Making the Grade

 

 

.... IN a few short years many of the kids I hung with would exchange these home uniforms for a different uniform . They would leave this neighbourhood and travel to a far distant Neighbourhood .. One of our gang never returned . Many of those who did , returned wounded in body or spirit or both .

As we grew our boundaries widened . From our own small yards , to the Block we lived on , from the Block to the Neigborhood , Neighborhood to District , and district to City . From City to county and county to state and state to region and region to nation and from the nation to the world . As we matured so our world view matured ...Or so I thought .

The world I was growing up in was changing ...there were hints and portents of storms coming , but for the most part it was the Shire before Camelot , Camelot before Dallas and the Gulf of Tonkin .

Somehow in the mix of all this I found myself being moved along by the current of education ..passing from one grade to another ..each time ending up for a brief sojourn with a different teacher , each one unique , each one adding to my life .

I still remember their names ..Mrs Younger , Mrs Schoonover , Mrs Buchanon , Mrs Heller These ladies took me through First grade to Fourth .

Recently I found some of my report cards from these grade school years . THe First teacher Comment i got was from Mrs Younger It reads " Kenneth shows improvement in his work, and gets along well with others . The class has enjoyed his contributions ot he science shelf . Her is a bit quiet but he will probably overcame that with maturity. Nov. 13th 1953 . In those days we were graded on a C , S, and N scale C indicated commendation for special effort and attention . S was for Satisfactory progress consistant with ability. and N indicated need for more effort if progress is to be consistant with Ability.

That " ability " word was the moving target .

My first Grade report card was filled with S's With a possible 84 Grades I had 81 S's and 3 C 's :

Apparently I was not really living up to my " ability ". The last comment made by Mrs younger was " Kenneth has fewer difficulties with others " .

It was in Second grade I began to realize that Teaching is a Subjective Science , and if the Subject is kind to the teacher ..good things may follow . Mrs Schoonover liked me ...The report card from second grade is filled with C's and S's 19 C's ..Second grade was a very good year , the only negative comments were " Kenneth doesn't try to sing " and " His biggest problem is spelling "

Third grade : Mrs Buchannon ..I really don't remember much about her ..looking at my report card its obvious she was glad to see me leave. This was the first year I Got the dreaded N ..three of them . Looking over this report card I have to say I am confused ..I received N's for not being able to work independently and observing School rules . But I received C's for developing a variety of intersts , and contributing valuable information to the class , expressing my thoughts well orally , Expressing them well in witting , Reading with interest , aquiring reading skills , and taking part in discussions.

Mrs Buchannons comments on the Card : were not all that encouraging ..." he has been wasteful in doing worthwhile thngs while he has the time " Kenneth is not cooperating in some phases of our school program " " I would welcome a conference with you " The Last entry o the 3rd grade card was simply " Kenneth should do very well in the 4th grade "

I really don't know what was going on here ...I do know at this time I was reading a lot ..I had a lot to share , and I was bored with my assignments . It was during this grade i was encouraged to be in some advanced classes offered at the school ... I suspect it was as much of a personality clash as anything ...I also remember my parents not being very happy with Mrs Bucannon as well .

MY fourth Grade teacher was Mrs Hiller :

The new wrinkle in fourth grade was apparently I was not good at caring for school property ..a shadow of the infamous explosion in special science I guess : The C's and S's were starting to follow a ver predictable pattern , and my witting and spelling were still my most glaring defects . 4th grade was my most healthy year ..the Allergy shots were working and I was only absent for 7 days the entire school year . Contrast with being absent 33 days in first grade , 29 in second , and 25 in 3rd .

For many children this much absenteeism would have been devastating , but I had a secret weapon . MY Mother . Mom worked with me almost daily , using flash cards for Spelling , Math and even History . Between my mother , and my reading and conversations with my father and His friends I was receiving an education that really supplemented the one I was getting at school.

MY parents attended all of my " Conferences " usually together . They were also active in the PTA .

My Primary grades ended with 4th grade ... The final comment from Mrs Hiller seems somewhat cryptic to me ..." It has been a pleasure to work with Kenny , he has improved in so many areas , but please Kenny watch that language " .

Thinking about these four years of school I gt a sense that school was not the foundation of my early education it was rather the forum I expressed it . fair to say I may be thinking way to highly of myself , and have dramatically underestimated the impact of these wonderful teachers on my life , but those memories do seem to be repressed . They guided me some encouraged me ...they watched over me ...but other factors other teachers apart from School were definitely adding so much to my limited world view . The next few grades would bring into my life some key figures and important teachers .