| Show up the steps to the second and third floors the boys up the north stairway the girls up the south keeping perfect step with the march played on the plano by one of the teachers usually Lydia Hasler was quite startled to seeboy snatched out of line formisstep He was soon jolned by others and the awkward squad was formed This squad was marched up and down the stairs tillperfect march rhythm was reached even those like Mabel Porter who had handicaps There was no compassion for the under-developed or the handicapped The practice of cadenced marching was later abandoned out of fear for the safety of the bullding as the rhythmic marching by so many students literally made the bullding sway Howloved first grade aslearned the letters of the slphabet and the numbers as we wrote them on our slates Near the end of the first year we could read from the primer suchbeautiful book with pictures of colored leaves-oak and maple suchthrill to be able to read their names rememer too the spider on an inside page of the book The first timesaw it it startled me After that asneared the part of the book whereremembered the spider picture to be gingerly turned each leaf by the merest corner untilhad passed the fearsome spider The lives ringing of the school At00m sharp the always had this job watch in his ropes with hand all his bellll soon became rang 1d part Man of our Ellertson He would stand with his great silver till the exact strength minute again then at45 well warned of the approaching school hour pull the bell 50 We were At00m he also rangcurfew We kids knew it was time to quit our game of kick the cad or stealing apples and get for home or the marshall would get us During the school day hall monitor was chosen from the sixth graders The monitor usually hadbook to read or lessons to do while tending the bell Watching the huge clock just outside the classroom across the hall from the bell rope for the small gong inside the school building the monitor rang bells signaling the end of one period or the beginning of another typical day began withsong such as Up Up in the Sky or Good Mother Hen Sits Here on Her Nest As we progressed to higher grades we sang Anerica The Old Oaken Bucket 0ld Folks at Home or such Prayer always followed this opening song In the first grade it was usually offered by the teacher in later grades bystudent Frequently there -119 |
