chalkdust

School Days

Daisy I spent the first six grades in a two-room schoolhouse in Good Hope, West Virginia , from 1942 to 1948. In my day, there was no Kindergarten or Pre-School. First second and third grades were in one side of the building; fourth through sixth on the other side. Between the two rooms was a stairway to the basement where we ate home-cooked lunches. This "basement" was just a very large, bright room. We all sat at a long table and the food was placed on the table in large serving bowls we passed around, just like eating at home. At every meal, before we ate, we sang the Doxology. Mrs Carter was an excellent cook -she preferred that we call her " Daisy". She is one of the people by whom I was inspired in my young life. I shall never forget.

The Building I have searched for a photo of it to no avail, but from an aerial view, it seems there are two or three buildings behind which there is still a large amount of acreage as it was back then. One of those just might be that building. We got off the bus at a side street behind the general store, sometimes going inside and picking up some goodies, then walked the rest of the way. The road ended at the school building. We did not have 'snow days'. In winter chains were used on the bus tires. There was no need to close school just because of 10-12 inches of snow, and the big coal-fired furnace kept us very warm. Plenty of room around the building and during recess, we played the heck out of all those old-timey games such as farmer in the dell, ring around the rosy, pop goes the weasel, hide and go seek and of course, jump rope. And then there were the monkey bars, swings and a see-saw.

VISITING TEACHERS
WRITING AND ARITHMETIC

The "writing teacher", as we called her, would periodically visit the school and we would do scads of ovals as well as horizontal "up and down" lines on paper. Obviously, the ovals were rounded, but I don't remember what the horizontals were called. We learned the proper way to hold a pen, with the back of the wrist flat on the writing surface. Believe it or not, I actually learned to write very well that way. I do believe that method has fallen by the wayside. I know of no one who even THINKS about doing that. :D

The "Arithmetic" wizard. The only way I know to describe what he did. We would call out a string of numbers, many rows, which ended up being a block of about 70 numbers on the blackboard. He would immediately total them in seconds, just like speed reading is done today. We enjoyed the visits from both.

The Principal and teacher of fourth, fifth and sixth grades. He was quite unique also. His name was Zell Coffindaffer. He had this thing he did with a pen in each hand and signed his name by writing with both hands simultaneously, no breaks in the script. It looked like he had just signed his name with one hand. It was fascinating to watch. Periodically, we would ask him to do that on the blackboard. It was he who taught us basic arithmetic: long division, multiplication tables, etc., and study we did! When I had scarlet fever, I was quarantined at the time for our six-week test. Rather than give me a failing grade, he came to the house and gave the test to me. That is dedication.

The General Store I miss it. Inside, right in the middle of the very large room, was a big pot-bellied stove, and around the stove a few chairs and a spittoon. Bet you can guess why. :D I lived with my grandparents, and I used to go with my grandfather, AKA Pop, and we would just hang out and he and the store owner would chit-chat. Of course, Pop had his "chew" of Mail Pouch. One time the storekeeper made me an ice cream cone. It cost a nickel for two scoops, but that day he added an extra scoop, no charge. When I was in high school, I was taking a typing class and needed a typewriter. The store owner just happened to have an old Remington Noiseless of his own to sell so Pop bought it for me. I really appreciated it.

Beggars and Thieves I probably shouldn't use that phrase, but basically, it was true. I was an easy mark back then, and couldn't say 'no'. As a result, this one little gal would ask me to buy her some 'goodies' at the general store before we went off to school in the mornings. I'd do it, and at times I'd even give her money when she asked, then had to try to explain why I ran out of money for the week. When we were in fifth grade, she became a "thief"; on days when I brought a brown bag lunch, she would grab half of my sandwich and anything else that looked good. Li'l ol' bashful me just wouldn't say anything. Thank goodness, we ate the hot meals most of the time.

