I Remember Going Back to School – 52 Ancestors # 35

Although I started school in Illinois (Decatur), halfway through my first grade school year the family moved back to Lebanon, Indiana and that is where I have memories of school.  My sister and I have reminisced about the Decatur school, and I sort of remember learning to walk to school with her.  I haven’t been able to recall the name of either my kindergarten or first grade teacher in Decatur and while I have school pictures from then I cannot discern which is which year.

In Lebanon we all attended the Central Elementary School which was one of I think three  elementary schools in town.  At that time, the elementary schools all fed into a single junior high school and then high school.  The elementary schools had grades K through 6th, Junior High was 7-9, and High School was 10-12.  The Junior High School was two buildings ext to each other, so sometimes in changing classes you had to go outside.

I was in second grade for the first full year of school in Lebanon, in 1954.  This picture was likely taken within the first month of school.  Especially in my younger elementary school years, the beginning of school always meant a new dress and new shoes from the Buster Brown shop for school.  The picture shows me (front row, second from the left) wearing that year’s new dress which of course was a plaid and Sunday School shoes.  I seem to remember that plaids were also the rule for those early years.  My sister and I had started school the year before at the second half after our move, and in 1954 my oldest brother (next down from me in line) started kindergarten.

In Lebanon the schools started sometime in August, before Labor Day I remember, and went through to the end of May.  We were always out of school by Memorial Day – that was a big parade and the Indianapolis 500 Race!  I just went back and looked at their current school year calendar and the schedule looks similar.  I don’t remember all the breaks and I don’t remember having many snow days when I was a student there.  I do remember that the early days could be hot – there was no air conditioning of course – and sometimes sleepy after lunch.  We walked home for lunch and then back again, as well as to and from school morning and afternoon.  The only students who rode a bus as elementary students were those who lived outside the town and there was only one bus as I remember.

There are a couple of other events that I remember from the elementary years.  The World Series was always played just after the beginning of September and occasionally a little of an afternoon game would get played over the school’s public address system if there was a lot of local interest in the teams.  This was not a regular happening and I suspect it also had to do with very warm weather and the teacher’s wanting something to hold some attention at the end of the school day.  Another big school event was the Christmas singing and pageant, and then children in town going to the local movie theater and seeing a show and being given a bag of candy.  The Christmas movie was probably supported by the local movie theater, and we think happened on a Saturday afternoon.  The Christmas show at school was on an evening, and a big deal as every grade performed something.  That happened just before the school let out for the holiday break.  Then we were off for about 2 weeks – and must have driven my mother crazy!  The Christmas celebrations happened for at least the younger grades.  I don’t remember them as a fifth or sixth grader, although they may well have continued to happen.

The end of the school year didn’t have so many celebrations or regular events, that I remember.  I think some years there were field days, when various outdoor games were played.  What I remember about the end of school was the excitement of cleaning out your desk for the year, and getting the last report card to carry home.