HomeMy WebLinkAbout58-59 Sloan 4th Grade
On January 3, 1959, Alaska was admitted into the Union as the 49th and largest state. It
would be a couple of weeks later that our fourth grade class would read about it in our
"Weekly Readers." A "Weekly Reader" was a miniature newspaper filled with current
events, stories, puzzles and garnes. Our "temporary" classroom, situated behind what is
now the Barbara Bush Center on George Bush Drìve, was warm if not stuffy on that cold
January day. Most likely we were wearing new clothes from Christmas. Mrs. Sloan, my
fourth grade teacher at A&M Consolidated Elementary School led discussions about the
impact of that one event which knocked our great state of Texas into second place for
square miles. Already we were making jokes about Alaska. "Once the ice melts in
Alaska, Texas will be the biggest state once again!"
"Weekly Reader," a newspaper for children in the elementary grades, was founded in
1928 by Eleanor Johnson, then director of elementary schools in York, Pa., and a well-
known reading expert. The first edition of Weekly Reader, one for the fourth grade,
appeared in September of 1928. Other editions were added later, until, by 1959, there
were papers for kindergarten through grade 6. From Weekly Reader Publishers
Mrs. Sloan's Fourth Grade Class
Front Row: Diane Thomas, LaSandra Cathcart (daughter of a dentist who officed at
Southside), Shelley Cooper (daughter of family physician O.C. Cooper), Billy Braddy, Jo
Lynn Cooper, Melissa Owens, Sharon Barnard, Mary Beth Bailey (daughter of A&M
Consolidated Elementary School teacher), Jane Mills, Bill Vance; Middle Row: Mark
Hayes, Kathleen Broers, Billie Dozier, Charmille Bridges (daughter of a local
veterinarian), Virginia Huff, Sherril Haas, Anne Boykin, Linda Redman, Lynne Earle
Cunningham, David Riedel (son of a CISD Superintendent); Back Row: Fred Maddox,
James Creswell (son of the A&M Consolidated Elementary School Principal), David
Alexander, Allan Riggs (son of the CHS Homemaking Teacher), David Terwey, Mike
Mattern, Larkin McNeil, Charles Wallmo, Wallace Williams. Absent: Margaret Huebner,
Barbara Rydell.