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HomeMy WebLinkAboutEarly Education I Panel Group 3y Education Oral History Group 3 Juanita Sloan Deliah Fleming Grace Skrivanek "Grace Skrivanek has yet to return her transcipt e 1 Memory Lanes Oral History Project- Eastgate Moderator: Mary Jane Hirsch Transcriptionist: Sylvia Martinez Interviewees: Delia Fleming Juanita Sloan Grace Shrivanek Mary- ...of October 1995 and I am interviewing the first time, for the first time Grace Shrivanek, Juanita Sloan, and Delia Fleming. The interview is taking place in room 103 in the Conference Center of the City of College Station, Texas. This interview is sponsored by the Historic Preservation Committee, the Conference Center Advisory Committee of the City of College Station, Texas. It's part of the Memory Lane Oral History Project and now I'm going to ask each one of you to introduce yourselves so that, one purpose is so that you will have your voice identified on the tape recorder. So let's start with Ms. Fleming. Delia- I'm Delia Fleming. I started teaching, well I taught three years in East Texas before I married and came here and I taught twenty -seven years in the Consolidated school district. Two years during World War II in the high school, and twenty -five years in junior high. Mary- And you Juanita ? Juanita- I'm Juanita Sloan. I started teaching here in the year'55, 1955. Prior to that I had taught Home Economics at Katy, Texas which was a little village outside of Houston, now a big metropolis, Then following that I had my degree in elementary education and started teaching elmentary school, taught one year in Bryan and then transferred here to College Station. Taught fourth grade for a number of years, 22 years, until I retired. Grace- I'm Grace Shrivanek. I was a teacher out here at A &M Consolidated from 1952 -1957. Prior to that I taught everywhere. I started out in first grade in East Bernard, Texas then I taught in Rosenburg and from Rosenburg I came up here to Aggieland, College Station and I enjoyed it so much. But while I was here, Dr. Carmichael who was the superintendent of the Bryan Independent School District at that time asked me to come over to the Bryan School and start the physical education department there in the elementary grades and so I left over to Bryan and we had, we had money back in those days we had qualified PE teachers there in my PE there and then I then went into the class and was teaching science and health all together 31 years. Glorious boys and girls. Mary- What were the facilities like when you taught Ms. Shrivanek? Grace- You mean here? Mary- Yes, particularly in College Station. Grace- Well, we happened to have a drought when I was here. The wind blew, the dust blew, the dust was about so deep and I'll tell you, we had these great big huge rooms and I had a piano in my room and a record player in my room and I had 42 boys and girls in my room but we had plenty of room. We could spread out and have groups all around the room and everybody got along so well together. You knew everybody. You taught all the teachers children, they taught your children, and it was just a small community at that time. And it was wonderful. Mary- Sounds like you looked out for each other. Grace- We did. Juanita- We were also in the same type of room in the fourth grade. I believe I taught in a room adjoining Grace. I recall one thing we had a screen on the windows and a screen door because that was really the only ventilation you got besides transoms along one side ... in some of the rooms. But the children's lockers were drawers that pulled out against a cabinet. Three drawers to a section. Each child had a drawer and that was his locker where he kept his books and extra materials. As far as the facilities in the room, we had a large room as Grace said and in that way we were able to have a little reading center and even though we had very, very few books. We passed them from one room to another, after about six weeks or so. We brought lots of our own books from home. But they had a reading center, they also had the arithmetic, as they called it in those days, a math center where we had the flash cards and math materials. That's one thing I would say, the children were busy all the time but seemed to enjoy it and there was never any discipline problems or anything like that. They seemed a happy group and that of course was absorbed by teachers. You couldn't help but be happy with this type of children. We had lots of children from this community and then lots of rural children who came from Peach Creek and Wellborn, some students at that time could transfer from Bryan. Which they did and came to school here mainly I think to get started in the reading program that they had here. Mary- Did any go the other way? Juanita- What? Mary- Did any children go the other way from College Station to ... Bryan? Juanita- Perhaps they did in fact I remember that there were some, but it was mostly in high school that they did that. I don't think many elementary children went. I do know of a friend who had both of her children go to high school in Bryan. Mary- That's interesting. I didn't realize children came from Bryan. Juanita- Oh yes. I taught a number of them. Grace- Dr. Benbo's children. Juanita- Dr. McGill's children. Mary- Did they have to pay tuition? Grace- They did for a while way back there. There was a swap out but then it got so we were receiving so many more than were going into Bryan they had to start charging. Juanita- It was a choice they could make and many of them did that. They knew that if they transferred the children at third and fourth they'd still get the foundation from that teacher of the Sloop method. And speaking of other facilities we had pull down maps. I think one globe per room. I remember bringing a set of encyclopedias for my room. Grace- We had to pick all of our art supplies out at the end of school because that was your job. Juanita- Yes, yes, yes. Delia- I remember that. Juanita- Construction paper, art supplies. poster paper listing how much we wanted and so forth. We were really on a very tight budget. Grace- Someone could come in and teach for us. Juanita- Substitutes. Delia- I think I was out one time when my mother passed away and we had to pay the substitute. We paid $4.00 per day. Mary- You had to pay your substitutes? 3 Delia- You had to pay four dollars. They got four dollars in 1959 -60. Juanita- That's right. That's correct. Delia- Yeah we do. But they taught for four dollars a day, I mean four dollars a day. I remember a Mrs. Anna Marie Cleland when my mother was ill and passed away. She taught for me and she graded my papers. Mary- Oh wonderful. Grace- And you really didn't expect them to do that, but she was... Mary- For four dollars? Grace- For four dollars a day. Juanita- And usually they'd leave a little note of what had happened in the school room when they were able and so who had to leave because they were sick or anything like that but they did, they earned their money. Mary- So Delia, do you have something to add to that? Delia- Well, in junior high I think at that particular time we were kind of limited on equipment and things. Mr. Reidel told us first year that he was going to be the principal, that we would have to, we would get the necessities but we wouldn't be able to get any frills but the second year around, well we were able but I don't think the rooms, I was mainly in the old wooden building behind us here. The bad thing about that is it was so cold. You burned up on the southside in the summer but when we first started back to school and then in the winter time you froze. I remember when I taught you Mary in that old science lab that I taught a few days in a fur coat that was the only time I ever enjoyed that fur coat. Anyway, I got