I spent grades one through five at Glenwood School, a public school for all grades. It was about three miles from our home, so we rode a bus. The bus had a rear door exit to be used by those sitting near the back. The door was all metal with no rubber lining. Students closing the door often did so too quickly, catching someone's finger and smashing it real good. I know--I lost two thumbnails that way!
I enjoyed school. We had a Christian principal, and many of the teachers were Christians. Thankfully, Christianity had not yet been voted out of the schools! Each morning opened with all eleven grades gathered in the auditorium to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag, and then each of the grades quoted one of the verses of the Beatitudes. After announcements, someone dismissed us with prayer. During the day, we enjoyed two breaks--recess and lunch--and the girls and boys were separated during those times.
My third-grade teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson, was the best. She helped me want to learn. She also taught me piano at her home. She gave me confidence that I could learn and enjoy it--something I had not thought possible.
Half of those in my grade seemed to be mischief-makers. I am ashamed now of the headaches we created for teachers. For example, we would take a bobby pin, break it into two pieces, and wedge one end into the desk. We'd then stroke the pin to play a nice tune. We thought it produced a lovely sound, but somehow the teachers thought otherwise. It always proved difficult to detect the noisemaker, but teachers were often better detectives than we thought. Guilty culprits had to see the principal, and I grew well acquainted with him.
My fifth-grade teacher seemed to have the hardest time controlling the class. Poor woman! She used limber hickory branches to switch our backsides and busied herself with them on quite a few of us each day. Once, when she was out of "weapons," she sent a couple of boys out to the trees to cut and trim another stash. She did not know that the boys had notched the switches in two or three places so that when she came down hard with them, they broke into pieces.
CAH
