Second or third grade it was when I was stupid enough to carve my name in the desk-top using a sharp pencil. Of course I got caught. Of course I had to stay after school with a block and sandpaper to make it absolutely smooth.

Z-goop!

Kinda of appropriate at this time of the year. I was in 6th grade when Kennedy was running for president. Politics was not a topic of everyday conversation at my house... THANK GOD!! Kinda like nobody talked about money or what things cost. Anyway, the scuttlebutt around school, from the kids who KNEW what was going on, was that if Kennedy was elected he was gonna make us ALL become CATHOLICS!!

I went to a private school with only twenty five students in a class. Loved my pals but detested school. lol. Now I could tell you my "out of school" memories but I better not lol.

My first 3 years were in a one-room school house, grades 1 thru 8 that we walked to. It was great having the teacher postpone classes on a wintry afternoon so we could build snow forts and have snow-ball fights, or on a crisp fall day and we'd all be out there raking leaves. It was on a treed, one-acre lot. We were all having a great time, and she was probably having us do the raking, vs herself. Good for her!

My best school memories are in the early grades before I grew to dislike school. Back then teachers had more leeway in giving individual attention to students. My second grade teacher brought special books for me to take home to read since I was a top reader. Instead of having to read the primer at home for practice she gave me real books with different subjects. I remember one was all about bees. Teachers shared their gifts and interests with students. The second grade teacher loved music so we sang every day and had instruments at least once a week. My fourth grade teacher was into art. So he made sure we had art at least once a week. He taught us how to shade with crayons or pencils, we did soap carving (imagine being asked to bring razor blades to school today LOL) and ceramics.

We had plenty of recess and a long lunch hour to burn off excess energy. After was quite cool down time. We would rest our heads at our desks and the teachers used that time to read to us.

We had bank books through the school. Once a week you put your deposit into a little manila envelope with a string tie. The teachers would collect them and then they would be returned a few days later. Interest rates on basic saving accounts were around 3-4% ,later they would climb to around 5%. Imagine.

I remember the bombshell drills when we all had to gather in the hallways and sit on the floor with our hands over our heads.

I remember weaving and dancing around the Maypole, which was quite a feat.

Also remember going to my Catholic neighbor's festivals and buying cotton candy with the pocket money my parents would give me.

This was all in the 50's.

7'th grade, I had moved from Pa to Tennessee, it was 1969. I was the hated northerner. I was shy and a loner, losing myself in books. A lot of girls were getting Falls ( long haired wigs) my mother finially got me one after many pleadings from me. During biology class the teacher had to leave the classroom, but warned us that no one should get out of their seats. One of the girls threatened to pull my wig off..I was terrified. .lol..when she approched me I ran to the hallway and stood quietly. Of course when the teacher returned she found me standing outside the classroom door. I was sent to the principal to tell my story. I received 8 very hard wacks with a board for leaving my seat, the other girl had no punishment. The principal than suspended me for 3 days for crying, her words..* only a yankee cries* this was my only time ever being in trouble at school I was too shy to get in trouble. The following week I was enrolled in a private school for the remainder of the year. My daughter Amiee is 20 ( yes I'm an old mom) ask me for a wig when she was in high school a few years ago..my reaction...LOL... I bought her what she wanted..LOL. but she's different from me, she's outgoing and would never run from a threat of pulling it off, she'd pull it off herself and laugh in the threats face.

Wow. Sorry you went through that. I can't imagine ... Good for your Mom and good for you.

seagrass

Great stories. Best memory: Seventh grade teacher made learning fun. She divided the class into North and South when we studied the Civil War. Each side had to research, prepare and study to be able to score points for our side by being able to respond to questions correctly posed by the other side. Everyday after school a group of us met at the public library to be ready to score points. Just thinking that unlike today, no one thought the South was treasonous. We thought that an unfortunate rift occurred in the US due to a serious major disagreement, like a rift in a family that could be reunited and was.

On senior ring day, it was/is a tradition to roller skate to school about a mile through busy city streets. We received our rings in a ring ceremony followed by entertainment provided by the junior class.

Here's another: my gym uniform except mine had a skirt and was red- came down to the knees. The material was heavy and scratchy.