the fur coat in East Texas where we needed it you know. But anyway, as Mrs. Sloan said we were just a really close knit group and we got along and I can't ever remember any failing out or any disagreements. Mary- You mean among the teachers? Delia- Yes. And the teacher's lounge, I don't begrudge the young teachers, the teachers lounges now, but when I go to them I say, "Oh boy ". Mary- Did you have a time off when you needed a lounge or something? Delia- Yes, everybody, well mainly, well, they had a planning period. Grace- We didn't. 4 Juanita- We didn't have a planning period. Grace- We didn't have any time off. Juanita- None. Grace- But we made time for each other. Second half I had an accident on the school grounds. Juanita- I remember this distinctly about the time off during this time when I was teaching , Mr. Colter taught the music, remember that? Grace- Uh -huh. Juanita- He had a separate music room down below and in another building separate from ours so we had to take the children down there and then be sure and watch for periods to end about 30 to 40 minutes, something like that. We would watch and be sure and be on hand to bring the children back. As we said they were well behaved and never difficult but that was your responsibility to see that they came back because another group was coming right in for there music period Mary- Did you have all the legal responsibilities that they have now? Juanita- What? Delia- We didn't have any problem or think about it even. Mary- Because as a teacher you know, I was told at A &M Consolidated if you leave your class and anything happens your liable for suit. You may not leave your class or leave your students unattended. You could get somebody else to watch them but you couldn't and this is not the case. Delia- I don't think I was ever told that in any school that I've ever taught at in Texas. Mary- So it wasn't... Grace- I taught 31 years and in many schools, and I have never heard that. Juanita- We just assumed that we were responsible for our own class. Delia- We were professionals and we acted that way, even the parents thought that. 5 Mary- So you never had this legal suit threat over your head? Delia- No one ever said I'll sue you. Grace- No. Juanita- No. Absolutely not. Mary- So times have changed. Juanita- And many times I think you corrected a problem right on the minute and what I mean correction was just sometimes just having a silent period or just having a little talk away from the class to one particular student and that was it and we took care of it right there so they had a good feeling, the room did, and I did too. Mary- What about the curriculum? Mrs. Fleming, is it quite different today? Delia- I remember we had to write several times to get ... when we were evaluated. Grace- I don't remember that. Delia- Oh, we wrote for days and hours in the library. Grace- That was after I left. Mary- You wrote your own curriculum? Delia- Well, the curriculum was already written but that was when we were getting ready for evaluation. That was every five years. Mary- Oh, you mean the state evaluation? Delia- Yes. Juanita- We never had that, maybe it started in junior high. Delia- I remember that I had one gentleman, a young teacher. He was an administrator; he never taught. He'd never been a classroom teacher. I was kind of worried about that, because I thought that he doesn't know, won't realize what the classroom situation was like, but it all turned out all right. Mary- So did you just teach from a textbook or did you have an outline or...? 6 Delia- Well, yes, we had an outline, but we did follow the textbooks; we used the textbooks. We didn't make our own curriculum at that true. Juanita- I think we called it a self sustaining classroom because we taught all the subjects except music. Grace- Originally, I did the music and PE and Jeannie had the science and the math. Mary- Who's Jeannie? Juanita- Jeannie Holzmann. Grace- Mrs. Holzmann. Grace- Uh -huh. H- o- I- z- m- a -n -n. She used to teach for me when the little school was on the campus in 2nd grade, and then she came over here and then she was the head teacher and when I came over to teach then I was in the room next to hers and she said if you'll take my kids out for music and PE, I'll teach yours science and math. So we would just swap out. Mary- So teachers did this among themselves? Juanita- We did whatever we wanted to do. Will you do this for me, I'll do this for you. Mary- So you had freedom? Juanita- Yes, we did. Don't you remember she had the little flower gardens and the little gardens? Grace- No, that was Elizabeth Colter that had you know, she put all those little rocks down and she planted little flowers on each side and it was so dry that drought and the dirt and the dust. Juanita- Well, Mrs. Holzmann did too. Grace- But I looked down and I said it looked so pretty the flowers blooming. She'd let the children come out and water the flowers and ... there dust that deep. Delia- She was a first grade teacher. Grace- Third grade. Delia- Louise Coulter? Grace- Elizabeth Coulter. Yeah, cause Tommy was in her room in third grade. Mary- She taught first when my children were there. Delia- Yes, mine were. Grace- Well, she was in third grade then. Mary- I guess then she changed it up. Grace- When I was over there we taught each other's children. I didn't have Juanita's daughter Daisy, but she had my Joey. Delia- I had Joey also. Juanita- You knew so many times you would teach children from the same family and you'd teach the sister of one and later a brother from the same family remember my daughter's class, which was the class of '65 that graduated here. They had a reunion this year and those of us who were able to go just thoroughly enjoyed seeing these men mothers now with children of their own. They came from Virginia, from everywhere and so many of them would say anyway you know I wasn't in your room but my brother was and when were all together because as Ms. Shrivanek said, we took turns for playground. And I'll go back to some of the responsibilities. One thing, we had bus duty and the buses came rather early When I retired that was one luxury that I began to enjoy was a little later sleeping because I'm not much of a early morning person. But this morning when I got up it was dark. I looked out and thought, "Oh this reminds me of bus duty at school ". Because you came to be on hand when the first bus came and many times they had their lights on and, of course, winter time it was almost dark. But we were there to meet the bus. One teacher had bus duty for the 4th grade so you had that duty for a week and then rotated. Mary- For a week? Juanita- Yes, and then we had a playground and that was also kind Of combined with sack lunches because not all the children went to the cafeteria. They would have their own sack lunches and all the 4th grades would come to one room and have their lunch and then we waited and just visited until the last of the children came back from cafeteria and then everyone went out on the playground and as Grace said the dust and the sander... But when you had the sack lunches in your room you also had responsibility that same week for the playground. And then the cafeteria, one teacher would go with them and supervise them in the cafeteria. We also had this walking to music once a week or twice, what was it? Grace- I don't remember. Juanita- But anyway, so we had a pretty full day. Mary- Sounds like it. It sounds like a very full day. Juanita- It was nice. Grace- And our children would have to wait for us you know when school was out, we had to stay longer after school and they just played around the school. Mary- Your own children? Grace- Yeah, our own children. Juanita- And then the buses, see, we didn't have the number of buses we have today, we'd have to wait for