Returning for year nine of writing daily in March with my Slice of Life writer friends! Check out Two Writing Teachers for more slices of life occurring every day in March.
The writing group at our church was born out of my friend Shannon's email query: "I was thinking about your challenge to us about writing stories on my way
to work this morning. Yes, I need to do this. But it will never
happen unless I have a deadline so it got me thinking. Ever think about having a memoir/writing group?"
At our first meeting, two weeks later, I shared Allison Berryhill's, What I Remember: Kindergarten - 9 blog post. Here's my response, written during the 30 minutes of writing time that we shared together.
School Memories – Quick Write
MI Ward Writing
Group, Feb. 16, 2020
Kindergarten – The playhouse! The kitchen, the wooden
ironing board and iron. Our teacher used to fold a large piece of butcher paper
in half for the “daddy” to read the newspaper while the “mom” cooked in the
kitchen ad ironed clothes.
1st Grade
I remember pages of dittoed pictures that we colored,
specifically one of a bird.
2nd Grade
We moved to McAlester to 1011 North D the summer before second
grade. Mrs. Truttman was my teacher And she shared poems with us. “The Sugar
Plum Tree” was a personal favorite. Mrs. Truttman created a sugar plum tree in
the display case that faced the hallway and opened from our classroom. We got a
treat at the end of the day or was it just once a week?
I was totally puzzled by the phonics worksheets, a daily
staple, having learned to read without phonics. Why did I need to make those
funny marks above the letters and know if the vowel was short or long to read
the words I could already read?
3rd Grade
Mrs. Crowder was my teacher and this was the year we saw our
teacher cry when she learned that President John F. Kennedy had been shot.
4th Grade
Mrs. Frew and lots of preparation to get ready for our new classmate,
Charlie Tipps, who transitioned to our class from the state school for the
blind.
Charlie who played the piano beautifully
Charlie who could identify each of us by our footsteps
Charlie who miraculously read braille and taught us how to
use his stylus to punch out words
Charlie who waited patiently while I set up his math
problems with metal pegs
Charlie who stayed with our class all the way through school
and received a standing ovation at our graduation ceremonies!
5th Grade
Was this the year we did a square dance for 4-H? Our moms
made our twirly skirts out of red gingham check with matching neckerchiefs for
the boys.
6th Grade
I think Mrs. Rains was my homeroom teacher. She swatted me playfully
on the bottom with her wooden paddle for being in her teacher closet. I still
love teaching supplies.
“We’ll remember always graduation day.
At the school party, we all had fun.
We laughed until the day was done.”
I can’t remember the party, but I remember the lyrics and
the tune to the song.
7th Grade
Junior High and new friends – Jan Rodden and Susan Roberts
French with Mrs. Massaro and English with Mrs. Powers (Camel
Lips) who introduced us to Penrod by Booth Tarkington with its luscious vocabulary.
And mimeographed pages of poems that were part of our poetry
packet:
“Outwitted”
He drew a circle that shut me out-
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But Love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that
took him in!
-
- Edward Markham
I still remember the poem and author more than fifty
years later.
And the lovely rhythm and rhyme of “Sea Fever.”
Chorus with Elizabeth Brigham, why do I remember her first
name? She had a crooked hip which caused her to
have an unusual gait.
8th Grade
Motormouth Williams for English. I shutter to think we actually
called our teacher that and I wonder what my students called me behind my back.
She did talk REALLY fast! And now I understand, there was so much she wanted us
to learn and never enough time.
9th Grade
Alphabetical seating in Miss Dempsey’s room meant that a certain
cheerleader (name remembered, but not recorded, in order to protect the not so
innocent) was always seated near me. And she would get so angry when I wouldn’t
let her copy off me during tests.
Miss Dempsey encouraged me to read Wuthering Heights
which I hated and didn’t really understand. (Mrs. Lewallyn had me read Silas
Marner in fourth grade. I didn’t like it either.)
10th Grade
Finally I was in high school! But I only had one class in
the high school building. I had four classes on the first floor of the junior high:
Health, French, Speech, and English (Mrs. Thrasher).
Two classes in the junior high in the morning, then a hike
to the 4th floor of the high school for Geometry with Mr. George (a
distant relative). After Geometry, it was off to the gym building for Home
Economics and then back down the hill to the first floor of the junior high for
two more classes.
11th Grade
Mrs. Howard for English who taught us serious research
skills complete with note cards and a bibliography
Driver’s Ed with Mr. Howard, English teacher's husband and football coach The most important thing he taught me: “Laugh when people do stupid things on
the road. Call them clowns and don’t’ let them get to you."
Senior Year
Only three classes – English with Mrs. Thrasher again (with
lots of independent study in the library, for the academic contest at Southeastern
College in Durant)
Chemistry with Mr. Powers (such a tough class for me) Best
friend Jan always wanted to “understand" it, I just memorized what I needed to
know for the tests.
Charlie Porter, my lab partner, and I had an explosion in chemistry
lab. I think we were making oxygen. I recall telling him that something wasn’t
right because we could see something in the beaker and we weren’t supposed to “see”
oxygen.
And DE (Distributive Education) before heading to Montgomery
Ward to work every day from 12 (or was it 1?) until closing time at 5.
It was not a stellar year of high school, but I did manage
to save a lot of money for college!