Archive Closet Find: School Years

I ventured into the Archive Closet recently and pulled out a few more items to downsize. This time, I found a fun School Years binder that had pockets for mementos from each school year, a place for yearly school photographs, and various questions for the parent or student to answer about their current life and future dreams.

Here are some observations I made in reading my School Years:

In Kindergarten, I attended East Clark Elementary School in Cleveland’s Collinwood neighborhood, where Mrs. Durnbaugh was my teacher. Here, I was graded on subjects like “Works well and plays well with others,” “Follows directions,” “Takes care of wraps,” etc. The weird thing is that they gave out letter grades for these things! What skill separated whether I earned an A or an F in how well I hung my coat up, or if I offered “good ideas?” I got a C in completes work on time, and an A in “Works and plays well with others.” Apparently, my ideas were only so-so, as I got Bs in that all year.

My teacher wrote, “Nancy is especially thoughtful about helping new children get acquainted with our group.” In other words, I was a busybody!

 

In 1st grade, I switched schools to attend St. Joseph Catholic School, also in Collinwood. My teacher was Sister Nativa. Sister and I were evidently close. One achievement that year: I was “Sister Nativa’s ‘Right Hand’” according to Mom’s notes. I do remember getting a “First Honors” certificate that Mom framed and had on display in our living room. This is spite of the fact that I could not spell my own name: Nancy Gilbribr! 

My spelling-challenged signature in first grade.

In the “When I grow up I want to be…” section that year, the obvious choice was that I wanted to be a “school teacher.” Admittedly, the choices were pretty slim for little girls back then: Mother, Nurse, School Teacher, Airline Hostess, Model, and Secretary.

Surprisingly, I FAILED in conduct for the first term, and for effort in the third term that year. “I feel Nancy could try just a little harder,” Sister wrote.

Second grade saw another school change when we moved away from the Collinwood neighborhood to Eastlake, and I attended Immaculate Conception Catholic School (ICCS), in Willoughby, Ohio. Here, I made my First Communion and joined a Brownie troop. Mom wrote that I had “Many new experiences – New School, New Friends, Riding Bus, and Eating Lunch at School.” I had forgotten about the change in getting to and from school. When I attended East Clark and St. Joseph, we were allowed to walk home for lunch, as we lived very close to those schools. Once we moved to Eastlake, we rode the bus and the days of brown paper sack lunches began. My occupational aspirations moved up a notch to “nurse.”

First Communion artwork made with tissue paper, construction paper, wheat, and pompoms.

 

Mrs. Clinger was my 3rd grade teacher, and I still vaguely recall her cat glasses and white hair. Third grade achievements included joining Brownies and participating in a Catholic holy day procession. Processions were important on saint’s feast days, and they featured dozens of students dressed in their Sunday best, bringing flowers to decorate the altar for the Mass.

Third grade also marked my first exposure to standardized testing, with the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. I did pretty well, scoring above 93% of the kids my age, and I did particularly well in language, vocabulary, and reading (Do we sense the beginnings of a writer here?). Surprisingly, I also got a 90 on math, my least favorite subject.

I was conflicted about my future occupation, as I left that blank!

My 4th grade year was my last at ICCS, and Mrs. Backus was my teacher. My parents split up during that year, and they divorced after we moved to Willowick, Ohio, the following summer.

Mom noted my activities like Girl Scout bowling and skating. I was surprised to see that I participated in the Cleveland Press Spelling Bee that year. I’d totally forgotten about that and don’t recall a lick of it. In a fun coincidence, our daughter Anne was a champion speller in grade school here in Texas.

I also started to fill in some answers myself in School Years. My new friends were Janet Lynch and Linda Alexander. I signed my name in nice cursive, and I noted that I wanted to be a “model.”

My much-improved fourth grade signature.

After my parents got divorced that summer between 4th and 5th grade, Mom never wrote in this book again. It’s understandable, as she raised me and my three siblings and was working full time and then some. Who had time?

After we moved, my siblings and I were enrolled at St. Mary Magdalene School (SMMS) in Willowick, the last Catholic school we would attend. At some point later, I went back and filled in my own info in the book. In 5th and 6th grades I still wanted to be a “model.” In 7^th grade I just noted my teachers and one friend. No school photos were attached.

I had a lot more "new" friends in 8th grade, and found track as a sport, literally following in my big brother’s footsteps. We both participated in Junior Olympics the summer after 8^th grade.

I made yet another school change for 9^th grade, as SMMS only went through 8^th grade. On to Willowick Junior High School. In 9th grade they had eliminated the occupation questions in School Years, but I wrote “This year i want to be a Paramedic or a Police woman.”  These were reflective of my TV-watching habits, as I watched Emergency! which premiered in 1972. Mom enjoyed Policewoman (1974-1978) with Angie Dickinson, so that’s probably where that thought came from. It all seemed so glamorous on TV!

Most of the pages dedicated to high school were blank; I only entered my schools and age: North High School for 10^th-12^th grade, and ages 14-17. I really came out of my shell during those years and participated in numerous activities which left little time to think about School Years. Even that is telling.

It surprised me to learn as much as I did by looking through School Years. It was reflective of what was happening in my life and our family life at the time. 

I’m giving myself a B+ on this downsizing effort; I did throw away a good many random school papers, but I will keep the binder, my report cards, and some better art pieces.

Until next time,

Follow my blog with Bloglovin 

© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2024. All rights reserved.