Oh, my. I remember the gym uniform, except ours were white pullover ironed cotton blouses and bloomer style poofy shorts blue as above that looked nice on absolutely no one. (Jr hi, 1960's)

We moved from another city in November of my second grade year. My dad had chosen a house more rural with a small community school close by specifically for the school and neighborhood. The next year, the school was torn down to be rebuilt on the same location and all of us were bussed into town for classes in the building that had been the county's junior college. This was now third grade. High ceilinged classrooms with wood paneling, windows so high we could not see out, walk in coat rooms the width of the backs of each class room. We couldn't reach the coat hooks, shelves, drinking fountains and our legs dangled seated at the attached rows of desks. My dad was furious that we were given no choice but a 10 mile bus ride, but we all survived and the new school within bike riding distance was really quite nice after a year's interruption.

I also sometimes rode my horse to school. There were a row of oak trees across the front and I just tied him there. I only lived about half a mile from school.

Your gym suit looks much like my first one, no writing or anything on mine. The second one was a lighter blue with a skirt.

Sue

I attended half-day kindergarten through 6th Grade in a school a mile from home. We walked or rode our bikes four times a day -- going home for an hour for lunch most days. I'm slightly pre-War, and there was a wife/mother inside most houses along our route. Very safe residential neighborhoods.) Sixth Grade boys vied to be Patrol Boys at the two busy corners we had to navigate.

We also had two 20-minute recess periods -- morning and afternoon -- or at least Phys. Ed. We had art one week and music the alternate week.

I normally had fewer than 20 kids in my classes. DIL teaches in Chicago and has 31 - 35.

I think the 'old style' worked MUCH better for the kids and for the teachers!

What I remember most is having to walk to all the schools that I attended. And sometmes it was 2 miles in the snow up hill. Back then parents weren't chauffeurs. If you got up really early and got out the door fast enough you might catch the school bus that stopped a half a mile away. I always missed the end of the day school bus because I was involved in after school clubs. I remember walking home alone in the winter in the cold and dark and even running to get home faster. By the time I was 13 I knew I was going to move to some place warm that didn't have snow when I was on my own.

Our gym uniforms were these awful polyester tops and shorts that flattered only the thinnest of girls, and I remember being so grossed out that they were used by who knows how many sweaty people before I had the joy of wearing them.

The students at my school bought their own gym uniforms, but did not always remember to bring them home to launder them. We had gym once a week. Those stiff oversized uniforms limited our abilities at gym. Not until there were more equitable sports programs for girls did the gym clothes change.

I went to a Catholic K-8 elementary school during the 40s and early 50s. Tuition was free, but you rented your textbooks. Classes were huge-40 to 45 students. The playground was divided into a boys' section and a girls' section and a basketball section. On a hot day, that black top playground surface was so hot that it burned our feet. I remember hopping on one foot for a bit to cool off the other foot, and then hopping on the other foot. We were not allowed to step onto the cooler cement sidewalk, which ran right next to the street.

I remember playing Red Rover on the playground and jump rope games. I also recall a little poem we would say as we played a game of rhythmically clapping. [My boyfriend's name is Jello. He comes from the land of Mello, with freckles on his nose and carrots on his toes, and that's the way my story goes.]

In class remember learning to read with the Dick and Jane series, which I found absolutely boring. "Look, Jane, look, look, look. See Spot. See Spot run, run, run. Run, Spot, run. Look, look, look." I remember telling my mom that I had decided not to learn to read. I found it so boring, and I also thought I would never be able to read as smoothly and rapidly as my parents could. I also remember learning how to write with the teacher writing one perfect letter on the blackboard for a student to trace over and over until the lines were 2 inches wide.

K-4 I attended in California and it was great because there was a communal room in the middle for the kids in 3-5 grade. We'd sit in there and a male teacher, who had brown curly hair would play his guitar. I loved singing the songs together. We read from the Lippincott series books and I can remember the diamond pattern on the books. That's the place where I was being bullied so much I was afraid to walk to school by myself. What was my mom thinking?! But one day, she sat behind me and grabbed my braid and held on. I sat perfectly still and took what she dished out. Never bothered me again. I think it taught me a lot. I may have gone too far in the standing up for myself arena. We also went on field trips to the marina/wharf and looked at all the sea life. That instilled a life long love affair! That same school had a free summer school and it wasn't the kind that was a punishment. You could learn ballet, or it had book clubs, or all kinds of things! You signed up for it at the end of school and no one left without something fun to do for summer.

