|
It is indeed more difficult to write about my public education experiences than the other experiences already described. Apparently the others made a more lasting impression upon me. From the things already described, one might think that I never went to school at all and that all of my time was spent in the store, the cannery, oil yards, grain yard, truck patches, or in some other experience. Quite the contrary - these were all done beforeor after school hours, during vacation times, weekends or in the summer. I do not remember missing any school because of these activities. Even my dad'strips to Baltimore would be scheduled at a time when I was not In school.
My first three or four years of school were in the primary building, a wooden, four-room structure closer to home than the other school buildings that I attended. Later it became a community center for the town.
I do not remember much about those years, except the things that we used to make to take home around the holidays, such as turkeys pilgrims made from construction paper at Thanksgiving, paper chairs and decorations for the tree at Christmas, and goblins and black cats at Halloween.
I do remember getting a good whippingfrom my first grade teacher, who was also the principal of the primary school, for supposedly locking some girls in the girls' outdoor toilet. The boys' and girls' outdoor toilets each had a high board fence around them and each had one gate for entering, the gate made of the same kinds of boards. The gate contained a hasp so that it could be locked at night.
Some older boys shut the gate on some girls in the toilet, rammed a stick through the hasp, and drafted me to stand guard to keep others from removing the stick. I was naive and gullible. Some other girls immediately reported my guard duty to the principal and also gave me the credit for the whole affair. The principal issued summons for my appearance and promptly let me have it with a part of an old buggy whip that she kept on hand for such incorrigibles. I tried to explain my minor role but not in enough detail as to implicate the others for fear that I might get beaten up by them also. This experience taught me to be more selective in choosing my playmates in the future and also not to be so trusting of just anybody.
In trying to write about it, I am embarrassed that I remember so littleabout my early school experiences. Going to school was definitely not one of my favorite activities; there was so much to do and to learn elsewhere. I guess no one was more surprised than I when I decided in later years to make teaching my career. When it was put to me to decide what course I would follow in college, I guess I was impressed then by my brother's success already as a teacher and decided that I had to keep up with him.'
I think that both my fourth and fifth grades were spent in temporary buildings on the grounds of the high school. We called them "chicken coops." During this period a new high school building was constructed and the following changes were made: the high school classes and the sixth and seventh grades were moved to the new building in the fall of 1925 and the first five gradeswere housed in the old high school building.
I do remember that it was a nice experience to spend the next six years in a new building. Just as recently as 1980 some school divisions throughout the nation were discussing the possibility of "departmentalizing" the upper grades.
My sixth and seventh grades in 1925-26 and 1926-27 were departmentalized to a degree because we remained in the same room all day but had different teachers who came in to teach music, art, arithmetic, English, and social studies.
I have been impressed during my public school teaching and administrative experience with the number of times we turn a complete circle in public education and come up with a "new" idea that was already in practice as much as forty or fifty years ago.
Having a sense of humor and finding things to laugh at or about, is a great asset and I have always tried to develop and maintain one. I recall that in the new school building the floors in the halls were made of terrazzo and a noise created by contact with them made an echo throughout the hallway.
One day during the "silent reading" period some lady wearing shoes with hard heels came walking down the hall at a rapid pace and the click.. click.. click of her heels on that terrazzo echoing throughout the hallway struck me as funny and I laughed out loud. To me it was funny but not to Mrs. Rairigh, my teacher. I spent the next hour or so standing in the cloak room facing a corner until she thought I might be able to return to my seat and maintain a serious composure.
The Maryland schools had a good, well-planned, statewide physical education program. Students in the upper grades and even in high school participated in various athletic events such as high jumping, broad jumping, relay running, hurdles, shotput, discus throwing, and other such events. Awards were given at the local school level during the year when one attained the stated requirements. These awards were bronze, silver, and gold badges with appropriate bars to be attached for achievements beyond the gold badge. Each level required achievements in broad jumping, high jumping, chinning, and running. These awards were made by the State Department of education on a statewide basis. Thus, each badge was recognized anywhere in the state as representative of a certain level of attainment.
Once each year, in addition to the local contests, a district contest was held with the best representatives selected from each school to compete for the highest honors, especially in events requiring ateam effort. Individuals could also participate for district recognition if they cared to do so. The same types of badges and honors were given, bronze, silver, and gold, but they had "district level" inscribed on them to distinguish them from the local level.
