School Days is a reoccurring feature in which I ask people about
their early memories of school. Everyone has a story to tell about
this and I hope to give them a voice here.
Here is Today's Story
Paul started kindergarten at age five
at a Catholic school in Maine during the early 1960's.
Tell me about starting school or an early school memory.
I went to St. Louis school for
kindergarten and first grade. The neighborhood was mostly French
Canadians and most of us spoke some French at home. The nuns
instructed us in English, but we usually spoke in French on the
playground. Norman was my best friend and we talked in French at
recess.
During my first year of school, I had a
lot of stomachaches and stayed home a lot. I'm not sure why, but it
could have been because there was a big bully on the playground. He
was big and chubby although I think he was only a first grader. He
lived next to Norman. Also, there was a big picture in the hallway of
the devil that freaked me out. The devil was black and charred with
big white eyes. I looked away every time I passed.
We had to walk to school but it wasn't
too far—maybe about two tenths of a mile. There was a puddle on the way
home that had water in it from rain or snow melt. I always walked
through it. It was deep enough that is would go over my goulashes
and get my feet wet. That really exasperated my mother, but she
always had a huge glass of milk and a chocolate chip cookie from the
local bakery waiting for me when I got home. That cookie was really
good.
I don't remember much about what I
learned. I do remember that we had to practice a lot of writing and
there was a match game that I really liked. Instead of Dick and Jane
readers, we had readers that featured John, Jean, and Judy. When I
moved to Sacred Heart for second grade, I was very worried that I
would not have my John, Jean, and Judy books. They had the same books and I was happy.
In first grade, we had a long term sub
that was very strict. One day I was asked to recite an answer and I
didn't know it. The teacher put her hands around my neck and
shoulders and shook me and said “Petit Paul doesn't know
the answer.” I went home and told my mother that my teacher tried
to choke me, but she didn't believe me.
Thanks for your stories.
