Bill Dobbs remembers

After reading the posts about teachers, Bill Dobbs wrote me about his memories of teachers over 60 years:

Memories of a first grader

It was the fall of 1946 when I started school. I was 6 years old and fresh off the farm. On my first day of school, I remember being assigned to Mrs. Wanda Johnson’s room where we all took our seats. I was seated toward the back and I was astounded to see a little white haired girl sitting several seats in front of me. Mrs. Johnson called our names and we each approached her desk where she gave us a page from a tablet. I think that the exercise was to put names and faces together. I then learned that the little white haired girl was Jeannie Cooper who would be a friend through 12 years in Temple and through college and beyond. Jeannie was not white haired at all but just about as blond as one could get. But once again, it was my first day of school, what did I know?

Mrs. Johnson’s class was too large, so an overflow (first and second grade) class taught by Mrs. Wilkins was created and that is where I was assigned. Our classroom was the one just to the south of the back of the auditorium, just up the hall from the girl’s restroom. In Mrs. Wilkins class, I met many friends for life.

I remember first seeing Roger Norman in class and was very intrigued to see that he was wearing short pants. This was quite novel to me since my fashion world was centered on blue roundhouse farmer overalls.

In the first grade, one not only learns academically but also learns the rules and customs of school. One of the terms used, if a restroom trip was necessary, was to ask the teacher, “May I go to the basement?” Where did such a term come from? Years later, I learned that the old school building that had not been around for about ten years had the restrooms in the basement. It’s funny how such a term can take on a life of its own. I think the phrase did go away after two or three years though.

In 1946, the cafeteria had not yet been built. For those who brought lunch, we would have it in the large sixth grade room at the south end of the building. I can still remember the great diversity of smells that came from the room as lunch boxes were opened. To a first grader, the sixth grade desks seemed enormous. Usually, two first graders could sit at one desk eating lunch with feet not touching the floor.

During my first year of school, I rode the bus driven by Harry Bizzell. One morning my mother fixed my lunch and packed it in a brown paper bag. She also filled a pint fruit jar with milk and placed it in the bag as well. On that particular day, I was riding on the front seat of the bus by the door. As we proceeded to school, the bus made a sudden stop and the lunch jumped from my lap and onto the floor. The jar of milk broke and ruined my lunch. Later that day at lunch time, Harry came to my classroom and took me downtown and bought me my lunch. Such a simple act of kindness and thoughtfulness can be remembered for a long time.

Being fresh off the farm, I had not attended kindergarten and of course learning to read was a big deal. Years later my Dad would tell how I would sit in his lap learning to read and at times would cry from frustration. The reading program used was “The Friendly Village” series and it was used through the fourth or fifth grade. The characters in the series were Alice and Jerry and their dog Jip. Mr. Carl was their mentor. I think that he was a cobbler. I have had phrases burned in my memory such as, “See Jerry run. Run Jerry run. Run, run, run!”

Mrs. Wilkins set up a little woodworking shop at the back of our classroom. It had a workbench and some simple hand tools. There she taught us how to do some woodworking. I remember making an elephant pull toy. Little diversions from the everyday drudgery of writing in penmanship books were a pleasure. Even passing the wastebasket, sharpening a pencil or dusting erasers helped to break the monotony.