Barbara and Sherry and Pat and Billy Owen and maybe Debra in our neighborhood were all older than I and “old hands” at going to school. I was not, and they had told me all the bad things about going to school and how mean the teachers were and how other kids would “get you.” They had not told me about all the fun and interesting things, and that 1st Graders “got” four recesses, while the next few grades “got” three.
But even if I had known all the GOOD things, I still would have been scared to start, because I really did not KNOW any of the other children who would also be starting 1st Grade!
But, school began after Labor Day, whether I was ready or not, and I quietly slid into a desk and acted like I knew what I was doing. Mrs. Blackburn was my teacher, and a boy named Rod Stark sat in front of me. I looked around and “sort of” knew a girl, named Marsha Eudy, and a girl, named Kathy Harris, because they had visited girls in our neighborhood—and I had been around them a little bit playing outside.
I looked around for a friend, named John Price, who lived in our neighborhood, but could not find him for two reasons; he was a year older than I, and he attended Booker T. Washington Schools, which I did not know much about! And I looked for David Costello and then remembered he was a little younger than I.
I survived 1st Grade, and, if I am to be truthful, really liked school, my new friends, and even my teacher, who remained a part of my life until she passed on many, many years later. Her son, Howard Blackburn, is a member of our Preservation League and attends quite a few of our events and has donated many of his Mom’s things to the Spellman Museum.
I wonder if 1st Graders are still scared the first day of school, but I have been reminded by my Grandchildren that school now starts with Kindergarten, and 1st Graders are “old hands” at the “school deal” in this day and age! In fact, my Grandson, Luke, is entering Kindergarten and does not seem in the least bit phased or troubled, probably because he has been going to “pre-schools” for quite some time already!
But, I have not ascertained when Kindergarten began as a “regular” school class in FISD, but I am sure someone will tell me after this article “hits the stands.”
So, the purpose of this week’s article will be to see if you know, or at least recognize, the faces or names of our FEATURED FEW 1st GRADERS.
1967: (Teachers—Mrs. Sharon Longacre & Mrs. Betty Margiotta) Pat Bannister, Curtis Hendon, Andy Medina, Tina Nichols, Laurie Quinn, Virgil Richard, Teresa Watkins, Sharon Welch
1968: (Teachers—same as in 1967 the best I can gather from the remarks of a few students from that era) Ronnie Alexander, Melanie Cernock, Frank Dewberry, Lisa Feagin, Allen Greenwood, Lorenzo House, Donna Lucas, Jesus Munoz
1969: (Teachers—Mrs. Kingrea & Mrs. Hutchings) Douglas Bannister, Richard Curry, Michael Deckshot, Susan Helton, Cindy McAnally, David Newton, Elizabeth Price, Risa Roland
1970: (Teachers—Miss Linda Walker & Mrs. Saleta Welch) David Belz, Richard Neely, Rita Richman, Lee Anna Yandell, Kimberly David, Johnny Pittmon, Richard Smith, Mary Williams
Superintendent of Schools—Mr. O. B. Johnson
High School Principal—Mr. W. E. Wilson
Elementary Principal—Mr. A. D. Whitaker
**Boy, oh boy, thinking about the times of this article brings back memories of duplicating fluid, chalk dust, timed in-class worksheets, actual paddlings for wrongdoings of a large nature, and teachers who called to see about you if you were absent very many days……and prayers before the openings of lunch boxes and lunch sacks and cartons of white milk, chocolate milk, and orange drink, brought to the rooms by the lucky boys who had graduated to the “big building.”
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