#52stories - Week 8 (Feb 22nd)

Secondary school - part 1.

After 6th grade, we moved to the western side of town and stayed there though my high school and college years. I rode the bus to school until I could drive.  Then I sometimes drove to school, but I had to drop Mom off at work across town first and pick her up at the end of her work day.

Southwest Junior High - grades 7-9:  Because I had not attended one of the feeder schools to Southwest, my parents had to enroll me there as a new student.  I remember going with them to meet Principal Moses Bridges.  Everything went fairly smoothly.  But I wanted to take "new" math in 7th grade and I had missed the required cutoff score on the standardized placement test by a point or two.  My parents advocated for me and Mr. Bridges agreed to let me try it.  If he had not agreed, I would not have been able to take Calculus my senior year.  So I have always been grateful for that.

Over the next 3 years, I took math, science, English, history, and physical education (P.E.) every year.   A few words about P.E. class.  While I generally enjoyed P.E. class, it was definitely new.  We had to wear white uniforms that consisted of shorts and a top.  We were required to shower after class unless we had our periods.  In that case, when your name was called for attendance, you would respond with "X".  This was quite embarrassing in junior high.  It was the first time I had encountered the group shower situation and I have never liked it.

My 7th grade math teacher was Mr. Shepherd, one of the first two male teachers I had; he also taught my health science class.  North Carolina history was taught in the 7th grade and I had Mr. Ellingham, the other male teacher I had that year, for that.  He also taught Language Arts, a.k.a. English, in a combined class.  My electives were French, Arts & Crafts, and Fine Arts. Mrs. Broughton taught P.E.  At the beginning of the year, I went to get my hair cut and the hairdresser went a little overboard.  Also, I still wore glasses.  The result was my all-time least favorite school picture:

In 8th grade, it was Mrs. Grove for English and social studies, Miss Martin for Algebra I, Mrs. Mooney for physical science, and Mrs. Broughton again for P.E. My electives were French, art, and homemaking, which was required for all female students. 

In 9th grade, I had Mrs. Hill for English and social studies, Miss Martin for Geometry, Mr. Wiley for biology, and Miss Pruitt for P.E.  My electives were French, art, music appreciation, and health.  Mrs. Hill was a piece of work.  I did well in her class because I was a good student. But I remember her ridiculing students who didn't know how to spell Gethsemane.  After about four students missed it, I got it right and the ridicule stopped.  That's just one example that I remember.  I recall that 2 years later my brother had her; and, when he complained about her, my parents were skeptical.  But I assured them that she was really not a nice teacher and I was sure his account was accurate.  Because my dad had been a teacher, my parents usually took the teacher's side in arguments...until that year.  Also that year, I was begging my parents to buy me new glasses so that I could ditch those ugly ones from 7th grade.  They said no, but agreed to let me get contacts if the eye doctor agreed.  So, in 1967, I got my first pair of contact lenses.  And here's my 9th grade picture:

During these 3 years, I met many people who I still consider to be close friends.  We do not live close to each other but we have stayed in touch. I don't remember having any extracurricular activities during this time.  But I might have continued with safety patrol in 7th grade.  I remember that I advanced to the rank of Lieutenant, but that might have been in 6th grade. The school is still there, but is now an elementary school.  And, no, my memory is not that good; I still have my report cards for all grades, although I did not refer to them until this blog entry.

#52stories - Week 7 (Feb 15th)

Elementary school - part 2.

4th Grade:  Between 3rd and 4th grades, my family moved down the road a few miles. That meant that I went to 4th grade at Mountain View Elementary School in Buena Vista, VA.  Again, I rode the bus to school.  Mrs. Mackey was my teacher.  She was old, but very nice.  She realized that I could not see the blackboard and moved me toward the front of the classroom and mentioned it to my parents.  So I started wearing glasses in the 4th grade. My mom also told me that she was the first teacher to compliment me to Mom on being a good student.  What I remember is having a couple of the girls in the class not like me because they had always been the top two students in the class until I arrived.  Apparently, I bumped them down to 2nd and 3rd place.  This was the year we learned Virginia history.  That's about it for 4th grade. Here's me with glasses in 4th grade.

5th Grade:  We moved to Winston-Salem, NC, in the summer after 4th grade.  I started the year with Mrs. Norman and ended the year with Miss Palmer at North Elementary School on Patterson Avenue. They were both younger than any teacher I had had so far and they were both nice. I walked the a little over half a mile to school. The school was torn down many years ago, but I found this photo at the Library of Congress online at http://www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/hhh.nc0463.photos.212413p/.  The library has several pictures of the outside and inside of the school.

