Mrs. Collins - Second Grade

I remember Mrs. Collins fondly.  I can picture her at the front of the class, I remember the social studies book for some reason and still being part of the foursome in reading.  I remember bringing in a mechanical pencil and used it to "poke" my initials into a standard pencil, then it got passed around the class so other could do it and I never got the mechanical pencil back.  I was very sad and Mrs. Collins was super-nice to me to make me feel better.  I remember Rocky Larocca (sp?) moving to town and not speaking much English and Mrs. Collins helping us communicate with him at first.
Second grade was the year I had to have a retainer to correct my underbite (fail) and I remember leaving class early one day - I can picture going out the door into the hall.  I know my mom sent dahlias from our garden to our teachers just about every year but I remember Mrs. Collins really liking them.
Thank you for caring enough to teach, Mrs. Collins.  You were wonderful.

Mrs. Cretu - First Grade

Well, the logical place to move on from Kindergarden is... first grade.

I can picture the classroom and remember some of the friends that were in my class (Cheryl, Patty, the Pulters, Gayle...).  Cheryl and I recently reminisced about the time Patty stapled her fingers! 

I remember getting in trouble once.  One of the very few times in my whole elementary career! ;)  Mrs. Cretu was reading Charlotte's Web.  Two other girls were whispering and distracting me and I remember shushing them.  (I think one was Stephanie).  Anyhow, all three of us wound up being sent into the hall to sit down (and miss the rest of the chapter).  I sat outside the door and eavesdropped.

I remember spelling tests.  Animal was a horrible word for me to learn to spell.  I don't remember now how I wanted to spell it, but I think I got that one wrong repeatedly.  I remember bringing in this little knight figure that my Uncle Bill gave me for show and tell and how my mom told me to be extra careful with it.

I think I remember us growing some sort of plant.  I can sort of picture seeds in little pots on the window sill.  That could be a mixed up memory from another class, though.

I think there were four of us in a reading group - Julie Waterloo?, Kevin Goodes ?, someone and I.  I think the school started segregating us into reading levels in first grade. 

Thank you for being a great teacher, Mrs. Cretu!

Mrs. Zardus - Kindergarden Teacher

As I wrote in my opening post, I'm starting this blog because my oldest daughter started to ask me questions about my childhood.  Specifically, she's been asking about what my life was like in Kindergarden.

Kindergarden was good.  I wish I could go back!  Mrs. Zardus was a great teacher - at least, I remember her that way. 

I remember being proud of learning how to spell "red".  I remember having an awful time learning how to tie my shoes and having to practice on the big boot she kept at the front of the classroom.

I remember one exercise where we had to colour in a clown and balls (each section of the picture was to be coloured a certain colour - the right arm might have had the word "red" on it, the left arm the word "blue", the hat "orange", etc.)  I remember almost everyone (including me!) did not follow directions and she was cross and we all had to do it over.  I don't know why I remember that, but I do.

I remember Lisa (Devlin?) and I racing to get to the two paperdolls before Gayle and the other Lisa got to them.  ;)  I don't remember playing with the giant tinkertoys - but I can picture a couple of the kids on them.  Tommy Konarski (?) I think was one of them.

I remember dressing up for the Mother's Day tea.  I remember lining up outside to get into class.  I remember going into Mrs. Butler's class sometimes to use the balance beam.  I loved the balance beam but we didn't have one in our class.

I remember you, Mrs. Zardus.  Thank you for giving me a great start to my school years.

I Remember You

My oldest daughter is now of an age where she asks me questions about my life as a young child.  I remember a bit, of course, not as much as I would like.  What does amaze me is how strong some names and faces remain, decades later. 

It's easy to tell my children stories of my parents, brother or cousins as those are people I know I'm expected to remember.  I'm sure I'll tell some of their stories here, too.

I want this blog to be about the people in my life who probably didn't expect to be remembered, or might be surprised to know why they're remembered. 

I used to volunteer in a centre that had a poster on the wall with the following quote:

One Hundred Years from now (excerpt from "Within My Power" by Forest Witcraft)
One Hundred Years from now
It will not matter
what kind of car I drove,
What kind of house I lived in,
how much money was in my bank account
nor what my clothes looked like.
But the world may be a better place because
I was important in the life of a child.

This blog is for those people who were important in my life as a child.  I'm writing to give them their claim to immortality.  It hasn't quite been a hundred years yet - heck, I'm not much past 40 - but I still want to acknowledge their influence on my life. 

Thank you.