. I had to cross the street and knock on her door. She had two loud chocolate labs that would bark and bark when I'd knock. I was terrified of them and refused to wait in her house while she finished getting ready. Instead I would just sit in her car. :)
-Mrs. Smith would pull out loose teeth of her students. She pulled out a couple of mine. :)
-I was introduced to chapter books in first grade. Mrs. Smith read us Mrs. Piggle Wiggle among other things. I still love those books and have read them to my own kids.
-We sang lots of patriotic songs in first grade. I'm pretty sure we were the only first graders who knew all the words to "You're a Grand Ol' Flag." :) Mrs. Smith always sang a Goodbye song to us when we left for the day too. It went like this, "Goodbye busers, goodbye busers, goodbye busers! I'll see you in my dreams!"
-Sometimes Mrs. Smith had to leave the classroom for a moment and she would leave me in charge. She'd let me sit at her desk and keep an eye on things.:)
-Mrs. Smith had a very dry sense of humor. She told my mom at parent/teacher conference that sometimes she'd crack a joke and it would go over all the kids' heads but that I would just "reach up and grab the joke from out of the sky" and start laughing. I always liked that. Thanks Dad for helping me understand dry whit at a young age. ;)
-I remember being sent out into the hallway to help Kerri Webb practice reading. She was my friend but I was really trying to help her. All she wanted to do was play though. The next year we all moved on to 2nd grade but Kerri stayed behind and had to repeat 1st grade again. :(
-Dexter Clark threw up all over himself in first grade. He just sat there covered in puke with his arms folded like nothing had happened! He also pooped in the pool during our mandatory swimming lessons. They made us all get out and line up they could check our bums. When it got to my turn the aid told me she didn't need to check my bum because I was a "good girl". That's right. I was no pool pooper. ;)
Second Grade
-My 2nd Grade teacher was Mrs. Moore. She was also in our ward and I really liked her. She had a teacher aide named Mrs. Soto. She was Hector Soto's mom "the cotton ball in his ear boy" from preschool. ;)
-At the start of school Mrs. Moore asked me if I wanted to go by my first name or my middle name. I didn't know how to respond. No one had ever asked me that before because my middle name is Anne. Turns out she thought my middle name was actually Anna. :)
-Mrs. Moore liked to sing songs with us. She had a piano in her classroom and everything. I remember her teaching us "Great Green Gobs" at Halloween. She also sang "Waddly Atcha" with us.
-We read "Little House in the Big Woods" that year. I fell in love with The Little House on the Prairie books and have had Ainsley and Aftyn read them. Breah will be next and Gavin if I can convince him. ;)
-Mrs. Moore had short, curly hair. Sometimes she would put her bangs up in a comb that made them poke straight up. It seemed every time she wore her hair like that she was in a bad mood. Bad hair day, I guess. ;)
-In the spring we had to write a story about a kite and the adventures it took. In my story I made my kite get dirty somehow and it went to a car wash to get clean. I overheard Mrs. Moore telling Mrs. Soto how imaginative that was. It made me feel proud. :)
-Our class did a school play called The Safety Kids. It was all about not talking to strangers, etc. I was chosen to sing a solo in it called, "The Safety Don'ts". I wore a sea green drop waist dress for my performance and don't remember feeling scared at all. How I was ever brave enough to do that still baffles me!
-The night before the Valentine party I was up all night with an ear infection. I got those a lot when I was a kid. I was so sad that I was going to miss the party that I begged my mom to let me go. She did and I remember just feeling awful the whole time I was there. I was running a fever and didn't have any fun. To make matters worse Brandy Bellar tripped me and I fell flat on my face. She claimed she was trying to trip Scott Grygla but I had my doubts. ;)
-When I got into high school I took a class where I was able to intern in an elementary classroom. I chose Mrs. Moore to intern with because I knew her and admired her as a teacher. She ran a very neat and orderly classroom. She always had perfect control over her classroom. Had I ended up becoming an elementary school teacher I wanted to be just like her. I loved interning with Mrs. Moore. I learned so much from her and ended up interning for all of my junior and senior years, plus one semester in college.
Third Grade
-My 3rd grade teacher was Mrs. Stephens. She had an aide named Mrs. Berry. I was really disappointed to get Mrs. Stephens. The other two 3rd grade teachers were Mr. and Mrs. Fadely and were favorites among the students. My best friend Sari got Mrs. Fadely and I was so jealous!
-To be honest I didn't really like Mrs. Stephens all that much. Probably because I was still wishing I had gotten into Sari's class! Ha ha!