Recess We all looked forward to that and we got a lot of exercise in the fresh air. Some of the games we played might be alien to you if you're younger. We played "It", "Farmer in the Dell", "Mother, May I?", "Simon Says", "Hide and Go Seek", "Pop Goes the Weasel", "London Bridge", "Jump Rope" and maybe others that I've forgotten. Of course, there were swings hanging from very heavy pipe, and monkey bars. Oh, and the seesaw. Plenty of room there; just the schoolhouse and the rest was greenery. There was one house on back of that land, but I don't remember seeing the occupants come and go. So it was very quiet until we kids stormed out for recess. :D

Home My grandparents were my "parents" and our home was a farm at Tichenal, on Isaac's Creek Road about two miles from the school. After sixth grade, we were on to Junior High at West Milford, about a 12-mile ride to......

UNIDIS

1948-1949
Junior High Grade 7
Advisors

I'm trying my best to remember how to pronounce her name, but it has been many years. I do remember she told us we could call her "Miss C."

ONE YEAR LATER GRADE 8
My, how we've grown!

And then we became freshmen

The way it was...

...we didn't rely on vending machines for food... we ate home-cooked meals, brought our
own or ate at the little sandwich shop across the road on school grounds..

...the girls looked like girls- they wore dresses, skirts and blouses or sweaters, Penny loafers and saddle oxfords were popular.
Sneakers were worn in the gymnasium in Physical Ed class.

The boys usually wore casual slacks; occasionally, blue jeans and tee shirts were worn by some. Suits and ties worn on days we were photographed for the yearbook, or special occasions..

...the only "weapons" were paper wads. There Were some doozies created with wads of paper and rubber bands. On one occasion in English class, one of the boys lit a firecracker and rolled it on the floor toward the teacher's desk. It went off right behind her chair. Needless to say, he was sent to the Principal's office.

...if a student misbehaved, he/she was reprimanded and was given a note to be returned the next day signed by a parent. Believe it or not, when there was a fight or disagreement, the kids settled it on their own. It would be called "bullying" today. There were no lawsuits.

...there were no school closings due to bad weather. I lived on a farm where snow was deep and lasted from November until April. I can still hear the rattling of the chains on the bus coming down the road.

...we were given homework... even on Fridays. It was a rare treat not to have homework on weekends. (I carried at least six books home almost every day- no backpacks back then!).

...when we got home from school, our parents were there. When I hear about violence in schools now , I think how we need to go back a few years when children were supervised and taught to respect others, as well as themselves. I'm afraid that if I had small children now, I would spend most of my time in jail, because if my children needed a spanking, they got it, no matter where we were at the time. When my children got older, they were grounded and denied their most favored privileges. Now that they're grown, I wonder why they are such good people?? My son even thanked me for being the "worst mother in the world".... as he thought when he was younger and being punished. :) Yes, say what you want about the "good old days", but think about what is going on now.

If you're from that era, you will understand.
If you are not, think about it.

Ok, more time travel, and here we are again! We have completed the last 4 years and are Ready to go out into the cold, cruel world! :D

See pages 1 through 14 of the 1954 Trojan Herald Yearbook here

But we can do it. We had the very best "educational engineers". They were caring and sincere in showing us how to take our place in the world, whatever or wherever that might be. It was up to us to honor their teaching and make them proud. They were stern at times, but that was necessary. That's how we knew that they cared.

~~~~~~~~SENIOR HISTORY~~~~~~~~
Becoming freshmen in 1951, we had Pollyanne Nepps as our president. Marguerite Schweinebraten was elected “Daisy Mae” of Sadie Hawkins Day, by the high school. Mary E. Taylor was our advisor.
As the president of our sophomore class, we chose Sam Clifton. In the class tournaments we received the honor of being the best cheering section. Miss Eva Wiant was our new advisor.
In starting off our junior year, we elected Peggy Windon as our class president. In order to raise money for our Junior-Senior banquet, we had a magazine sale and Lulu Belle Law received a radio for selling the most subscriptions. The banquet and prom was held at the Hotel Stonewall Jackson BallRoom and proved to be a great success.
When finally becoming seniors and on our last step of the way, we elected Pat Adams as president. We chose maroon and white as our class colors and selected the white carnation as our class flower. As our motto, we chose “Ever Climbing”. Doris Bailey was chosen princess at the Salem Homecoming. The date for the senior play was May 13.