A PERSONAL NEW MEXICO HISTORY
PAGE TWELVE
ENTRY: More Fourth-Grade Memories
Remember "phonics sticks"?
There were two of them and they looked like long bookmarks. They were gray
with red and black printing on them. We used them daily to drill the sounds
of the English language into our heads. . . . "C says kuh, kuh, kuh.
. . .
D says duh, duh, duh. . . ." Remember? They worked. There's
a lot to be said for rote learning. Years later phonics sticks would be
discarded in favor of new educational techniques and programs prescribed
by the state department. Then, after a few more years, we would begin to
see articles in national magazines such as " TIME" and "
NEWSWEEK" with titles like
" Why Johnny Can't Read" and "Our Public School Failures."
Well. . . . . . . . . . . all I have to say is duh, duh, duh.
Here's a thought. I don't remember
the teachers on playground duty having whistles until we moved to this
new school, do you?
Maybe they did, and I just don't remember. However, it's possible that
the whistles that they wore around their necks during recess were an innovation
designed to compensate for our new, extremely large playground area.
In this new school, Mrs. Recer
doesn't come to our classrooms for music . . . . we go to her room, instead.
I'm sure she enjoys not having to lug that record player around anymore.
Her room is really nice, with big posters showing the instruments of the
orchestra, the major composers, etc. . . all that stuff that fascinates
me for some reason.
Remember the music staff marker Mrs. Recer always
carried with her? It was a wood and wire contraption which held five
pieces of chalk, evenly spaced, so that when she drug it across the blackboard,
it created the five lines of a music staff.
Well, she doesn't use it so much anymore, because the new blackboard in
her room has a permanant five-lined staff that goes clear across the top.
Actually, everyone (teachers and students both) are trying to break the
habit of using the term "blackboard". We're now calling
it a "chalkboard" instead, since all the boards in the new school
are not black, but green.
(The above paragraph was added as an afterthought on 02/12/00)
Each wing of classrooms has a wide sidewalk all along the south side, outside the rooms, with a metal roof shading its entire length. Lots of games of "Jacks" are played here, using various rubber balls and also golf balls. Golf balls are best because they bounce higher. (The superball won't be invented for several years)
Remember the janitors? Already,
in 1956, we're changing their name to custodians; but I really don't think
they minded being called janitors. It's an honest profession and many of
them are father and grandfather figures to kids our age. Remember some
of their names: Mr. James Ace Williams, Mr. W. A. Green, Mr. Carl Williams,
Mr. George Allen, Mr. D.C. Murray, Mr. Frank Awbrey,
Mr. Loyd Awbrey, Mr. M.C. Waller, Mr. James B. Jones, and
Mr. B.L. Pittman.
I wish some of you would share your memories of these men with us. Just click on the "Comments" line, under my picture on the coverpage to send them. We are still looking for more shared memories of all the teachers, also---to say nothing of the busdrivers, the cafeteria staff, and the administration personnel. Please let us know what you remember about these people, who were so much a part of our lives back then.
Some of the cafeteria ladies of this period were: Velva Morris, Lura Mosley, Laveta Mae Searcy, Margaret Wood, Maggie Swaim, Lillie Hill, Georgia Stevens, and Jane Wright.
Bus drivers were: Mr. Lewallen, Mr. Peacock, Miss Pendleton, Mrs. Armstrong, and Mrs. Crawford.
Oh, and
let's not forget the school nurses: Louise Webb and
Ethelva Byous.
My teacher,
Mrs. West (later Mrs. Williams) was one of the finest people you'll ever
meet. I know, we all seem to remember our teachers as the nicest, the best,
etc. . . . but perhaps in Jal's case they all were. Anyway, my point is
that you would probably get the same description of Mrs. West not just
from her students, but from anyone who ever knew her.
My most vivid memory of her was not when I was in her room
in the fourth grade, but the next year, in the fifth grade.
I suppose this incident sticks in my mind because is was somewhat embarrassing
for me. Funny how that works, isn't it? One morning in the fifth grade
I began to feel very sick. I was excused from class to go to the nurse's
office, and on walking down the long, wide sidewalk along our wing of classrooms,
I encountered Mrs. West coming toward me. We smiled and spoke to each other;
then, just as we passed, I grabbed one of the metal poles which supported
the roof, swung around over the gravel, and threw up. Mrs. West rushed
back to help me and escorted me the rest of the way to the nurse's office
before going back to her class. Naturally, I was mortified, but somehow
she made it seem okay. She had a real talent for making her students feel
good about themselves. . .
. . . under any circumstances.
(Copyright 1998, by Jalfalfa)