school_days.odt

September 15, 2016

I started school when I was five in September 1941. It was Birdsall School, a one room school where my dad also went to school. My teacher for grades kindergarten thru fourth grade was Mrs. Helen White. She was a cousin on my Grandmother Comfort's side of the family. My first year of school covered both kindergarten and first grades. We had grades thru the eighth grade in one room with one teacher. There was a recitation bench in front of the room and the teacher would call up a certain grade to come up to the bench to have a class. The rest of the students were to be doing their studies at their desks during that time.

Mrs. Barbara Nimrichter was my teacher in the fifth and sixth grades. Mrs. Doris Skinner was my seventh and eighth grade teacher.

There was a coat room as you walked in the front door to hang our coats and a place for our boots and lunch.. The room on the right front side was the wash room. The restrooms were outside in separate buildings. In the middle at the front was a raised platform where the black boards were located around the three walls of the room.

There was a wood furnace in the basement of the school. Sometimes in the winter we would get to school and it would be cold. So we left on our coats and did jumping jacks until it warmed up enough to shed our coats.

The walk to school was three quarters of a mile. A half mile west on Valley Road and a quarter of a mile north on M 52. After I was older I got a bicycle to ride. There were no snow days then, we just trudged through the snow and went to school anyways.

Some of the games we played were softball, Red Rover, Einy Eye Over the school building with a ball, and of course, the boys chasing the girls or vice versa. There was a hickory tree in the school yard, so I would bring nuts home in my lunch box.

The PTA (Parent Teacher Association) held at the school was for the kids also.

The following are some memories during this time:

The desk top lifted up to put books and papers in. I had opened my desk and got a pink mint lozenge candy. I had just put it in my mouth and the teacher called my class up to the recitation bench. My face must have been red from embarrassment.

Sometimes we were assigned to do work on the blackboard. Being left handed made it hard for me to write on the blackboard.

One day I was swinging and jumped out of the swing, while it was still going and my skirt caught in the swing. It tore my skirt and I had to hold it closed and go home to change clothes.

Norma Fruth,, our hired man's daughter lived with us while we were in 5th and 6th grades. We had red and green long stockings to wear to keep our legs warm. My mother must have thought they were nice stockings for us, but Norma and I didn't like them. We were teased about wearing them, since we were about the only ones that wore long stockings. How embarrassing!

One day while riding my bike to school, I was riding on M52 and took a spill. I skinned up my knee pretty bad.

There was a boy that had to stand in the corner. The teacher's boots happened to be in the corner also. When she got ready to put them on to go home, she found out the boy had peed in her boot.

One of the projects we had was to collect a variety of leaves. Our teacher, Mrs. Skinner came to school all broken out on her arms and face. One of the leaves that someone brought in was poison sumac.

Rev. Cox, the Pastor of the Raisin Valley Friends Church used to come to the school and we would sing and he would give a talk.

Of course, there might have been a secret boyfriend or two. Notes that were written never were given to them. One found it's way hidden inside my dresser and was found many years later.

Eighth grade graduation was held at the First Baptist Church on Broad Street in Adrian.

Then it was on to 9th grade at the Junior High School on Church Street in Adrian. This was a 3 story building on the corner of Church and Division Streets. It was a new experience to slide down the spiral fire escape during the fire drills. Biology class was in the far side of the Senior High School building, making it necessary to hurry from the Junior High building to get to the class in time. Our Home Economics class divided into groups of four. Each group was given a different food to cook. We were supposed to try each of the foods that were prepared. Our group fixed eggplant. There was still some left, so the plate was passed around again. The girl sitting across the counter from me put her piece of eggplant back on the plate as it passed by her instead of taking another piece. Another project was to select something to prepare at home during a visit from the teacher, Miss Hanson. I selected baked custard. She praised me and said that it looked like I knew what I was doing. It was a requirement for sewing to cut out each pattern piece and put our name on it before starting our sewing project.

The Senior High School building for the 10th to 12th grades was on Church Street. One of the most embarrassing moments for me was in study hall. I got caught talking to the guy sitting behind me. The teacher, Mrs. Reeves, looked at me with eyes that only she could and motioned for me to come up in front. I had to sit in the front row in front of her desk. My face must have turned bright red.

Gym class included swimming. In order to go in the deep end, we had to swim 4 lengths of the pool using any stroke that we wanted. I chose the back stroke, because it was easier to breathe. Being in the deep end, we had to learn to dive. I did not like to dive.

I was #20 in the top 20 of our graduating class. We had charge of the Class Night program held in the gym at school. For part of the program we put on a square dance. I had never squared danced before, but I learned for that program. I don't remember of square dancing again.