The big news/controversy at the beginning of the year was that the school became integrated.  And by integrated, I mean that one single brave black girl attended the school; she was either in the 1st or 2nd grade.  I'm sorry to say that the reaction of many parents was to pull their students out of North Elementary and transfer them to other schools.  The class size seemed to drop daily for several months.  It dropped so much that the principal decided to combine the two 5th grade classes into one.  And that's why I ended up in Miss Palmer's class at the end of the year.  Just before the holiday break, Miss Palmer assigned an extra credit project that involved making a list of words from the letters in "Merry Christmas."  She promised a special prize to the student who got the most words. I won that contest hands down...way more words than anyone else.  Thank you, Mrs. Borthwick! The prize, which took much nagging and some months to receive, was a Big Book of Answers that contained a lot of info about science and nature.  I remember one item explained how and why fireflies tails light up.  This was the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis and practicing "duck and cover".  One day one of my classmates said that he had heard that the US had declared war.  By the time I got home, I was hysterical, but Mom assured me it was not true.  It was an anxious time.  This was also the year that I learned to twirl a baton.  My next door neighbor had four children, one of whom was a year ahead of me.  She was a majorette for the Tiny Vikings, a junior midget football team.  They had a cheerleaders and a twirling team and the Mom next door organized the latter. My parents bought me the baton that I needed (and I still have) and I'm sure Mom made my uniform. I see online that this is now a flag football league; it was regular football then.  My brother was on the team.  I had begun the year with a bad case of impetigo on my chin, so I felt like I had leprosy.Nonetheless, I made friends. JoAnna Self was my best friend, but her family moved across town to Polo Road and we grew apart in middle school.

6th Grade:  For this grade, my parents enrolled me at Lowrance Elementary, which was next to Hanes High School and even closer  to our house.  I walked a little less than half a mile to school. Mrs. Oakes was my teacher.   In addition to JoAnna Self, Vickie Green was another good friend.  Vicki was obsessed with The Beatles, while I was not.  I liked their music but didn't get the screaming, swooning stuff.  She lived with her grandmother who was a very strict Baptist.  We had many sleepovers.  I lost touch with Vicki but we were reunited somewhat when she ended up at my high school.  But we were not as close in high school as we were in elementary school. I continued to be a majorette with the Tiny Vikings.  For Halloween this year, I dressed up in my majorette uniform and went trick or treating with my next-door neighbor, who wore her uniform. We were in Blum Park and there was a talent contest, so we decided to join.  We basically just twirled the baton and whispered to each other when to change to a new move (some of the moves are the pancake, double pancake, figure 8, around the world, two-handed spin).  We won an entire box of full-sized Hershey chocolate bars!  On a sad note, this was the year that Kennedy was assassinated.  Several kids had transistor radios that they would listen to on the way home (especially during the World Series).  One guy in my class turned his radio on as we were leaving the school.  So I was walking across the school yard when he called out that the President had been shot.  I think I ran most of the way home and my mom confirmed the news.  I remember that my grandmother was visiting.  It was a very sad time, even though my parents had supported Nixon.  It was still tragic.  I remember the television showing Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald.  I had just left the living room and missed seeing it live, but heard the announcers saying what happened.  We all went in to watch the TV at that point.

So, I attended four separate elementary schools. It didn't seem as disjointed as it was happening as it does now.  It was even worse for my brother. He started 1st grade at Fairfield, then had 2nd at Mt. View, 3rd at North, 4th at Lowrance and 5th & 6th at South Fork.  And it was a little better for my older sister because she attended Fairfield for her entire elementary school; and, when I switched in 4th grade, she continued to the newly-opened Rockbridge High School with her friends.  And in Winston, she attended Hanes for 2 years while I attended North & Lowrance.

#52stories - Week 6 (Feb 8th)

Elementary school - part 1.

My siblings might have expected I would turn to them next, but I'm switching from family to other things.  I initially planned to have one entry on elementary school.but it got too long, so I split it into two parts.

There was no kindergarten where I started school.  But if you ask me sister, Cathie, she'll say she was my kindergarten teacher.

