Grade School Revisited

Remember the good, the bad, the ugly.

Have you ever taken a walk around your old grade school? I'd highly suggest it, but in these days of madness, I doubt it would be allowed.

If I close my eyes, I can walk every hall of my old school.

I can smell the chalk dust and dry erase markers. I can smell the sterile scent of desktop cleaner. I can smell the newness of everything, the new backpacks hanging on the double hooks out in the hallway, and the stiff, brand new uniforms. I can smell the lunchroom; with whatever they're serving in those hard, molded plastic trays and that pungent pink sawdust used for absorbing the puke, following the consumption of said cafeteria food.

I can smell Alicia's Mr. Sketch markers, as I sat across from her during reading and we re-created the covers to the books we were reading. I can smell the crayons in those metallic bowls, we had in kindergarten, as we practiced writing our letters on that lined vanilla paper.

I can hear the chalk clicking against the black board as the teacher wrote out the 15 spelling words we needed to know by Friday- if we got all 15 right we got a colorful certificate, telling anyone who cared, that we spelled all our words right- even "Exclamation".

I can hear the scratchy record player, playing the songs we sang along to, out of those hard covered music books. Sometimes there'd be a dreadful racket as we got our hands on the wooden sticks, tambourines and drums. I can hear the kids on the playground, shrieking with giddy excitement was they flew in circles on the tire swing, the snapping of the plastic beaded jump ropes on the pavement as we jumped double dutch, and the hollow thump of the pink rubber ball as a group of boys played kickball.

I remember the sound of that goshawful fire drill...it always took you by surprise, and made you jump 20 feet in the air.

I remember sitting on the pumpkin colored carpet and watching film strips, and reel to reel films of "Free to be...You and Me." I remember those drinking fountains, only 3.5 feet off the ground, and the toilets, also only 3.5 feet off the ground- and an Aqua Net/Malibu Musk haze filling the "lavatory".

I remember reading groups; from "Getting Ready to Read" with the cartoon animals on the cover, looking out at the starry sky, to "Bears" to "Skylights" to "Awards". There was always a little thrill as the teacher brought in the big stack of new textbooks and workbooks, and we handed back the old ones. You always wanted to get a new, glossy book, and not the dull old ones, with a million names in the "Issued To" grid.

I remember opening my purple "Addison Wesley" mathematics book, with the tropical fish on the cover. I was always apprehensive when it came to math- even with those orange counting cubes, math was never my strong point, and it showed, on those "SRA" tests we took every now and then.

Lunchtime was always the best time, though. I'd either take my lunch in my red plastic Silverhawks lunchbox, or get lunch from the hair netted lady, who served me green beans from an ice cream scoop (with my fruit cocktail and pizza). Sometimes I'd trade someone my cheese and crackers for their Giggles cookies.

Remember the nurse's office? Sitting there feeling miserable with a mercury thermometer under your tongue, or one of those blue gel ice packs on a twisted ankle.

Art class left us full of tempera, clay, glitter and glue- our works of art always lined the hallways or decorated the open classroom windows, as the warm spring breeze drifted in.

In computer class, everyone wanted to play Oregon Trail, Suffix Sense and Number Munchers on the COLOR monitors, not the old green ones. And everyone was excited to draw pictures on the Koala Pad, with the wooden popsicle stick- now THERE was technology!

But, alas, now it is time to leave. Line up outside your classroom door, wait for the bell...exit out door "D"- that's the door I'd exit out every day from 1985 to 1987. Always eager to carry the patrol's bright orange plastic flag, get home to grandma's house and eat Chips Ahoy and watch Thundercats and Voltron. Putting off my math worksheet as long as possible...

And... time moves on...

Comments

One of the two years that I went to summer school at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School when I was little, a jerk named Ana decided to hide my lunch bag and one time my backpack in the girls restroom for no reason. I don't know why she was doing it. After I discovered that she was doing, I told on the last day of summer school not to do that again and she says that she does it everyday.The next year that I saw her at summer school there, I didn't have to deal with her because she got put in a different class than me. Ana called me Charlie Brown along with those rude students when I was in middle school. When I was a Freshmen in high school, my teacher wrote Ana up for calling me Charlie Brown. I don't know why she had to be a jerk.

When I was in 5th grade, I said my cat was going to kill a teacher that I didn't like and his name was Mr. Rodkey. One of those times that I said that was when I said the h'word. I was running away from him when he was trying to have a talk with me about coming into The Learning Center talking loud because I didn't want to listen to him and he pulled me out in the hallway from my class to have a talk with me about what I was doing. That's the reason for some of my nasty attitudes in my class.

I work for the electric company and have had the chance to go to some of my old schools to do some work.It brings back a lot of memories just walking through the halls and I've actually seen some of my old teachers,which is cool considering I graduated in 1992.Man those were the days!!

Thank you for such vivid memories .It`s nice to know someone miles away can share like experiences.Iparticularly remember eagerly waiting to get home to watch cartoon blocks of silverhawks/thundercats/transformers while consuming junk food.