- I remember Mrs. Stephens talked about her two sons who were teenagers, a lot. Their names were Glen and Mark.
-Mrs. Stephens taught us a song about evaporation. She made it up herself and was very proud of that fact. I can still sing the whole thing. "I am a drippy little raindrop..." Ha ha!
-We learned cursive in 3rd grade. Mrs. Stephens was convinced that I held the pencil wrong and was always bugging me about it. I hated learning cursive and Mrs. Stephens didn't help. Often times she would send me back and make me redo my whole cursive worksheet because she said it wasn't neat enough. She also gave me a C in handwriting on my report card. Rude. I used to bribe Jessica into doing some of my cursive homework so I could get a better grade. ;)
-There was a boy named Justin Stewart in my class. He and I were good friends. I used to bring some of my Cabbage Patch dolls to recess and he confessed that he had a Cabbage Patch boy doll. I talked him into bringing it to school so I could "babysit" it at recess. I told his wife about that once on facebook. She liked it. ;)
-Third grade was the first and only year the school had us take our class picture outside. That was a mistake because it was of course sunny, being Arizona and all ,so it was so hard to smile and not squint!
Fourth Grade
-My 4th grade teacher was Mrs. Maddox. I don't remember if she had an aide or not. I don't have a copy of my fourth grade class picture because I was blinking in it and didn't like that fact so I threw it away. I regret that now because I can't remember who was in my class. :(
-Mrs. Maddox was old. She retired the following year when I was in 5th grade.
-I remember liking Mrs. Maddox but she was pretty strict. Lots of kids were afraid of her. I was one of those kids however that teachers liked because I was smart, responsible, and obedient. ;)
-Mrs. Maddox read aloud to us a lot. I remember her reading us "Where the Red Fern Grows." We loved hearing her read it to us. One day the power went out while we were at school. It seemed like the other classes all went outside to recess while we waited for the power to come back on. Because we wanted to keep reading, Mrs. Maddox turned on a flashlight and read to us in the dark.
-Mrs. Maddox had some friend who was a literary expert or something. She invited her to come talk to us about books. I remember this lady droning on and on while pacing back and forth. This lady was really old and I remember Mrs. Maddox having to keep moving the overhead projector's cord so the old lady wouldn't trip. Finally this person started telling us what books we should be reading. I remember her telling us the Ramona Quimby books were great. She asked the girls in the class what we were reading and we told her we read The Baby-Sitters Club books. This lady had never heard of them! After that I didn't think she was much of an expert. ;)
-Mrs. Maddox had weird ways of pronouncing certain words. She said the word, "woman " as "wo-man" and she said "wash" as "warsh".
-Mrs. Maddox raised finches. Somehow she told me I could have two of her baby birds after they had hatched. My mom took me to Sprouse Reitz and we picked out a bird cage, etc. so we'd be all ready. I remember my mom taking me to Mrs. Maddox's house so we could pick up the birds. I got two female gray finches. I named them Harriet and Henrietta. They lasted for about a month and then they died because my dad had sprayed for cockroaches and it poisoned them. Evidently, finches aren't very hardy. It was traumatizing. :( I cried and cried over my poor birds. I still remember coming to class the following morning and overhearing the phone call my mom was making to Mrs. Maddox to tell her and trying to be brave.
-My friends Jenny and Robin Hamilton were in my class and I remember when we were learning long division Jenny cried because it was so hard! That was the first time I remember realizing that school, especially math, was going to be difficult sometimes.
Fifth Grade
-My fifth grade teacher's name was Mr. Murray. He didn't have an aide. Mr. Murray was young and energetic. He was my favorite teacher ever. I really loved him. Fifth grade was fun because we were the biggest kids in the school. We got to be the leaders and all the other grades looked up to us.
-Mr. Murray was very into science. In fact we traded with Mr. Winkler's class across the hall so Mr. Murray could teach Mr. Winkler's class science while we learned Social Studies from Mr. Winkler.
-Mr. Murray had a rock cutter and had us bring in a rock to cut. It was nerve racking because he told us if we slipped, we'd cut off our fingers. I managed to cut my rock and not my finger. ;)
-We also made robots. The instructions were very complicated but Mr. Murray insisted his class the year before had made several robots with no problems. Our class couldn't figure it out at all. We finally managed to make one that was a line tracker. He could follow a line of black electrical tape and we had him walk all the way to the school office.