bus #1 to come and then they would take a group for the late bus. Grace- Peach Creek. Juanita- Peach Creek and toward Navasota and then we could wait if you were on bus duty you saw that the last child was on the bus and of course that was one thing you watched so the children didn't miss the bus. Mary- And then what happened if a child missed the bus? Juanita- And then have them ready if their mother was going to pick them up late. I had one, two students who's mother was in the ranching business out actually off Peach Creek and bless her heart, she used to come in to pick those children up in time to get back where she could throw hay to her cattle in the evening. And one of the little girls in my class who was not more than 10 years oldwould drive the pickup for her mother. Mary- 10 years old? Juanita- What's that? Mary- She was 10 years old? Juanita- 10 years old. Well, I drove when I was 11 on the farm and learned to drive that way so we're kind of pioneers. We understood and appreciated the 9 fact that all we teachers had a duty after school, really befor and after school once a month for a week. Mary- Right. Delia- Thinking about buses, this goes back to the high school during the war as Ms. Sloan says we didn't have very many buses which was time like we do now. But one of the buses was an old ambulance. Do you remember that? Grace- No. Juanita- I don't recall Delia- This was during the war and anyway, out in Peach Creek there would be a call come in about it'd be at least 8:00 a.m. And Mr. Bunning was superintendent and principal and everything else at that time. The bus was bogged down in mud. Mr. Bunning Would go and get the bus out of the mud. Grace- He was , excuse me, he was also an algebra teacher. Delia- Yes, that's right. He would have to go and get the old ambulance, They were coming in the... children; they were coming in and they got off the road. Anyway, Mr. Bunning went out and they came in with their trouser legs rolled up and they were just as muddy as they could be. They'd gotten the ambulance out and brought it in and then it used to be that out on Dowling Road also, the Parson's children would have trouble getting in. Mary- Parsons? Delia- Uh -huh. Grace- So they'd get stuck. No, I don't remember the ambulance but the old ambulance made through the war. Mary- What was the most difficult aspect of teaching for you Ms. Fleming? Don't say Mary Jane. Delia- I think hall duty over in that old cold hall. You had to sit, you couldn't allow the children to go to their lockers unless it was an emergency or if they had to come in to stay in and do some work or something, and then of course they'd come in to go to the restrooms. Mary- Just because it was cold. 10 Delia- No, they really didn't have anything. They weren't allowed if unless it was absolutely necessary, they weren't allowed to go to their lockers or anything. I remember that we had a little teacher. She was 20, was very petite, and I didn't know her or didn't recognize her that day and I was sitting up at this end of the hall and I hollered at her. I said, "Honey you can't go to your locker ? ". Mary- I'm laughing because that happened to me as a teacher the first year I ever taught in Port Arthur. Delia- Anyway, it turned out to be the little science teacher. I just didn't like hall duty. It was so cold out there. I can't imagine why they didn't put some heat in the long hall. Grace- Ernest used to come in, it was... Juanita- ...in the morning he'd always have everything clean. Delia- See there was no way to heat that hall, it was the whole length of the building. Mary- So there was a janitor who came in. Juanita- Oh, let me talk about Ernest. He was a wonderfull gentleman. Mary- Ernest? Juanita- Yes, he was our, a black man, we always just termed him Ernest. I really can't recall what his last name was. But I was reminiscing with Mrs. Leighton before coming in here and I said, "you know who I thought about today, it was Ernest ". And she said, "Oh, yes. He worked for me after school at home and he would do that during vacation ". That's another story. But anyway, Ernest came and you would see him in a small wagon it was pulled by a mule or mules, I think he had 2. And then he would plow peoples' gardens. Grace- He did for us, he always plowed our garden. Juanita- And, but he was a perfect gentleman and Ernest would have our room quite warm when we got there in the morning and then he was there until we left in the evening and sometimes that might be a little late but you always felt comfortable and if Ernest was going to go he'd let you know but usually we were going home before Ernest. But he stayed in the afternoons and I saw him so many times after I finished teaching, and I just always had such a warm spot in my heart and he loved the teachers too. It gave him so much satisfaction being a part of making us comfortable. My husband told him that one time. 11 Mary- Was he the...? Juanita- How much the teachers appreciated him. Grace- The children liked him too. Juanita- Oh they loved him. They loved Ernest. Yes, he talked with them. Mary- Was he the maintenance man? Grace- Yes. Juanita- Yes, he did everything. Delia- Was his name Jones? Juanita- Matilda was his wife. You know, Matilda Jones. You're correct. Grace & Juanita- Ernest Jones. Grace- And he picked up all the sweaters and everything that was left on the whatever slab, what would we call it? He would take it into Mrs. Cresswell's office even though Ann was in 5th or 6th, 5th I guess, I'd have to go over. Ernest would take the sweater in. Juanita- Lost and Found. Grace- He was so wonderful. Mary- Did he have a staff to help him? Did he clean the school? Delia- No, no, no. Juanita- I don't think that anyone helped Ernest. Mary- He did it all himself. Delia- And Stein, what is his name? Grace- Philip, he was over here with us. Delia- And then he went over, then the junior high had more janitors. Grace- Then we had Rudy. 12 Mary- Well, Ms. Sloan, what was the most difficult aspect of teaching for you? Juanita- Well, of course as I said your not fully dressed without a smile. Well, you're never fully retired until you think back and think well maybe it could have been done a little differently. One of the things that concerned me at the time and I think it did every teacher that was time to spread yourself out to help as many children as you could. One year I had 38, 36 students in the classroom and yet we were not too crowded because it was such a large room. Mary- Were they all on the same level? Juanita- More or less. We kept them there but some of them needed extra help and that was the thing that you wanted to spread yourself to be able to assist them into finding the work that was appropriate for them to do and yet not feel separated, that they were all a part of the class. One of the things and you're going to get to that later about the parents, but we had some really wonderful facilities not only in our classroom, but we were able to use many of the university facilities like going to the Oceanography Department and Dr. Francis Schemz, he was one of the men who went to Antarctica. He came and talked with the children and we'd go over and see the cores that they were bringing up from the ocean. And then we'd go to the creamery to study the dairy and our geography book was divided into sections, the ... states so when we studied the dairy section we'd go to the creamery. Of course, the highlight of that was always to get an ice cream treat from the creamery. Then I remember the wind tunnel. That was over by the airport and they went to that and then we had so many parents who they had a wealth of materials and experiences that they'd bring and share. Mary- Did you go on the bus for these field trips? Juanita- Yes, it was arranged for us to go on the bus. Each teacher was responsible for her own class usually not more than 2 classes at a time. Grace- You know, I don't even remember that. Juanita- Only two classes would go because of the facilities at the university to handle them. But that was a real teaching experience. But back to this problem a teacher didn't want to neglect those children who were really gifted, so you relied on them to do things and gave avenues that they would go to for special interests that they had. You know, that was the thing that I felt was never completely satisfied. Mary- And Mrs. Shrivanek, The most difficult aspect? 