5-6 grade I got to go school with my younger sister, and my only sibling with whom I ever was able to attend. I stood up to her bully. She had some kid pouring milk on her sandwiches and poking holes in it. Until I said no more. I was leaps and bounds ahead of all of the kids at that school after my other school in a different state, they did things like put me in a very select program to do things like memorize the Gettysburg address, and I could go to a State Legislature meeting. That school instilled my love of law and it's one where I've done many things in my lifetime, unofficially. Many of my friends are lawyers. I liked the bathroom which had a communal sink and you pushed the lever to start the water with your foot, but it was circular, so it looked like a sprinkler system. It was cool. We had field day and I'd never done that before. You'd get two tickets for cokes (not soda, not colas, coke!!! even if you wanted a sprite) for the day, but by the end of the day, if you hadn't already gotten both, your second one would be a "suicide", which meant whatever was left all mixed together. Team work was fun, but so was sprinting the 100 yard dash and doing well on my own. Loved it there.

7-8 (the year after I left here, it changed to middle school instead of junior high and they combined 5-8 grade) I attended a small school with really great teachers, one of which everyone loved! that sang to me every day. In band, we would goof off in class before it started by singing and playing our instruments to Rockin' Robin. It was fun and when I tried out for cheerleading, I made it past the teachers, but didn't want to go on to the next level and try out in front of the students. Quickly changed my mind. I found out about juvenile diabetes since Pam had it, and she'd leave class to give herself a shot on occasion. She was a cheerleader at our high school. And a flute player! Our principal looked like Abraham Lincoln. Our flirty Vice Principal came to school with a black eye one day, saying a tree branch hit him. No one believed him and it was rumored he was "the other man". HA! We were probably completely off base. Poor guy.

9-12 we had ugly gym shorts, but those one piece deals were lying around in the locker room, so it must've just changed when I got there. My brother's class had had a smoking hall inside the school, but when I got there, it was outside the lunchroom in a spot that now has tables that always look abused. My son is in their marching band. His academic school is across town. Anyway, it was a great school and I learned loads, but the scandals were that my junior class English teacher was a Playboy bunny, and the janitor ended up being a cop at the end of the year. I don't think drugs were rampant there? I was never asked, or saw anyone with drugs, but he arrested people. It was a great school. I think my junior year was the year we won State Championships in every area but football: Academic Olympics, band, track, volleyball, basketball, and baseball. Maybe more! Mookie Betts graduated from my high school.

We had to buy our gym clothes and wash them at home. The towels were the school's and they washed them at that time in a wringer washer and hung them on lines in a long underground hall beside the gym. I never had Dick and Jane. I had Nancy, Tom and Sandy. I still have at least one of those books. I went to school during WWII and I remember they had certain days to bring in different metals and one time had you to bring in milkweed pods. I think they used them for parachutes, not sure. My sister and I always rode the bus, we had no vehicle and lived out in the country, this was a country school. Most were farm children that went to it. We bought our class sweaters when we were in the sophomore year and class rings in the Jr. year. I still have both of mine. I was good friends with the art teacher when I was in Jr. high and part of high school and we remained friends until her death a few years ago. She came to see me a few times. They moved back to Colorado after leaving our school as that is where she was from. I miss Mrs. Puchek.

Sue

My 4th grade teacher Mrs. M had also taught my older sister one year. My sister warned me that she was strict so she scared me a bit. I'm left handed and dyslexic. One day after lunch, Mrs. M asked me to stay after school. I figured I was in trouble and was scared all afternoon. She quietly sat down next to me and talked to me about the things I was having trouble with and said it was caused by something called dyslexia. She asked me if I was interested in helping her to fix it and I said yes. So I stayed after school with her for an hour or more every day for months. She patiently spent her own time working with me and she also helped me with my handwriting. Thanks to Mrs. M the dyslexia was no longer as severe and I became an honor roll student. I also have pretty writing and write (or hold my pen) like a right handed person does. I'll always have a special place in my heart for her.

In 8th grade the boys gym teacher owned one of those teeny tiny honda GT's. One day the whole football team moved the car from one parking space to another without Mr. C knowing it. LOL

One of my most memorable years was 2nd grade at a one room country grade school. During my first year, there were about 12 students in school. and then the US entered WW2. It had an enormous effect on the school body. Due to our local demographics, the student body was reduced to two students, my sister and myself. In following years, there would be more students.