-Fifth grade was the beginning of "big kid world". It seemed like lots of girls had boyfriends and kids started breaking off into cliques more. There was a boy in my class named Andy Lamer. He had a huge crush on me, though he never actually told me, he walked me and Sterling home every day. He wrote in permanent marker on the back of his jean jacket, "I love 47". That was me. 4 letters in my first name, 7 in my last. Ha ha. I wonder what ever happened to good ol' Andy Lamer?;)
-Sari and I used to stay after school to "help" Mr. Murray get ready for things. We loved hanging out with him. He'd turn on oldies music and we'd dance and dance.
- Mr. Murray never yelled at us. Instead he'd just get "disappointed" in us. I can still see him sitting on his desk in front of us and sighing while shaking his head. It felt awful to let him down and it would've been better to be yelled at I think.
-Mr. Murray video recorded us doing all kinds of things. I remember him recording us reciting a poem and my personal favorite-- he took a video of Sari and I performing a dance to "Kokomo" that we made up.
-Mr. Murray loved to run. He'd make us go for runs around campus as a class. He still loves to run now. I follow him on facebook. ;)
-I was a lightweight as a kid (and now too). I was the lightest kid in my class. I remember Mr. Murray teaching us about the walk on the moon. He had me stand on a chair and say, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." When I said the word "leap" Mr. Murray lifted me up and carried me around the room. Fun times!
-I had Mr. Winkler for Social Studies and also Math. Mr. Winkler was the most popular fifth grade teacher and everyone loved him. We had to learn all fifty states and their capitals and memorize them. I worked so hard to learn them. I can still see Mr. Winkler pointing at the states while I named them.
-In math we were going over our homework. Mr. Winkler called on Lance Shakespear to say what his answer was for the story problem. I remember Lance saying his answer in bushels which was way off. Mr. Winkler said, "Let me guess. Your dad helped you with that one didn't he?" Ha ha!
-Someone hit me in the temple with a rock at recess. No one ever fessed up. I blacked out for a second or two though and got an exciting trip to the nurse's office. :)
-I made it into the spelling bee but neglected to study that much. I was the first one out and was so embarrassed! Sharon Chief, who was also in my class, ended up winning and got to move onto district in Flagstaff. Some of us wanted to go cheer her on so Mr. and Mrs. Murray made it into a road trip. Mrs. Murray took me, Brandy Bellar, and Ruthie Millet in her car. Mr. Murray took Ethan Schulz, Jared Mulder, and Andy Lamer in his car. We had so much fun and Sharon ended up getting third place!
-We did a fifth grade play called "How the West was Won" I got cast in one of the lead parts as Martha. She was a pioneer woman who was corresponding with a friend back east about how life was in the west. I also got to sing in a girls chorus group for some of the musical numbers where we sang harmonies. It was lots of fun. The day of our performance for the parents I came down with the flu. We stayed after school practicing and I remember when it was time to go home the thought of having to walk three blocks home was daunting. I had to call my dad to come get me. The show must go on however and I made it through the night somehow. I learned that when people are depending on you, sometimes you have to do things you don't want to. :)
Random Memories
Here are some random things I remember about elementary school in general.
-Our principal's name was Mr. Stone and he was so nice. He'd bring us suckers on our birthday and I can still hear him saying "TGIF! Thank goodness it's Friday!" Every Friday on the morning announcements. Also I remember seeing his "paddle board" hanging on the wall in his office and being unable to imagine him ever using it. He was too nice! He passed away recently from cancer. :(
-Bright Spots. They were little yellow papers that we got for being good. You could save them up and cash them in for prizes. I really wanted the bike that was in the display case even though it was impossibly expensive. I did buy a glitter baton once though.
-The cafeteria food was gross and I hardly ever ate it unless they were serving hamburgers and milkshakes. ;) Once a month they made "Sand Devil Sandwiches" which was a fancy way to say fish burgers. They made the whole school smell like fish. Gross!
-Amongst the kids we had nicknames for the days of the week. Monday was Marriage Day. You couldn't drink out of the drinking fountain in the girls' restroom the same time as a boy was drinking out of his or that meant you liked him. Tuesday was Toes Day and you couldn't wear sandals on that day or else the boys would stomp on your toes. Wednesday was Wedding Day and it was the same as Monday. Thursday was Throw-up Day. It was the day they served Sand Devil Sandwiches. ;). Friday was Flip-up Day and you didn't wear a dress to school unless you wanted the boys to flip up your dress. School was a stressful place! Ha ha!
Nathan said I didn't record my memories. I wrote a book instead. Can I help it if I remember lots of things?!? Now the highlights are recorded. Till next week!
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