13 Grace- I never had a most difficult aspect. I'll tell you that my niece, she graduated in 1957, Diane Shrivanek. She went on, got her degree and she's teaching and she lives in Tennessee. And they have this evaluation of all the schools. They take off a year and they're trained and they go around to all the students, they have so many to evaluate from each school and they go around all the schools in the state. And one of the questions is, "Why did you become a teacher ? ". And she said, "I put down because of my Aunt Grace. She had fun and games and they learned ". That's the highest compliment I ever got. And that's the way I taught. I had fun and games and I learned. I didn't have discipline problems. I never did. Juanita- None of us did. Grace- I mean even when I went to other school systems. I never did. Mary- Sounds like your methods worked. Grace- But I didn't know whether I wanted to be a teacher when I started out. I taught, I collected my teacher retirement twice, but I paid it back in. I found out I wanted to teach boys and girls and I'm still teaching boys now. I have a new career. I'm a rancher and we have the Aggies that come out and help us. Mary- Is that right? Grace- So I have two boys. I'm raising boys again. I'm still teaching. Mary- The most enjoyable aspect is the next question and I guess in a way, you've already answered that. Grace- Oh, and they the funniest things I should have written down, all I've heard and everyone else heard. You know we would have made a pile of money. Wouldn't we? All those sayings that children say? Mary- The time to start is probably today? Grace- Oh, that was so funny. Anyhow, they've changed since they've grown up. They'll say, "Mrs. Shrivanek ", and I'll go and there they are way up there. "You remember me ?" and I'll go, "Well, if you tell me who you are maybe I will ". But they always remember you. It makes me feel good. I feel that I'm around to see the boys grow up and have children of their own. I always said, "I'm going to retire when I teach my first grandchild ", and I did. Mary- Did you really? 14 Juanita- I did that to the daughter of one of my first students. So that would be same as your grandchild. Mary- Well, some of you have eluded to the enjoyable part of it. Is there anything you'd like to expand on, Mrs. Fleming? Delia- it seemed to me we had discipline problems. Oh, I don't mean anything serious but some of the children who were 1 or 2, just enough to frustrate you would say, would always ask you, "why we had to do so and so ". Most of the years, they just got busy when you assigned something and they got busy and working. They were eager to learn and I'm sorry the last two years ... were not like that. Mary- That was the time during the Vietnam War. When the whole country was upside down. Delia- Well, the end of anyway. I don't know, but that was frustrating because in the past you made an assignment and they were eager to learn and behave. Mary- Just because the teacher said so. Just a personal thing you know I had . You when, I was in the 9th grade and that was science. Delia- That's right. Mary- And that was immediately after the second world war because we were ... And you influenced me to the point I majored in science in college and taught science in junior high. But that's just a personal thing from me. See you had a tremendous experience. Delia- Well, thank you. Juanita- Mary Jane, are you a local girl? Mary- Yes, I was born on the A &M Campus. Grace- What was your maiden name? Mary- Munson. Grace- Munson. Mary- Enjoyable aspects of teaching is what were on now. Does anyone else have a comment on it? 15 Grace- I always looked forward to school. I'd write things. Driving in on the seat I'd write things, then when I'd stop at a red light or something like that I'd see what I had written down, things to add, what I wanted to do. Mary- You were eager. Grace- Very eager. And you know when you love your job and that's what counts. It doesn't matter if you get paid a lot or not. I would've taught for nothing. I really would've. If we could've lived on.... I would've taught for nothing. Mary- Well, did everyone feel that way? Delia- I did and I can truthfully say that the teachers didn't complain about salaries. Juanita- We don't have teachers getting salaries like that today, and I'm delighted as one teacher told me not so long ago "You know, we werer teaching for poverty level salaries. Delia- Listen, in '62, I was only making $1700 a year. Reason I know is because ... we had very little taxable property. Mary- A year? Delia- Uh -huh. Mary- That's all. Delia- Ann, my daughter, graduated from University of Texas in '62 and got a job in the panhandle teaching art for double of what I was getting and I'd been teaching 17 years. But I said my compensation for that was my children that see and they holler at me and hug me, you know. But I can remember when Mrs. Barger and I taught together over here. Mary- Who is this? Delia- Mrs. Barger. Mabel Barger. Mary- Borger, B- o -r... Delia- Barger. B- a- r- g -e -r. When Mr. Reidel brought the checks around and we were going to take home $200 bucks, we thought we were rich. But we didn't worry about it because most of our husbands were over at A &M and we knew we would eat, you know, but nobody complained. 16 Mary- Did you have benefits like health insurance? Delia- Uh -huh. No retirement plan. Let me say something. There were some of the younger teachers that before I retired, they could not believe that for a couple of years, we didn't even sign contracts. But no one worried about it, we knew we had the job. Mary- So you didn't worry about continuing? Grace- Contracts and all that? In 1952, my husband and I were the first coupled they hired to teach in the Consolidated school district. Mary- Well, that's interesting. What... Grace- They wouldn't let husband and wife teach. Mary- What did he teach? Grace- He was a high school principal. Mary- Here? Grace- Uh -huh. Juanita- Mr. J.J. Everybody loved Mr. J.J. Mary- Mrs. Sloan, do you have anything to add to this enjoyable... Juanita- Memorable events? Mary- Memorable events. Before we get to memorable events, anything about parents, their cooperation or their wish to... Juanita- I think I briefly mentioned how helpful they were. If we were going to do a particular project in the room or study a particular area in geography or a particular country they would help. I remember there was a lady whose son who was in my room and she brought things from her native country to the class. Then I remember when we studied volcanoes, one of the mothers had made the cone and everything and helped with that and that was very helpful because with a teacher as you said doing all that we had to do, having someone take over especially if their husband was connected to something like that at the university. And we even had some of the teachers and the men at A &M who would have a period off and they had their child in the room. That was wonderful 17 for the child to have his father or mother there to help with a particular subject, even give a demonstration.. Delia- They would just come unannounced. Mary- The parents would? Grace- Oh, Dr. and Mrs. Lamont. Remember them? Well, I was