I received a copy of this 1970 New Jersey Herald article from Ed Rzonca, and it made me laugh.
(I hope you’re all able to view it; you might try using the view-zoom or enlarge functions on your computer. Or, just clicking on the image of the newspaper article will very likely work, too.)
Take a look at not only the names of the students who were recognized for things at the end of eighth grade at Halstead Street School in Newton, and not only what they were recognized for, but also some of the sponsors of some of these awards. These days, an award sponsored by the Daughters of the American Revolution might draw demonstrations outside.
And we really had a Hawaiian Club in eighth grade? Who knew?
Now, I won an award for personality and common sense. If you ask my wife and daughters, they say I have NO common sense! The only reason I won this, and the prize was a $15 ShopRite gift certificate, is because I was seventh-grader Jeff Barnhill's campaign manager in his run for eighth-grade class treasurer. I gave a speech a few weeks earlier in the auditorium, and I did some bad James Cagney impression ... "If you don't vote for Jeff Barnhill, you're gonna get it, and you're gonna get it gooood..." -- Mr. (Ray) Scheer, the social studies teacher, laughed so hard and liked it so much that he made sure I eventually got some kind of award for it. (Jeff Barnhill did win the election for class treasurer, by the way.)
But perhaps the most humorous line of this entire article, and I’m not sure quite why this tickles me, is this in-depth kind of reporting at the awards ceremony: “Kitty Gray read ‘If,’ a poem by Rudyard Kipling.”
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ReplyDeleteDear Site Administrators:
ReplyDeleteI take exception to the librarian-bashing in the previous comment. Don't you think slander of this magnitude should initiate collateral damage? (DELETE!) Perhaps the aforementioned issue of Boy's Life contained an article on outdoor survival or CPR. And if that issue was placed in the right hands at the right moment, it may very well have saved a life. Or - the vice principal was having an affair with the librarian, and he just wanted to make her blush in public - your choice. Speaking of saving lives, do you remember those silly drills we did "hiding" under our desks (and covering our heads) in the event of an atomic bomb being dropped on the school?
Signed,
Junior Miss
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ReplyDeleteThank you Peggy,
ReplyDeleteI emailed Mike before you set the blog up when everyone was remembering our first year in the old elementary school. I coudn't send an email reply to the whole list so I sent it to Mike asking him if he remembered the air raid drills. (Or what ever you called them). I remember hiding under the desk even in first grade. I didn't dream it up Mike. Thanks again Peggy for reafirming my memory!
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ReplyDeleteI must have confused the civil defense drills in grammar school with nap time.
ReplyDelete(Speaking of which, don't even get me started on my nursery school/kindergarten stories! O.K., well, since I started ... Like, when my mother sent me in with a huge box of Oreo cookies since it was my turn to provide snack time at the nursery school at the "Y" on Main Street. But I didn't understand the concept of "sharing," and pitched a fit. So, what'd my mother do when the school called her, concerned? She came to the school and picked me up and took me home, INCLUDING my Oreos. Nice lesson, huh, Mom?)
The Hawaiian Club was sponsored by Mrs. Pritchett in her attempt to expand our cultural horizons. I remember it be really hard on the hands. (no jokes, Mr. Richard) She also tried to teach us the symbolism in "To Kill A Mockingbird" and the Doors lyrics.
ReplyDeleteWell ... er, uh, never mind. Too easy.
ReplyDelete