flint's shotgun primer story conjured up a memory.
the elementary school i went to grades 4,5,and 6 at was called south ward,it did have another name,it was named after a woman named fanny finch,but there were four elementaries in town,and they were all designated with the ward title,north,south,east,and west.
i believe it was built in the 30's,or actually rebuilt,because the original was destroyed by a tornado,it's still in use today but was added on to since i was there.it was a red brick building and the auditorium served as the lunchroom also,they had a television set up on the stage and when the buses arrived before school would start we would bail out and go there and watch the three stooges,they did this so the kids would be occupied till the school day started and to keep the boys from rough housing,but more fights broke out jockeying for position to get off the buses to get good seats for the stooges than probably would have otherwise.
it seems there were always little respondsibilities for the kids that either helped them out or taught a lesson about respondsibility,there were two sixth grade classes and the boys from these classes got to work in the lunch room for a week at a time for a couple of hours a day,and if they did they got their lunch for free that week.
i can't remember how many times a year the rotation would get back to you but it would break up the boredom of the school day,yes,i got bored in school
,it was strictly voluntary
,but i don't remember anybody turning it down.i don't remember any free lunch programs then,but they could have assisted some,i just don't remember it being mentioned,but the might have been using a little tact.
when you worked in there,you would have one of several jobs to do,raking slop off the trays into a large trash can as the kids brought their empty trays up,washing the trays and silver ware,or actually loading them in a restuarant style dish washer,i think there was someone doing a spray off before that,and one other job.
well,in the wintertime,a boy in class would help the teacher light the gas space heaters in the classroom,they were big chest high heaters,chest high to a sixth grade boy that is,it wasn't a repondsibility,it just seemed someone always helped,i don't remember one male elementary school teacher i had,it wasn't until junior high i remember having a man as a teacher,and they were usually math or science guys.most of the women i had as teachers were probably in their 40's or older,and for them to stoop and light the pilot at floor level in a dress was cumbersome.
i don't remember any on sight maintenance men,i think the traveled between the various schools,i'd bet this would be their job by now,but then it wasn't,or maybe the teachers just did it when they weren't around.
we had central heat at home at that time,no air,just heat,and in the houses we lived at before my parents or older siblings lit the space heaters,that wouldn't have been something they would have trusted me with at that young age.
well,one morning i got to the classroom early and old mrs.hall was down on her knees looking at the little cover that was in front of the valve where the pilot was to be lit,she had a piece of notebook paper lit and was trying to light the pilot,but was having trouble.
she was in her late 50's i'd say,and was a tall woman,and i could see she was struggling with it.the heater was about 2 foot from an interior wall which made it difficult to get next to,so i told her let me help you.i had an idea what to do but wasn't sure,but hey,i was game.
i looked under the stove where lint, dust and other crud had collected with mrs.hall kneeling beside me,kind of peering around,to see if i could get it lit,well i opened the valve and tried to find the pilot hole,since it was hard to see,and i hadn't lit it before,i kind of struggled with it myself.i had a piece of lit notebook paper and when i thought i had found the pilot,i jobbed it in there.
well,KABOOM,next thing i know i'm blown back up against the wall,and the heater has moved over about 6 inches because you can see the spot on the floor where it use to be.i think i remember mrs.hall saying something ooh my,in a startled way,when i looked back at her she was sprawled out with her legs in the knocked knee position,forced that way by her dress.
my eyebrows were singed off,and my hair,which i kind of combed forward was singed off,and my ears were ringing.i've never been near a bomb blast,but i could fell the energy press me against that wall.mrs.hall asked me if i wanted to go home,the principal said he though i should stay,i was tired of the smell of singed hair,and this was a good an excuse to go home as any,so home i went
the elementary school i went to grades 4,5,and 6 at was called south ward,it did have another name,it was named after a woman named fanny finch,but there were four elementaries in town,and they were all designated with the ward title,north,south,east,and west.
i believe it was built in the 30's,or actually rebuilt,because the original was destroyed by a tornado,it's still in use today but was added on to since i was there.it was a red brick building and the auditorium served as the lunchroom also,they had a television set up on the stage and when the buses arrived before school would start we would bail out and go there and watch the three stooges,they did this so the kids would be occupied till the school day started and to keep the boys from rough housing,but more fights broke out jockeying for position to get off the buses to get good seats for the stooges than probably would have otherwise.
it seems there were always little respondsibilities for the kids that either helped them out or taught a lesson about respondsibility,there were two sixth grade classes and the boys from these classes got to work in the lunch room for a week at a time for a couple of hours a day,and if they did they got their lunch for free that week.
i can't remember how many times a year the rotation would get back to you but it would break up the boredom of the school day,yes,i got bored in school
,it was strictly voluntary,but i don't remember anybody turning it down.i don't remember any free lunch programs then,but they could have assisted some,i just don't remember it being mentioned,but the might have been using a little tact.
when you worked in there,you would have one of several jobs to do,raking slop off the trays into a large trash can as the kids brought their empty trays up,washing the trays and silver ware,or actually loading them in a restuarant style dish washer,i think there was someone doing a spray off before that,and one other job.
well,in the wintertime,a boy in class would help the teacher light the gas space heaters in the classroom,they were big chest high heaters,chest high to a sixth grade boy that is,it wasn't a repondsibility,it just seemed someone always helped,i don't remember one male elementary school teacher i had,it wasn't until junior high i remember having a man as a teacher,and they were usually math or science guys.most of the women i had as teachers were probably in their 40's or older,and for them to stoop and light the pilot at floor level in a dress was cumbersome.
i don't remember any on sight maintenance men,i think the traveled between the various schools,i'd bet this would be their job by now,but then it wasn't,or maybe the teachers just did it when they weren't around.
we had central heat at home at that time,no air,just heat
,and in the houses we lived at before my parents or older siblings lit the space heaters,that wouldn't have been something they would have trusted me with at that young age.well,one morning i got to the classroom early and old mrs.hall was down on her knees looking at the little cover that was in front of the valve where the pilot was to be lit,she had a piece of notebook paper lit and was trying to light the pilot,but was having trouble.
she was in her late 50's i'd say,and was a tall woman,and i could see she was struggling with it.the heater was about 2 foot from an interior wall which made it difficult to get next to,so i told her let me help you.i had an idea what to do but wasn't sure,but hey,i was game.
i looked under the stove where lint, dust and other crud had collected with mrs.hall kneeling beside me,kind of peering around,to see if i could get it lit,well i opened the valve and tried to find the pilot hole,since it was hard to see,and i hadn't lit it before,i kind of struggled with it myself.i had a piece of lit notebook paper and when i thought i had found the pilot,i jobbed it in there.
well,KABOOM,next thing i know i'm blown back up against the wall,and the heater has moved over about 6 inches because you can see the spot on the floor where it use to be.i think i remember mrs.hall saying something ooh my,in a startled way,when i looked back at her she was sprawled out with her legs in the knocked knee position,forced that way by her dress.
my eyebrows were singed off,and my hair,which i kind of combed forward was singed off,and my ears were ringing.i've never been near a bomb blast,but i could fell the energy press me against that wall.mrs.hall asked me if i wanted to go home,the principal said he though i should stay,i was tired of the smell of singed hair,and this was a good an excuse to go home as any,so home i went