teaching a geography lesson. One day they came and stayed for the lesson. I didn't finish it, so I was going to finish it the next day. So the next day, here came Dr. Lamont and he said, "That was so interesting I just had to come back and hear the rest of the story ". Mary- Isn't that wonderful! What an effect that has. Was that Clifford Lamont? Grace- Yes. And I had the Puttman boy. 1 forgot his name. His father was in the Air Force. We had a lot of Air Force people that taught at A &M and we were studying about Greenland. He had this rolled picture canvas and I unrolled it and it was a man and a woman and they were Indians. Oh, we wouldn't call them Indians. Greenland I guess, Eskimos, by a native painter, you know date and everything. And so I just thumbtacked it up on the chalkboard. You know on the bulletin board, and we used that, and when school was out, were ready to be out were, Ralph was his name. Ralph came up and said, "Mrs. Shrivanek, daddy said you can have that ". Mary- Oh, how wonderful. Grace- So I rolled it up and I kept it and finally I was teaching social studies in another school in Bryan and I thumbtacked it up again and they came up and said, "My grandmother is an artist ". Mrs. Nailer, do you know Mrs. Nailer? Juanita- Yes. Grace- And my grandfather will make a frame for it. i said, "I want a written note from them that says it's all right with them ". He said, "Oh, they'll do anything for me ". I said, "bring me a note, make it all right ". and so they framed it and I have it now. And that's my primitive, and I have it hanging in my bedroom. Mary- OK, memorable events. Sloan's ready. Juanita- One of the things I was talking about. I think it was Willie Leighton just recently about this. The year and I think we all remember this, that we took the children to the Shrine Circus in Houston. Grace- Oh, I had forgotten about that. 18 Juanita- By a train. You remember we had the Sunbeam that came through and then it was named the Owl that came back through going back and forth to Houston & Dallas. What they did was the Sunbeam, you go down on that one and come back from Houston to Dallas. So we had all the children of course with permission from mother and everything and they took a lunch along. A sack lunch and they boarded the train and we had one section of one of the cars which was devoted to the sick bay. And I never shall forget Dr. O.C. Cooper, whose children I taught most of them. He was the doctor who took over to go with us and of course we had to have parents, many parents went. Some children became ill. I think it was merely from pure excitement that some of them and then not riding on a train before that sort of made them, well they had a headache or they had a tummy ache. We'd take them back to Dr. Cooper and it was usually just a good pat. And they'd come back feeling just fine. But anyway, and we didn't lose a child on that whole trip and we didn't gain one. Mary- Did you do this once...? Juanita- We came back with the same number. Grace- It wasn't just our group. Juanita- No, it wasn't Grace- They picked up from Hempstead, Halloran, and all train stops all the way. Juanita- We kept our children separate. You know it was all the grades up through sixtth grade. Did you go on this? Delia- Yeah, sixth grade. Mary- Was this every year? Juanita- No. Grace- That was just that one time. Juanita- The only time I knew about was the time I just recalled. Mary- Once was enough. Juanita- It was such an enjoyable experience for the children and the teachers too because we had not seen such a big circus and all the different animals and performers. This was the Shrine Circus. 19 Mary- Was this on a school day? Juanita- Yes, it was on a school day. Grace- That was a memorable event. Juanita- It was because the children talked about it so much. They saw the animals that was the main thing which was fascinating to them, the experience of the train ride the first for many. I think that was a really memorable experience for the children. Grace- I know our boys were old enough to remember and they still every once in a while, we'll mention something about when we talk about this train up here stopping through, "do you remember when ? ". And they'll remember everything about it. Mary- Do you have another one to add? Another experience. Grace- Oh, I can't think of one now but tonight I'll think of a whole lot, you know how that is. Delia- I think my, one was the fact that I, was interested in the band because my daughter was a big part of it at that time and Colonel Dunn had retired and was giving his true to Consolidated. Mary- He did the Consolidated band? Delia- Anyway, we were small, we were a class B school at that time. we went to Bremond to the football game if I remember right. Red Cassion and that group were playing in high school. Anyway, Bremond which was a small town had a band. They had a little band and they had uniforms, and I thought our children looked so pitiful, and I don't mean that they weren't nicely dressed, but they were just sitting out there wearing regular clothes. Mary- They didn't have... Delia- They didn't have band uniforms. Mary- This must have been... Delia- And I thought well if Bremond can have band uniforms, I want to know why Consolidated can't have them. So I came home and Dr. Richardson, Les, was superintendent and I came into the office out here on the right and talked to him because I didn't want to do anything without approval of the school. I wasn't 20 teaching that year. Anyway, I talked to him and said, "I want to talk to you and see what you think ", and he said, "well, being I'm all for it but you know those band uniforms will cost as much as you know athletic equipment ". And I said, "but Les, I don't have a son, I have a daughter ". He said, "well, go to it ". Well we had the country school, this was my memorable. We have a country school, Mrs. E.B. Reynolds directed it and we made $700 and some dollars in the old gym that one night and then of course we used to have a community supper band. But anyway. It ended and then we had Dean Burlow and his band and anyway we had a big dance outside and made quite a few hundred dollars. Anyway. It ended that we got the uniforms and I left them $350 dollars in the treasure to go towards instruments so that was really a happy project. Mary- So just your fundraising, that did it? Delia- That's right. It was fun. Mary- Was it time that some of the football players would hurry back and play with the band during the half? Delia- Yes, that' true because I believe Fred Anderson played the trumpet and I know he was a football and basketball player. And probably David Bonneu. Grace- And Diane was band sweetheart. Wasn't Ann band sweetheart? Delia- Yes, she was one year. Mary- Was this before the Bengal Bills> Delia- Oh, yes. Mary- Did they have cheerleaders? Delia- Oh, yes. Grace- Yell leaders, they were yell leaders. Mary- Were they all boys or were they girls? Grace- No boys, they were all girls. Mary- But they were girl yell leaders? Grace- I remember Mr. Reidel teasing Mr. Shrivanek out here. We were talking about cheerleaders and yell leaders, and he said now over at Texas they might be cheerleaders, but over here they're yell leaders. 