Mrs. ROSS...another favorite teacher. She was loved by all the students. She was one of the nicest teachers I had.
Kindergarden: I was 5 years young. Everyone wanted to play the triangle during "Music Time". Sleeping on the floor during "Rest Time" on towels we brought from home. "Snack Time"...mmm and RECESS: MY FAVORITE TIME ! {:-) : All through grade school: SWINGS : Two sets , one not very tall and one very tall. LOVED the tall swings...I'd swing as high as I could...most of the time, higher than anyone else, because they were afraid to be that high. I WANTED TO FLY ! {:-) We'd climb up the inverted V's of the supports to the top of the support...we'd surely break some bones if we let go at that height...but no-one ever did: MONKEY BARS : I'd always hold on by the sides, swing WAY back and I could make it to the other side in three "jumps" !: BASKET BALL COURT : which was mostly a "Four Square" court. LOVED that game...one person to a quarter of a square...use a basketball and hit/bounce it (one time only) into one of the other quarters trying to get your opponent to knock it out of bounds; BASEBALL DIAMOND : on the far side of the play yard. A stone wall ran from Rt. 91 to the end of the school yard. The wall began, parallel to the school, about midway from the corner of the school and gradually rose in height to about ten levels that wrapped around the corner of the school yard and served as "bleachers" for the baseball diamond; Mostly I LOVED to RUN, pretending to be a horse...I was ALWAYS a STALLION (of Course ! ). Growing up on TV Westerns had something to do with that ! And since my father was born in Comstock, Custer Co. NE. and we had made a few trips Out West...horses meant a lot to me. There were two friends (girls), Linda DAVID and Karen BOEHM who ALSO wanted to be Stallions, which I'd argue, couldn't BE, because stallions were MALE horses ! But they girls were adamant, so we'd split up the "herd" (all our other "horse-friends") and run in three separate groups, occasionally merging into one LARGE herd of "horses"...and all run around the school yard, our "manes" flying in the breeze ! {:-)
Mrs. ROSS...another favorite teacher. She was loved by all the students. She was one of the nicest teachers I had.
(Age:8) l-r: Larry BRIGHT, Phyllis ELLENWOOD, Louis MENKLE, Connie BRAND & Paul :Second Grade: Mrs. RULEY was a large woman...mostly jovial. But one morning, someone told a joke and the punch line came just before the class bell rang. It rang and I was still laughing at the joke. Mrs. RULEY had an 18 inch ruler in her hand and she slapped my knuckles for making noise after the bell rang ! I was stunned and trying not to laugh at the same time. That ruler HURT !...??? Being reprimanded for laughing??? I didnt like her after that incident !
I was spending so much time painting murals with Linda and Karen. One day at the Ellet Cinema, Linda and I held hands by sticking our hands behind the seat opening while we watched a movie. She had an older brother, Paul DAVID, who was very beefy and nobody messed with him ! I was the proverbial skinny, 90 lb. weakling to his muscle boundness...I was fearful of him. There was a story about his getting angry one day while at the Ellet Cinema and he shoved his fist through the back of a seat...the hole was his testimony...He Scared ME !...Linda and I stopped seeing each other socially...as I recall, her brother, Paul, didn't want any guy hanging around his little sister, so I faded out of the picture.
I began taking violin lessons that year. HATED IT ! That continuous high pitch sound close to my ears DROVE ME CRAZY ! Mrs. June MARTZ was our Music Teacher. She had taught both my older brothers (Dan & Bill), so my name was Dan/Bill/Paul for five of the six years !...When I finally proved to the Violin Teacher that I DIDN"T LIKE THE VIOLIN...I'd always "forget" to bring it to school. He eventually got angry with me and got very upset with my lack of effort...I was crying and RELIEVED at the same time. That ended my violin lessons. Two weeks later, Mrs. MARTZ said..."You have such long fingers...why not try the Cello?"...So I started Cello lessons. I had no excuse for forgetting that cello ! It was SO large...I could hardly carry it ! Forget riding my bike to school on cello lesson day...that instrument and I spent the next 6 years together. I began to play Cello in the Akron School System's Annual "May Festival Orchestra". I'm on at least three records, as they recorded the Festivals. I was 12th chair in Sixth Grade and 6th chair the next year. After that, I switched to singing in the Choir until. I was still taking piano lessons from Mrs. CLELLAND a very gentle black woman, who played piano very well. I remember her curved fingers (that was a MUST for playing piano well) and have always stressed that to my piano students. I learned a LOT from her.
We had a large field and baseball diamond in one corner of the field. My sixth year, I was playing baseball with the other kids during gym class. When it was my turn to bat, I let a friend, Dana BRYANT, "pitch-hit" for me and I was going to run the bases. Even though Dana was taller than I was, I could run faster than the all other kids in my class. Dana was left handed and I neglected to take that into consideration...he was swinging the bat from left to right and I began running from behind him on his right side. He began his swing which caused his bat to meet my forehead. I blacked out. I eventually came to as I was being loaded into an ambulance. They took xrays at the hospital. I must have been ok because they let me go home that day. A large lump covered half of my forehead and the area around my left eye turned a stunning shade of black & blue. I knew then that I never wanted to repeat that "performance" again !
HYRE JR. HIGH SCHOOL YEARS: 1961-1963
Hyre Jr. High School was built on "hallowed ground"...ie. my wilderness stomping grounds...really disliked its being built in that particular area. Cheered when I heard that some rowdy juvenile delinquents had pushed over the first brick wall that was raised...
However, attending school proved to be a novel experience. First year at Hyre Jr. High School. What a change ! Not stuck in one class room ALL day...having to rush to get to the next classroom when the bells rang. Not ONE teacher, but MANY !??? Took some getting used to, but I did.
SEVENTH GRADE: 1961 (Age:13):
EIGHTH GRADE: 1962 (Age:14)
NINTH GRADE: 1963: (Age:15): I was an "upper classman"...the Senior version of jr. high school..