Upon reaching the first day of school~

You know, it was only a big fat blue pencil, freshly sharpened by my daddy.  The eraser was pristine, no mistakes had yet been made to make it any different.  Probably, even by the economic standards of September of 1960, it hadn't cost my parents more than a few pennies.  But in the hands of a little kindergarten girl named Peggy, it was a treasure to behold.  And it only took me 5 minutes of playing with it when I should have been listening to my teacher, to have it taken away from me on the very first day of school.  52 years later, that little kid still remembers and smiles at the memory.

As an educator, now for 35 years, I have had the privilege to see many "first days of school" come and go.  In as much as I say always that it seems the education system keeps changing every single year, (heck sometimes every single week!)  there are still so many things that stay the same.  That excitement, the nervous expectation on the part of children, parents, and teachers alike is one of those things that will always be a constant.

We are still two days away from our official first day of school here in Hutchinson, Kansas~USD 308.  But for days now, teachers and staff have been very busy readying the classrooms as we anticipate the arrival, now in a little over 48 hours, of our "kids".   My fellow teaching cohorts at Lincoln Elementary have been busy all summer, either taking classes or preparing their rooms at school for this, the 2012-2013 year.  And it's not just at Lincoln that this happens or all over Hutch for that matter.  Whether it's in the "heart of the nation", on an Indian reservation in the desert south west, in the inner city schools of Chicago or Philadelphia, or the kitchen table of the "home school" setting, teachers are getting ready and their students are doing so as well.  I'm grateful to still be a part of it.

Actually I kind of knew better, but I made the unfortunate decision to journey to Wal Mart over the weekend to pick up some things needed here at home. I had forgotten that perhaps 75% of Reno County would also be there at the same time and most of those customers would be frequenting the school section aisles of the store.  It was "wall to wall" with carts that were filled to the brims with notebooks, crayolas, pens and pencils, Sharpies, folders, scissors and glue, and a thousand other things that kids thought sure they would need to have a successful school year.  Even though I hate shopping with crowds of folks around me, all of us "jockeying" for the shortest check out line, it was fun to see the smiles on the faces of the kids as they held different items in their little hands, trying to decide which ones suited them best.  Kind of put a lump in my throat to think of the 3 little children that I once bought school supplies for, now so very many years ago.

Back in the "dark ages" when I was a kid, things were sure different.  We were farm kids and I have few memories of ever going shopping with my parents for school supplies.  With seven kids in  our family, I'm sure they must have made the trip alone to Dennis' Variety Store in down town Halstead, Kansas to purchase what they believed we would need.  Where kids nowadays need a huge backpack to carry their supplies for school in, I'm thinking that all of ours fit in a tiny little cigar style box.  After all, back in those times a pencil or two, a pair of scissors, 8 crayolas and a bottle of glue would take you a long ways, or at least you could hope! Not only did we know what "hand me down" school clothes were like in our family, we also knew what "hand me down" school supplies were like too.  And oh yeah,  no cute boxes of Kleenex were needed for each kid in the 1960's~when you needed to blow your nose at school, you just went into the bathroom and used toilet paper, just like you would at home :)  I guess you could say that things have kind of changed.

Children today are being taught to read and comprehend what the printed material means to them by teachers who have received the latest of training in strategies that will help students become more successful in school.  We are blessed today, in 2012,  to have a wealth of materials, training and support, and the technology that accompanies it in order to ensure that not only are students  able to read, but are able to read well.  Back in "the day", kids like me learned to read from our friends "Jack and Janet", "Tip and Mitten" and "Dick, Jane and Sally".  My teachers at Burrton and Haven Grade Schools didn't have any special training, no one sent them to inservice on a monthly basis.  They did their level best, with love in their hearts for students, and my generation learned to read any ways.  Not saying by any means that I would love for us to go back to that time in education but the memories of holding that "first book" in my hands and knowing that inside of it was the key to my future, STILL sends chills up my spine.  Learning is learning, no matter it be 52 years ago, or right now.  

Well, the clock is "ticking" in more ways than one and I've got to get myself ready to get out the door.  Much to be done as we finish up and get ourselves ready for the first day of school this week, Wednesday the 15th of August.  And oh, by the way....the deal about that big fat blue pencil that I promptly "lost" on the first day of kindergarten now so very long ago.  Really, I was only rolling it back and forth with my new best friend Shirley Ann.  We were listening to our teacher, I promise!  Those two "little girls" were only doing what they would refer to in the future as "multi-tasking"~paying attention AND having fun at the same time.  Unfortunately our teacher, a most beautiful and wonderful woman named Jo Marmont, didn't quite see things that way.  I can still see her beautiful shiny red fingernails, smell the sweet cologne that she always wore and in my heart remember the love that she had for all of us kids.  She's one of the reasons I became the teacher that I am today.  Have a good day everyone out there!  Enjoy life, enjoy the reason we are even here.

Josephine Marmont and the kindergarten kids of Burrton Grade School for the 1960-61 school year.  She loved us all~we were HER kids!  I didn't realize it at the time, but now I surely do so see that.  Little Peggy Ann Scott, front row (of COURSE), far right.   Her hand was holding on to my collar.  She must have really loved me cause I don't think she would be doing that because I was wiggling around too much :)

Miss Marmont taught me to read and to love a good book.  Once a "book worm" always a book worm.  This is a picture taken 11 years later in 1971 on the day that a "human chain" was formed to send books from the old Haven High School building to the brand new one.  I was the "shelving girl" that day!