21 Mary- So I can understand the influence of A &M. Delia- They did call them cheerleaders, didn't they? Grace- They were called cheerleaders. Delia- Did you know they weren't the kittens anymore, they're cubs. Grace- Is that what they're called? That's what my granddaughter, my granddaughter teaches in junior high. She said they're cubs and I said when did they leave the Kittens and she said I don't know, as long as I've been there. Juanita- Well I hope they don't change A &M Consolidated High School's name. Delia- I do too. Grace- I hope they'll keep that. Delia- They talk about it all the time. Grace- The former students don't want it. Juanita- The good old days. Grace- That was the good old days. Delia- It really was. Grace- The creek over here where all the houses are Redmond and all there's a creek running and there my boys would walk home and I'd tell them I want them home at a certain time and they were late , I'd have to go looking for them, they'd be playing in the creek. They had no signal lights on Texas Avenue, just stop signs. And I could remember you could hear them. See two bridges were wooden and you could hear them when cars would hit those bridges. Especially if you taught in this room down here. Juanita- Some of the children rode bikes to school. Today there are not as many cars, not as much traffic, but they had to cross Texas Avenue and several other streets. Grace- The Aggies were in dorms. Juanita- ...and not as many of them had cars. 22 Mary- Did they have crossing guards like they do now? Delia- There was a little time when Mr. Curtis Bullock, oh. You remember they had the little yellow slickers? Oh, what was his name? Anyway, he was the policeman. See we just had two police for a long time. Juanita- Mr. Brown? Delia- No. He married Ms. Simms and he was killed in an accident a few years age. Anyway, he did, I guess at one time we did have a kind of little patrol cause they had yellow slickers and they would go out by Mrs. Holick's store and when it was down here and kind of direct the traffic. Then they would come in. Mary- Did they have a store at school where they would, the children could buy things? All- No. Juanita- In fact, I don't think there where really many supplies that the children bought. And you're speaking of little treats and things that they could have, no. Mary- No ice cream. Juanita- No ice cream or soft drinks. Grace- They were milk drinkers. Juanita- Yes, yes, it was milk and another thing. You yearned sometimes for a drink of cold water. Grace- That's right. Juanita- Cause they had the water fountains outside. Grace- Under the window outside is where we were. Juanita- Yes. Mary- You're saying they weren't refrigerated? Grace- No. Delia- But it was wet. 23 Grace- They didn't care about it, none of us did because that was before air conditioning. Juanita- That's right and so many of them just came in from the playground. School started usually the next week after Labor Day and that kind of corresponded our holidays and things so it fit around the university too. And when they come, you know, in September and even October, how hot it can be in Texas. And then these children would come the first day or two in their new school clothes which were long sleeved shirts and jeans and little girls with their little blouses and jumpers, they'd come in from the playground the first week just wringing wet and after that they'd dress more sensibly, more summerlike. Mary- Did they wear shorts like they do today? Delia- Yeah, walking shorts. Juanita- Ours didn't I don't think. I recall some wore khakis, some wore blue jeans. Mary- Did the girls wear jeans? Juanita- That's something I don't recall. Delia- In high school, just one day a week, they couldn't just wear them. Grace- And I was the last one to wear trousers when I was teaching. I was allergic to pants. Delia- Well, don't you remember? Grace- I thought you ought to wear a dress. You look more dignified, demanded more respect. I found out I could climb up on a counter incidentally, it was a lot better than hiking up that skirt and trying to crawl up on something. Juanita- When were we first allowed to wear trousers? Delia- It had to be a pantsuit? Mary- So they didn't really have a dress code spelled out by the school? Grace- They maybe cut out hair for the boys. I think the hair thing they had it short, the flattops. Juanita- That was the choice of the parent and the children. It was during the war or shortly after. It was a straight cut across the top, yes, a flat top. 24 Mary- And then later the duck tails when Elvis came in. Juanita- I never did have that in my classes. Delia- Well, that was the junior high, the older boys who did that. Juanita- 4th grade, we didn't have that. Grace- No, they didn't care about that. Mary- Did you have any special events for Christmas, for example or holidays? Juanita- Sometimes we had a little party in our own rooms that the... Grace- Room mothers. Juanita- The room mothers would help with and of course we had the Valentine boxes and little Halloween kind of parties. But those were just more room activities. We didn't get together. Grace- And the students gave teachers gifts and if they knew when your birthday was and it was on a school day, they'd surprise you. But I never told them but they found out. Juanita- Yes, they found out. Mary- So they had a real good feeling towards their teachers? Juanita- It's really even. When they'd have a birthday, we'd recognize it with a song and nothing more and you always made up a cake for school that day and they enjoyed that. It was like even your room was a big family. All the way into the 4th grade it was like a family. Although we didn't exchange any classes, at least I didn't. With any other teachers except of course Mr. Colter for music, will say this. Remember we had films a few times? I think it was this school. The horrible thing was the films kept breaking. We would get them from other schools in bad condition. If it was broken you were supposed to label thaton the case. We'd get them and sometimes they were put together with masking tape and that was a problem. My husband was with a department here at the university where he could get some slides for me and I would get the slide projector from him and bring in the slides. For example if we were studying cotton. Cotton fields and the grains and that kind of thing, so you really just enriched your own program with what you could find out. And as I said so many times, you could call the parents who'd had another child in your room. They'd volunteer to assist with a particular unit. These parents were very helpful. 25 Mary- That is wonderful! Did junior high celebrate holidays? Delia- It would be all the three. At that most of the time, 6th, 7th, and 8th were junior high most of the time that I taught. And the room mothers would plan the party and we'd have it in the library. Mary- So it would be for the whole school or for each grade? Delia- Well, all the grades would get together. It was a big thing. Grace and Juanita- We had just our own rooms. Delia- We had it down in the library and there were at least two homeroom mothers for each section. You know so there would be 6 or 8 people involved. Mary- And you mentioned evaluation. The state would come in? Grace- Southern Association. Mary- Oh, the Southern Association. And you'd have to write? Grace- Oh, we wrote for days getting ready. Mary- Telling them what you did? Grace- Uh -huh. Mary- I see. Grace- A committee came in from different schools. Mary- So how did the school do? Grace- We were always glad when it was over. Juanita- I will say that it was a goal of every teacher to establish good reading habits. And one of them, we had the Texas Readers Club. And if I recall in order to qualify they had to read at least 10 book and give either an oral or written short summary of that book. And there were what we call fiction books or make believe books and they found lots of those, of course. And we had one history, 2 geography or travel books, we called them, and 2 bibliographies. So they drew from those and if they read those 10 books they would get a little certificate from the state and it was called the Texas Readers Club. It had the seal on it and the children oh, 26 they strived to do that. And especially if a child gave a little oral report that would speed the others to try and find that book and get it