The school board proposed to close the school for one year. My Mother prevailed upon the Board seeking to keep the school open because to close it would mean a lost year in our education. She had completed only the 6th grade herself, her family having moved about several times during her school years; She wanted a better opportunity for her children.

The School Board found a low cost teacher in the form of a new graduate teacher who needed an internship to complete her certificate. She was a competent teacher, and in my mind's eye, beautiful as well. To make our class work official, she was supervised by the County Superintendent of Schools. That consisted of her grading our final exams and sending these to the Superintendent's office for approval. It was the very best school year we ever had. It like having a private tutor all to ourselves without any interference from others.

That year, our final report cards were signed by the County Superintendent of Schools instead of the teacher. I still have that unusual report card.

On the last day of school, the Teacher took we two and Mother to a movie in town. The movie was "The Song of the South", a Disney first. Cartoons and real life actors were melded together for the first time. The main character was Uncle Remus who told stories to the children. I may not have the correct title. That event was a very long time ago, but it made a lifelong impression with me. It was the first movie that I had ever seen.

During the last week of school, the teacher brought her niece to school with her for a couple of days. That little girl was not feeling well on her last day with us. We came down with the whooping cough the next week. We coughed our way through summer.

Our gym clothes had to be purchased, They were the same district wide for both middle school and high school. Royal blue shorts with little side pieces that slipped through silver rings at the waist for to make them slightly adjustable. The blouse was a white, cap sleeved, collared affair that snapped up the front. The blouse had to be tucked in and your name had to be stitched on the front pocket and the on one leg of the shorts. Everything was to be laundered once a week and if you forgot your gym clothes you were given this awful one piece faded pink bloomer outfit you had to wear.

It was all very regimented. Not only uniform checks but shower checks also. These were the days of teased out hair, pencil skirts and girdles. We had ten minutes between classes. We would roll our girdles up to hide them under our shorts and wet down our shoulders to look like we'd showered. The towels were rough and coarse and the size of a postage stamp. We would have to stand in line to be checked by the teachers before being dismissed to get dressed. Occasionally a teach would yank a towel off a girl she suspected of cheating. Imagine them getting away with that today.

Passing a swimming was required to graduate. Everyone had to take at least a semester and if you failed you had to take the class over until you passed even if it meant all 4 years. You were given an extra five minute to dry your hair. Girls layered on swim caps and tried all kinds of tricks to not spoil their "do". I was a swimmer so I passed early on. They let us swimmers do fun things in the pool while they taught the non swimmers. When I was in school we were allowed to wear our own swimwear, even bikinis. Before that they handed out these infamous horrid knitted tank suits that stretched and sagged when wet.

Once we went on a field trip to see 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968. Most of us, if not the entire bus load, dropped LSD. The kid I was sitting next to in the movie started to have a bad trip. He freaked out and he and I went into the lobby. He wanted to call his parents. I thought he was nuts. Finally I called them for him. They turned out to be a rather "hippie" pair of parents and they came to get us. We left without telling anyone. His parents said they would take care of it. They called the school and said their son had gotten sick and I was nice enough to accompany him home. We went to their house and hung out with other grown ups who kept him calm. The next day one of counselors. who I am sure knew darn well what really happened, told me I was a good friend to go home with "Joe" and miss the movie.

I never went to school dances. Wasn't interested. The only exception I made was with a guy I knew who went to an all boys Catholic school. We became good friends and I would go as his date. One Valentine's dance I wore a tight red sheath dress that was already above my knees and would ride up further as we danced. The Fathers were chaperones. They would drink their glasses of wine while pretending not to ogle. Recently I reconnected with my friend via Facebook after more than 40 years of lost contact. After high school he went into the service and I went on to marry my present DH a few years later. One of the the first things he mentioned was the red dress and how we got caught smoking behind the church.

Up stream I wrote: On senior ring day, it was/is a tradition to roller skate to school about a mile through busy city streets. We received our rings in a ring ceremony followed by entertainment provided by the junior class. Here's a news clip about this year's Ring Day. In my day, I wore the school uniform, wool plaid skirt and blue blazer.

Grade 4 (Mrs Milne) 1953/54.....My first "boyfriend" was the door monitor. Sheesh, I was 9 and embarrassed because he told all the class that he was in love with me!?!? If only I knew then what I know now....well, nevermind that's another topic I'm afraid. LOL