Our high school was called "Caroline High School." A newspaper called the "Carolinian" was published monthly by a staff of selected students under the supervision of a faculty advisor. I had a role in publishing that paper in my senior year; I was sports editor. In the last issue of my senior year I noted that Caroline High School took first place in the district track meet that spring, scoring more points than any school had previously scored in a track meet.
The 660-yard relay was my specialty and I, as one of the four runners on the team, ran the 110-yard part of the 660. I remember that we were taught to back up on the track and start running along beside the runner from whom we were to receive the stick so that by the time he crossed the line at the end of his sprint the next runner was traveling at the same speed and no time was lost in the transfer...
Other high school sports for boysincluded soccer and baseball. The girls also played a competitive sport called field ball, somewhat similar to soccer but not as strenuous or aggressive. I made the soccer team but warmed the bench more than I kicked the ball.
We did not have a gymnasium, making it necessary for all sports to be played outdoors. Basketball and football were sports unknown to students on the Eastern Shore in my day and I did not see either sport played until I enrolled in college at Bridgewater, Virginia. Soccer eventually gave way to football almost everywhere but has been making a comeback in recent years...
I must have either repented or been motivated in my senior year, however, because I had some accomplishments of which I was proud. I was one of eight achievers honored with an invitation to the Rotary Club one month, was one of two best citizens nominated for membership in the De Moley, a Masonic-sponsored organization for promising young high school seniors (which my parents prevented me from accepting since it was sponsored by the Masons, a secret organization which were then opposed by the Church of the Brethren), was on the Carolinian staff, participated in sports, and to top it all, worked one period each day in the principal's office.' In this particular job I ran errands, posted bulletin boards, helped count the daily receipts, and took the daily deposit to the bank along with several checks for teachers when they were paid at the end of the month.
I assumed this job conscientiously and did well. Mr. B. C. Willis was our principal and he took a liking to me. Either he was not aware of my mischief of previous years or he was finding that motivating and challenging experience that I spoke of in a previous paragraph. Mr. Willis served as principal during the same four years that I was enrolled in high school, then left to become principal of Catonsville High School, a suburb of Baltimore. He later returned to Caroline County as superintendent of schools. He received fame for his work later as superintendent of Chicago schools...
There was some social life among high school students at Caroline High School but most of it was self-sponsored, by various groups on their own. Such activities consisted of going to the beaches (Rehoboth Beach and Ocean City), outings to WillistonLake or the old mill pond near Denton for swimming, and a few home parties. I have no recollection of social activities sponsored by the school, except perhaps an event in the senior year. If there were any, I did not participate. Most of my social activities were church sponsored except for participation in P.T.A. programs and the volunteer firemen's carnival and minstrel programs.
There were school buses that brought students into CarolineHigh School but those of us that lived in West Denton lived close enough to the schools to be Ineligible for bus pickup. One of my close friends, Kenneth Altfather lived about two miles west of Denton on the Hillsboro road, which had been paved with concrete during my childhood. There were several children in the family with Kenneth being my age and Neven slightly younger. They rode the school bus in cold weather, but for a couple of years they roller skated to school when the weather was warm, wearing out many sets of metal wheels on their skates.
Later Kenneth would ride his bicycle to my dad's store and we would ride together to school on our bikes. One in a while, on Saturday morning, I would go to his home where we would make repairs on our bikes, or we might take a ride to one of the nearby towns. His roller skating inspired me to try to learn to skate, but after a considerable number of unsuccessful attempts on the sidewalk of the old drawbridge (where I could hold on to the hand rail) I gave up.
Before my bicycle and Model T rides to school, a group of us from West Denton walked together to and from school. Sometimes we would try to catch a ride on a farm wagon or on the back of a horse drawn buggy, risking the possibility of the occupant lashing his buggy whip around behind the buggy and giving us a good flogging.
It was on one of these walks from school that I learned from the group about Mr. Carrol Pastorfield's death. He had accidentally killed himself crossing a fence while hunting that day. Mr. Pastorfield operated the store diagonally across from my dad's store and, while he and dad were competitors, they were good friends, always lending each other merchandise if one ran out before the next shipment arrived.
I did not fail any grade while attending primary or elementary school, nor did I fail any subject in high school. I had above average grades on the whole, and that record, along with my participation in extra-curricular activities, was another one of the bridges that I crossed in preparation for entering college and eventually for participating in a successful career.
|