on their list. That was one of the things that we did share because we didn't, have many books. We were in dire circumstances for books, good books for the children to read. And we would pass our books from a certain time for the next section to read, and swap that way. But I remember having in my class particularly the bookworm. And it had little round circles like this and then the head of the worm with the antenna sticking out. And they would, each time they'd read a book, get a little circle and some of the worms just went on and on. Some of them just loved to read and thier worms became much longer than the required 10 books. Grace- I'd have mine write reports. Juanita- You'd try to get them to do it, I mean that would qualify them. They couldn't get by without reading. I remember one mother told me her son loved reading, but he didn't like writing a report; so I told him the report didn't have to be over half a page. He might select the thing he liked in the book and tell why. He loved this brief way to report and would sometimes write a poem about the book and charachters. We did all we could to instill in the children a true love for good books. On rainy days or times the students couldn't play outside they'ed often ask the teacher to read to them. I always kept a classic or prize- winning book on my desk to read to them from time to time, often after lunch time Grace- I still have a note from Mrs. Louis, you know Emilia Louis' mother. And this note said that she thanked me for instilling the love of reading in my room. Mary- Did you have a similar program? Grace- Well, we all did that but we had one girl who read 85 books. I mean not like that. I mean she was going to that. I just pushed. Get higher books, get harder books. Why not? If they can do it, do it. I just pushed, I didn't push them I lead them. Anyway, she read 85 and that was the most I've ever had a child read to read a book and when they were through with their work they'd pull out a book. Why not? I like to read too. I still like to read and my older son, he keeps his nose in a book all the time. The newspaper he'll pick up. He's a reader and he's, I hate to say it god dog it, he's 50 can you believe it. Juanita- That's Joey, he was a dedicated reader too. He kept in step with things. You know when you look back there's just very few we feel like maybe they could've done a little more with their. But as a whole I think 27 they've all reflected good homes that they came from and a stable environment here at school. Mary- And this was the case for all of the students? This sounds like such an ideal situation. Delia- That was just it. Grace- It was. Juanita- It was the norm. Grace- It may have been for every other school district. I don't know. Mary- Was Bryan this too? Delia- It was the same. They were the same. Mary- I wonder if it was like this in the other towns. Grace- Those years I think, the 40s, 50s. Mary- I wonder if this is unique to this community. Grace- I had something to teach. I told my husband when we moved up here I said, "you know, if we hadn't gone to Mexico or Canada, I wouldn't know how to teach those children because they had traveled all over the United States around the world with the Army and Air Force ". It was wonderful and they could show and tell. Juanita- And many stable homes. I think the home environment, having a two parent home, that was home and they had the mother and father image. think they cared a lot. They enriched the school room and the school from the home. So I think that's one thing. It's a plus when we look back now. Mary- Oh, yes. Juanita- We had a stable community alsonot all families were connected with A &M. Teachers knew most of the pupils into High School.. Mary- Were there any children that were sort of from poverty or were they all sort of middle class? 28 Juanita- As my husband says, they might have been poor but they didn't know it. Many came from homes that had more and many from homes with less. In some families both parents worked out of the home. Tape II: Delia- And the wives did work and I said to myself, well, I won't have to change my outfit, I won't have to buy any new clothes. They won't know the difference, we were all the same. we didn't make anything but we were all equal. Grace- We didn't have the fridge before. Juanita- Like I said everybody was in the same boat. Some evidently had nicer things. It didn't matter to the children however, they didn't discriminate among themselves. It never entered any of their activities or relations with each other. Mary- Was it hard to get a job here? Delia- It was in a way because there wasn't such a turnover. Mary- I see. Delia- Don't you think? Grace- What do you mean? Delia- Well, now they say the average teacher only lives, only remains, the average if five years here. Juanita- Its a transient community in a way because their husbands, boyfriends are going to A &M or teaching and then they transfer or they go someplace else. Grace- But see when we were teaching, so many of us were permanent. Juanita- That's right. Our homes were here but some younger teachers I know moved on after their husbands finished the University. Delia- So many of the teachers were professor's wives, student's wives. Juanita- They started hiring many students wives who just had their degree and they were only teaching long enough to help their husbands get through. And some of them gave up their own career to help their husbands get 29 through school and in other words it was just to reach that number of years. And of course you had to think it was helping the economy of the school too because of those who were just teaching long enough. Then you had those with advanced degrees and the school had to pay more for those. There was a big turnover among young teachers cause they taught just the number of years that they needed to be here. Sometimes only 4, sometimes 5. Mary- This was probably after the second World War. Juanita- Yes. Mary- But not before... Juanita- No. Mary- What sort of education did a teacher have? Grace- Bachelors to masters. Juanita- I will say this about getting an advanced degree... Delia did you go to Huntsville? Delia- No. Juanita- Many of us who were on the campus here, living here before we even started teaching. I know there were several that I knew who took classes over at A &M. But they did not give a degree. You could not get your degree from A &M. So even though you had enough hours to start a good foundation for a second degree, you couldn't get it. So many of the teachers thought of this and said we can only transfer 6 hours to another university. I know because I talked to several teachers from here. went to the University in Huntsville. And what we'd do, we'd go in the summer, early morning and they'd get home about 1:00 in the afternoon. Sometimes we'd go all day. Then there was a period when several of the teachers would go and the first class at Huntsville was at 5:OOPM and the last class was over at 10:OOPM. So you left Huntsville at 10:00 in the evening. Mary- Excuse me, was it 5 :00 AM? Juanita- PM, I was speaking of summertime when we'd go in the morning but in the school time it was usually, on Saturday or we would go after school on class day. That was before the Highway 30. You'd either have to through Anderson or Madisonville. 