There was a little discussion on the COF board today about teachers, and I was thinking about Mrs. Thompson. I was a good reader when I got to her school, but there I became a good PUBLIC reader. She would have me read aloud to the school (16 of us, first through 8th grade), every day after lunch. Those kids were a tough audience, and I honed my reading skills trying to keep them happy. I also developed the habit of just skipping the words I didn't know. No one seemed to notice.
What they DID notice, however, was when I would get caught up in the story and begin to read to myself, instead of to them. They'd bring me back pretty quickly. I suppose it was because I was a good reader that I got to do this. Most of the kids in that school were farm kids, and one of them was nearly 16, still in the 7th grade. Only three of us went to high school from there, during the years I was in attendance.
Anyway, as tonight is Halloween, and I have Shunoc Brook School on my mind, I have also been thinking about the community parties we had at that school. Mrs. Thompson was a great hostess, and she made sure we were all good hosts, also. We had several family parties during the year, which meant invitations, decorations, refreshments, games, songs, and often, a little playlet. She orchestrated everything, but we did the work. It was one way to insure that the farm kids were kept interested.
Halloween was a big deal: in addition to the above, we all came in costume, adults and children. We had the very elderly and the very young in attendance, and there would be a "judging" for the best costume, and lots of games with prizes (which I'm sure Mrs. Thompson bought with her own money...nothing has changed in that way, teachers are still spending their own money on their school kids). One of the mothers was an incredible cook, and she made pies for the pie eating contest. Of course, with Mrs. T. in charge, we weren't allowed to scoff up the pies the way they do today...we had to use forks. The big boys always won, but the trying was delicious!
Our schoolhouse was at the edge of an apple orchard, and the owner would bring apples in bushel baskets and dump them on the schoolyard for us to grab. He also made sure there were many huge pumpkins for carving. That little school was definitely a community center.
I remember the year we did Dicken's Christmas Carol. Mrs. Thompson made sure every child had a part in it. The production was a great success, even though the curtain, which the big boys had strung up on wires, got stuck several times, and finally came crashing down. There wasn't a dry eye when the first grader said, "And God Bless us Everyone."
There were bad things about that school, also (outside toilets, for one!), but even those memories are suffused in the sepia light of years. I shall always be grateful for those three years, and for Mrs. Thompson. She was my champion at a time when life was very difficult for me, and school became my refuge.
Life is good, and full of good memories. Thanks be to God. Amen
6:44 PM Taking a break from reading. I'm beginning to get caught up after several days of writing, writing, writing, but I have a lot of reading still to do.
Halloween and Other Memories
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