I remeber geting kicked in the stomach but I kicked the kid in the balls

I started in 1995; school loved me. But 6 years later, out of the head. I started getting depressed easier and finally did in 2003 in 5th grade since no one would help me. So if I were to go back, I'd go back with an atomic bomb and blow up those idiots.

I started kindergarten in 1982 and ended my 5th grade year in 1988. I can still remember details - sights, sounds, smells, and tastes. Reading your article reminded me of things I had actually forgot about from my elementary school years. Thank you so much for sharing your memories. I had a lot of fun reading them and laughing - relating to quite a few things you mentioned.

I remember getting picked on by the older kids, so if I were to go back, I'd go back with an AK-47.

High School wasn't much different, which is why I didn't go to my high school reunion either. I heard from people I know that only the jocks and cheerleaders had shown up. The cheerleaders were getting fat and the jocks were getting bald. At least I still have my hair.

Forget the 90's dude. Going to school in the early 80's was the best. We had old skool computers to play Oregon Trail on. I think it had a monochrome screen. We could bring toys to play during recess. We had parachute day. It was just f*cking cool to be a kid in the 80's. Nowadays kids don't know sh*t. All they wanna do is grow up too fast. I remember riding my bmx with friends after school for miles or until it was too dark to see. We never hung out indoors we were always outside.
Fett out.

i realy did not like school. i was afraid of it. all the things you remeberd in fondness i remeber in dread he he.

I went to elementary school in the early 1990s. I remember playing Number Munchers, Oregon Trail, and other computer games in the school's computer lab. I also remember eating lunch in our gym, which doubled as the cafeteria. I remember the workbooks too, and the fun art projects we got to do. I also remember the winter pageants our school had - how each year I had to learn how to sing a different Christmas song to perform. My favorite year for the pageant was third grade, since I got to play Frosty the Snowman! I loved playing with the blocks in math class - math was actually one of my strong points, as well as spelling. I remember competing in the spelling bees in the fourth and fifth grades, winning second place in fourth grade and winning first place in the school's fifth grade spelling bee and losing at the district spelling bee. After school, I remember going home to play outside, watch Power Rangers and Nicktoons, and eventually do my homework.

I recently took a couple of visits back to my grade school, since it's across the street from the University I go to now (didn't go far, did I?). I helped kindergarten students last spring learn how to count to twenty. I got to go to the school every Friday afternoon and look around. The school used to be two separate buildings - one for K-2, one for 3-5 grades, but now there is a new part that connects these two parts, with a brand new cafeteria and new classrooms. The auditorium where I won the spelling bee and sang those Christmas songs was still the same- the same wooden chairs, the same dark but comforting atmosphere. I also got to see many of my former teachers - their classrooms might have moved, but they were still at the school. I am glad I am out of elementary school (I remember high school way more fondly), but, like you, I still remember the sweet innocence of those days. Great article!

I started kindergarden in 1975, I didnt see any computers until Jr. high school. But the thing i remember most was the smell of the hall floors after they've been mopped. But i'm glad my school days are gone.

yeah...Mine was a lot like yours

Lockett you need a hobby. why are you always being a Dick. I know, F-me, F-that. whatever.

Thanks for the fond memories. I remember I had the same lunch everyday. Roast beef sandwich, cheese and crackers, nutty buddy, and a box of Ecto cooler from hi-c. I loved Ecto cooler, it had a Ghostbusters tie-in.

The best was when a holliday rolled around, like Halloween or Christmas, we pretty much didn't do anything at school. The last couple days spent at school until christmas vacation were spent watching movies and eating tons of candy. I don't think elementary school is like that now.

I totally relate to all of that except the dry erase markers. I don't remember ever seeing them until around high school. Oregon Trail was definatly my favorite; "you have died of dysentary." What about Tink and Tonk on the old Apple 2E computer? We had that in school also. I didn't start kindergarden until 1986.

I remember Number Munchers!! Fun times, fun times!

If anyone's interested, you can download the game at this link: http://www.pcgaming.ws/download.php?game=number_munchers

NUMBER MUNCERS!!! I loved that game. I miss the days of recess.

Ive played Chips Challenge, i find it to be a bit too easy, but a good game nontheless

WOW! Thanks for the memories. i loved getting the new textbook

I remember Oregon Trail and Number Munchers too.

wow great article, thank you for helping me remember. I just recently visited my grade school aswell.

I know how you feel dragontheater.

"if we got all 15 right we got a colorful certificate, telling anyone who cared, that we spelled all our words right- even "Exclamation".
lmao
Did that Addison Wesley mathematics books have removeable pennies, nickles, and quarters made of paper in the back?

Oregon Trail! YES!
did anyone else play Chips Challenge?

Would you believe this brought a tear to my eye? I remember like it was yesterday. I remember the feel of innocence. The belief in Santa and the Easter Bunny. The joys of Saturday morning cartoons. Someone needs to invent some sort of machine so we can feel those feelings again.

man that brought back so many memories they knocked down my old elementry school and built a new, bigger and crapper looking one. Still has the same name but i miss looking at my old elemntry school.