In the Fall of 1966 I entered the doors of Lincoln Elementary School and into Mrs. Ziebel's kindergarten class. It was where I would learn my ABC's while sitting in a circle on the floor. We had assigned spaces in the circle. After she took attendance we would sing or read stories.
It was scary at first, but, Tommy was in my class. I was so happy to already have a friend. I only wish Mrs. Ziebel was as happy for us. We would sit and talk all day long, sometimes more than Mrs. Ziebel cared for us to do. School was apparently not the time to be socializing and planning weekend adventures. Her punishment for talking in class was sitting behind the piano. I think I spent the majority of my time in kindergarten there.
I only went a half day and part of that day was taking a nap. We didn't learn to read in kindergarten, this was way before that direction of thinking. Kindergarten was more in line with what nursery school is like today. We learned how to be in school, the name of different colors, how to raise our hand to talk, taking turn on the playground, were the bathrooms were and were the graham crackers and milk were kept.
We had music class, complete with instruments. We learned to march in a line, quietly, down the hall - past the large statue of Lincoln, the big auditorium and into the gym so we could run and jump rope.
In the first few months of school they would take class and individual photos.
Mrs. Ziebel was my favorite teacher (ok she was my first teacher so that was inevitable) so I wanted to impress her with my individuality. I didn't tell my mom about picture day because I wanted to dress myself. I was very independent already and knew she would never appreciate my choice of dress.
I wore a brown plaid shirt with my favorite green polka dot vest on top. Then I had a red striped skirt, blue socks and my shoes. Quite the fashion icon. I was mismatch before my time. I didn't worry about brushing my hair since I liked how it looked when I woke up.
I would love to include a copy of that picture in this iconic outfit, but I don't think my mom bought it. I know she was very disappointed in me, but I was pretty headstrong so she never stood a chance.
I survived kindergarten (we didn't graduate in those days), and after a summer of nothing but swim suits and bare feet returned to Lincoln Elementary School for first grade. I was happy to see Tommy in my class again (apparently Mrs. Ziebel didn't rat us out). I have to admit I was a little jealous of all the new kids that were now marching with Mrs. Ziebel. How I wish I could hold her hand again to go to the gym.
Mrs. Russell was my first grade teacher. She was tall and thin, wore her hair in a beehive style and had bright red lipstick. She always wore red pumps. She was older than Mrs. Ziebel, probably about my mom's age.
She had the tough job of teaching us how to read. Dick, Jane and Sally were the text of the day. I wanted to live in their town - it seemed like such a bright, clean place. But I always wondered why they every story seemed to start with Look. Look Dick, look Jane. Oh, Oh, look at Sally.
We learned how to write more than our name. The paper had big lines on it and we would practice day after day filling pages with each of the alphabet letters. 'W' and 'M' were my favorite letters to write since they weren't curved and they were easier to control the pencil.
Gym class included running, jumping and my favorite, roller seats. They were square pieces of wood with wheels attached to them. We would roll back and forth and try to kick the ball through a goal. We also played floor hockey and kick ball. All while wearing dresses with shorts underneath the skirt. No pants for the girls, just skirts.
This time my mom was paying more attention to announcements and papers I brought home from school. As a result picture day went much more smoothly. This time my mom dressed me in my favorite red jumper and made sure my hair was done just right. It actually ended up being my favorite one.
I guess my mom knew what she was doing.
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