1st Grade: I attended 1st through 3rd grades at Fairfield High School in the village of Fairfield, VA. This school housed grades 1 through 12.  My dad taught 8th grade science and shop there, and he was the faculty sponsor for the Future Farmers of America (FFA). My aunt, Libby Alexander, also taught there and my cousin, Mary Lipscomb, substituted from time to time.  I rode the bus to school.  You can see a picture of the school on my post about my Dad in my week 5 story. My 1st grade teacher was Mrs. Hayes. She was stern and old (to me).  The classroom was by the gym if I remember correctly.  Mrs. Hayes made me stand in the corner one day after lunch because she said I kicked Duane Fitzgerald's ice cream out of his hand at lunch.  If I did, I had no clue and it would have been accidental.  She said he told her I was swinging between chairs.  OK, maybe I did that.  Still, you'd think I had to swing my legs pretty high to knock an ice cream cone out of his hands.  I remember learning the alphabet, which Cathie had probably already taught me, no doubt. One day when we were practicing writing our whole names, my cousin Alec (Alexander) Lipscomb crept back to my desk to ask me how to spell Alexander.  So I'm guessing Mrs. Hayes wouldn't let him just write Alec, which is what everyone called him and calls him today! 

2nd Grade: Mrs. Whitehurst was my teacher and her classroom was also off of the gym, I think..  She was even older than Mrs. Hayes (in my opinion) but she was super nice.  She taught us cursive writing.  I had my first boyfriend in 2nd grade: Joey Bishop.  His family moved away the following summer, so it was a short-lived romance. I learned Roman numerals this year.  I think it was an extra credit assignment, but I wrote them on paper up to MM (2000). The rest of second grade was uneventful.

3rd Grade: This was the year I had the mumps, which I covered in my week 1 story. Mrs. Borthwick was my teacher. She had us start the day with a checklist.  If we could check off each item on the checklist, we got a star!  The list included getting in bed by 9 pm the night before, having a clean handkerchief, eating breakfast, etc.  I think it included saying your prayers, too.  One day, I checked off the items and she said (in front of the entire class), "I know you weren't in bed by 9 last night because I saw you at the flower show at church."  I was devastated.  When I went home and told Mom, she said I was in bed by 9 and she was clearly miffed at the teacher.  Mrs. Borthwick drilled us on multiplication tables.  I credit her with my knowledge of those, but her method was terrifying!  She would line us up opposite other students and would point at one of us randomly and yell "3 times 9!" If you didn't answer in about 2 seconds, you got a scowl and she would turn to the next victim...er, student..and yell "3 times 9!" That continued until someone got it right.  Of course, your chances of getting the right answer increased with each failure because you had more time to recall the answer.  Mrs. Borthwick's class put on a play every year and alternated between an Indian theme and a cowboy theme.  It was cowboys my year, so we sang cowboy-themed songs and dressed like cowboys and cowgirls.  Below is a picture of our performance that appeared in The Lexington Gazette.

Mrs. Borthwick also wanted to make sure that we recognized the military branches theme songs.  So, again, she lined us up in four lines that created a square facing each other.  She would designate one line each the Marines, Army, Air Force, and Navy.  Then she would play one of the songs and the appropriate line was supposed to march in place.  I remember her playing The Cassion Song and everyone looking nervously around waiting for someone to recognize the song.  When the pressure got to be too much, one of the lines starting marching that was not the Army line and she yelled, "No, no, no! You're not the Army! That's the Army song!"  I don't know if we ever got it right.  She had "seat work" to keep us occupied while she was working with subgroups of the class.  Mainly this consisted of making a list of words from the letters of a larger word.  My skill at this came in handy in 5th grade. Another memory is that a show was being presented in the auditorium by some external group and a live kangaroo was there.  I really wanted to see that kangaroo, but admission was a dime and I didn't remember to bring a dime.  Mrs. Borthwick let me go to my dad's class to see if I could get a dime from him.  His classroom was in a separate building but no one heard me knocking on the door, so I didn't get the dime.  I was one of about three students who didn't get to go.  We also took field trips in 3rd grade.  Two that I remember were a visit to the local newspaper at The Lexington Gazette and a performance of the National Symphony Orchestra.  Both of these were in Lexington, VA. The National Symphony performed Peter and the Wolf and the conductor (I assume) explained to us which animals the various instruments represented.  Before the performance, someone from the paper came up and got three of us seated on the end of the row to go down and see the instruments up close.  So Carol Ramkey, Duane Fitzgerald (of the aforementioned ice cream incident), and I got to strum a harp and play a drum. Our picture appeared in The Gazette, as shown below.

Looking back at these makes me think  that Mrs. Borthwick had a parent who acted as the class's public relations person.  Last memory of 3rd grade: One Sunday, Bly Ann Buzzard and I had sat together in church and whispered to each other a couple of times.  Mrs. Borthwick sang in the choir.  The next day, she began class with the announcement, "I was so embarrassed by you and you for talking in church yesterday!" as she pointed to Bly Ann and me.  Sheesh.