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It was the first day of school for grades K - 8 at St. John's today. I don't care if it is your first day in Preschool, Grade School, High School, College, or your first day as a teacher, the feelings are the same. The butterflies, the sleepless night prior to that first day, the stress over the right outfit, it is always there. On Monday, I will have my first day. If my calculations serve me correctly this is probably my 50th first day at least and it will feel the same as it did way back in 1957 when I started Preschool. That is just how it is with first days.
I shared the following on Facebook today. I shared it with the ten Facebook friends who were my classmates at St. John's way back when. I hope they enjoyed it.
Today was the first day of school at St. John's Watertown. I teach the three and four year old Preschoolers there. As I watched all those excited, happy child...ren celebrating a "first day" of school, I took time to remember my first days at St. John's and I thought about all of you. The older I get, the more I love to go back to those memories of St. John's.
Many things have changed since we have been there:
1. Our little gym is gone, replaced by a huge new gym
2. There is no longer a stage. Gone are the days where the spectators would sit up on that stage cheering on the Eagles.
3. The office is right by the front door, no longer on the second floor. Speaking of the office, the mimeograph machine is long gone. No more smelling that wonderful smell of freshly run off papers.
4. The cafeteria is the same, but only a few classes eat in it at the same time. I remember all of us eating in there, but maybe that wasn't the case. I just know it was packed.
5. There are far less students at St. John's now. Most classes are combined. I think our class had at least 40 students.
6. The playground now has play equipment because kids now a days don't know how to just play. We could do anything with just a few balls and jump ropes.
Many things have changed since we have been there:
1. Our little gym is gone, replaced by a huge new gym
2. There is no longer a stage. Gone are the days where the spectators would sit up on that stage cheering on the Eagles.
3. The office is right by the front door, no longer on the second floor. Speaking of the office, the mimeograph machine is long gone. No more smelling that wonderful smell of freshly run off papers.
4. The cafeteria is the same, but only a few classes eat in it at the same time. I remember all of us eating in there, but maybe that wasn't the case. I just know it was packed.
5. There are far less students at St. John's now. Most classes are combined. I think our class had at least 40 students.
6. The playground now has play equipment because kids now a days don't know how to just play. We could do anything with just a few balls and jump ropes.
I also took time to remember our teachers at the old St. John's. This is how I remember them, please share if you have other memories.
1. Miss Schoenike, probably the kindest teacher ever. She taught us how to read. She had a soft fur coat that I loved. She is most likely the reason I became a teacher.
2. Miss Taras and her Brown Uncle, probably the scariest teacher at St. John's. I had to stay after school and stand by the piano while she taught me how to sing. Ruined my confidence in singing for the rest of my life.
3. Miss Schlueter. It was in third grade that we learned to dial a phone when Watertown was switching over to dial phones. Does anyone else remember that? Miss Schlueter was another very kind teacher.
4. Our first man teacher and I loved him, Mr. Claus or was it Mr. Clause? He was short, funny, and fair. Anyone remember Cathy Corbin, my absolute favorite friend for two years. Her dad was in the navy and she knew lots of things. A bunch of us girls got into a lot of trouble singing around the piano about him and Miss Opperman getting married. We had to write a lot of sentences for that.
5. Mrs. Grosnick. I don't think we were very nice to her and I don't have many memories one way or the other.
6. Probably my favorite year with Mr. Gottschalk. I seem to recall someone crawling up on the tall cabinets to surprise him, but that is a foggy memory. I remember him being fun.
7. Mr. Eggers. I had so much respect for him and thought he was a wonderful teacher. Tough, but good. He taught us a lot about the new math, I think.
8. Herbie Richter, what more can I say. It was also the year of the mysterious paper clip flying through the air. Do we really know who launched that? I don't think we were a particularly a naughty class, but that year we really were naughty and disrespectful.
A lot has changed at St. John's over these many, many years, but some things are the same:
1 We still start with a chapel service every school year and go to a weekly service every Friday, I think ours were on Wednesdays.
2. The kids are still every bit as excited for their first day as we were. They still wear their newest, cutest clothes and bring in a backpack full of new school supplies. ( I don't think we had backpacks, I know I carried my books, but may have had a school bag, too)
3. The teachers are still excited for their new classes, too.
4. Friends are still so happy to see one another after a summer break. There are hugs and high fives all around.
So, today, I wanted to let all of you know that I was thinking about you and our memories at St. John's. Those memories are very special to me and each of you fits into those memories in a unique way. Thanks for being a part of my grade school history.
1. Miss Schoenike, probably the kindest teacher ever. She taught us how to read. She had a soft fur coat that I loved. She is most likely the reason I became a teacher.
2. Miss Taras and her Brown Uncle, probably the scariest teacher at St. John's. I had to stay after school and stand by the piano while she taught me how to sing. Ruined my confidence in singing for the rest of my life.
3. Miss Schlueter. It was in third grade that we learned to dial a phone when Watertown was switching over to dial phones. Does anyone else remember that? Miss Schlueter was another very kind teacher.
4. Our first man teacher and I loved him, Mr. Claus or was it Mr. Clause? He was short, funny, and fair. Anyone remember Cathy Corbin, my absolute favorite friend for two years. Her dad was in the navy and she knew lots of things. A bunch of us girls got into a lot of trouble singing around the piano about him and Miss Opperman getting married. We had to write a lot of sentences for that.
5. Mrs. Grosnick. I don't think we were very nice to her and I don't have many memories one way or the other.
6. Probably my favorite year with Mr. Gottschalk. I seem to recall someone crawling up on the tall cabinets to surprise him, but that is a foggy memory. I remember him being fun.
7. Mr. Eggers. I had so much respect for him and thought he was a wonderful teacher. Tough, but good. He taught us a lot about the new math, I think.
8. Herbie Richter, what more can I say. It was also the year of the mysterious paper clip flying through the air. Do we really know who launched that? I don't think we were a particularly a naughty class, but that year we really were naughty and disrespectful.
A lot has changed at St. John's over these many, many years, but some things are the same:
1 We still start with a chapel service every school year and go to a weekly service every Friday, I think ours were on Wednesdays.
2. The kids are still every bit as excited for their first day as we were. They still wear their newest, cutest clothes and bring in a backpack full of new school supplies. ( I don't think we had backpacks, I know I carried my books, but may have had a school bag, too)
3. The teachers are still excited for their new classes, too.
4. Friends are still so happy to see one another after a summer break. There are hugs and high fives all around.
So, today, I wanted to let all of you know that I was thinking about you and our memories at St. John's. Those memories are very special to me and each of you fits into those memories in a unique way. Thanks for being a part of my grade school history.
1 comment:
What great memories! Just thinking about the smell of mimeograph ink takes me back. I agree with your assessments of the mini-bios of the teachers. My favorite was Mr. Richter. None of that new math stuff -- teach the kids how to make change and balance a checkbook. And he taught me how to play the church organ -- roughly 1/4 of my income for many years. You're a great personal historian for all of us. I'm going to show this to Norm. Thanks.
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