9 Grace- The bridge was out don't you remember? Juanita- Yes. Anderson, or you'd have to go through Madisonville to go, there was no direct route. So, I've always thought of College Station, we have such deep roots here at A &M, and they had such wonderful instructors over there at A &M. Math, and history, and things, but it was not a degree. Mary- And you could only transfer 6 hours to Huntsville? Juanita- Yes. Grace- But you could get your masters at Sam Houston University.. Juanita- It was a wonderful experience, and I think in one way we were privileged to be able to get a second degree from a school that was a close as Huntsville. Plus, found the good curriculum that they offer for teachers. So never felt that the time was wasted except there was the time element to get there. We'd always try to have about 5 teachers. Three in the back seat and two in the front, eat our supper on the way and then hit the first class at 5:00. So we were lucky that we didn't do that but once a week at a certain time we'd take a semester maybe but it was slow going. I still kind of look with longing over at A &M and think how easy physically and mentally it would have been for the teachers to have the advantage of getting an advanced degree here at A &M. Mary- Before you were elected or hired, did you have the phonetics course? They required that at the time. Juanita- I'd never heard of it before they called it the Sloop Method? Mary- Yes. Grace- I said I don't care how they learned to read it, they can't read when they get in my room. I don't want them. I'm gonna go from comprehension right on up. Hike it up from there and go. That's the way. I don't have the patience for those... Juanita- When I was teaching, we did have a summer session at our school where we had a class devoted to the Sloop Method. Grace- Then Ruth Wilcox came up and taught it. Juanita- And she helped teach it and really it was quite helpful. However, I will say this I had a school teacher at my hometown that back in the early days when was in first grade. She taught that really same system, she called it, we called 31 it the Fairy Vowels, and the consonants were the elves and we knew the sounds that each of those made. And we were reading in first grade in just a few weeks by that method. So it really fit in. Mrs. Sloop did a wonderful job in bringing tothe school and the manual published with it. Mary- Was it Mrs. Sloop? Grace- She lived in Bryan but she taught first grade up here. Mary- Oh, and I see, she developed this method? Grace- Uh -huh. Juanita- Got it together and published a manual herself. Grace- I know my little boy, we were in Rosenburg when he was in the first grade, and they had that say run Jane, whatever, that is that type of thing. He couldn't read much. Delia- Look and see. Grace- Look and see. But when we came over in the 2nd grade, first semester he was reading 4th grade material and he was reading the newspaper. He just went right from there right on up. Mary- Did the other school systems use the Sloop Method? Grace- No, that school system used that other, but I, there's more than one way to learn how to read. I didn't know because I know because I never taught it. was always more or less departmental. Delia- Ruth Wilcox always said she had two sets of lesson plans and she said fortunately she taught in a room that was facing the street and when she'd see Grace, her supervisor, coming in she taught phonetics the way ... It didn't take with every child. With my youngest child it didn't take. He came home one day and said guess what he had today, I said what, and he said vowels. That's all it meant to him. I tried to explain. And then finally in the 3rd grade, he finally learned to read. He had Elizabeth Coulter. She just had a different method. He was one of those precocious children, he wanted to do it his way or forget it. And they, I don't know, but he made it. He's grown and married now. He doesn't read books now. Juanita- It's a step for children to learn the program and pronounce most words on a higher level and figure out their meaning. 32 Mary- Is it still used? Delia- I don't know what they're using now. Juanita- Oh, I think they might have another name but I think, I have two granddaughters who are in college and they learned to read by the vowels and the sound of the letters. And some students could even pronounce a word before they knew the meaning of it. Grace- Yes. Juanita- And then that was a challenge for them to go look it up and see what it meant because, and I think that's an accomplishment to be able to pronounce words in geography and know what they are. Mary- Did the faculty get together? Did you have meetings, did you have parties amongst yourselves? Grace- We used to have parties over at Les Richardson's house. He was the superintendent, we'd play games and... Mary- Games? Grace- Charades. Juanita- We did have teachers meetings among our own groups then we had faculty planning meetings. Mary- Among your grade levels? Juanita- We had those, we just called them teachers meetings among our 4th grade teachers. And then we'd have to kind of keep up problems that might be coming up from 1 st grade. Maybe someone's child was getting... in their playground or something like that but that was very seldom. I guess we called those faculty meetings, every two or three months, we'd just discuss problems then. It was mostly among our own grade. Grace- The principal was a good principal. I had a lot of principals, but she was my favorite. Mary- Who was that? Grace- Rowena Creswell. Mary- She was at South Knoll, but that's later. 33 Grace- Well, I meant before that, she was a 4th grade teacher. Juanita- She was here. There was only one elementary school then. Grace- She was out here with us, and then when she moved in as principal, then Jeanette got her position. Juanita- Martha George became a fouth grade teacher. Grace- Martha George came in. Her husband was A &M football coach Juanita- Jeanette Godfrey also taught 4th grade. There's been a big turnover. Grace- But she treated you like a professional, like an adult, and she knew what was going on. She didn't tell you what not to do and what to do. Juanita- Very easy to work with. I had gone to college, the University of Texas, with her and had two classes with her. Grace- Everybody liked her too. Juanita- She was a twin as I recall. You felt there was never any peaking over your shoulder trying to keep track of this or that. She was very professional. Grace- I liked that. Well, I was fortunate to do a follow from here to go to another school and I had that same experience with the principal. Mary- So these parties at Richardsons, were these... Grace- They were adult parties. Mary- Just every now and then or often? Grace- About once a month. Mary- Once a month! Juanita- They must have stopped that, the elementary principal never arranged parties with us. Grace- We played charades one night and I got G- string and I thought oh, Lord, I'm not touching that with a ten foot pole. So I had to act like the... you know wasn't. Dr. Richardson, when he got something on you, he teased you 34 emmercifully. I was fortunate to have both of his girls in my class when they came along. Mary- That must have really added to the camaraderie. Grace- And Ann and Joey ran against each other in the 3rd grade. And Ann came up running after school and said, "Mrs. Shrivanek, guess what ? ". I said, "what ? ". She said, "Joey and I are running the 3rd grade ". I said, "what do you mean running the 3rd grade ? ". She said, "well, Joey was elected president and I'm secretary ". So they were running the 3rd grade. Delia- I had them next door in 6th grade study hall, and Joey and Ann. Mary- Mrs. Fleming, did the junior highs get together? The teachers? Delia- No, not like they did. At the end of school I remember over at Snook, Mr. Junek was teaching with us and we had a barbecue at the end of school or something like that. But he didn't... Grace- We were all so busy working, teaching, we had our own children at home, I didn't even go get a masters. I had my MA, my mama, I said that I didn't have time for anything else. Juanita- We had, we got an informal way of being with our teachers. Everyone had their own duties too and children so they really didn't miss that. I will say the elementary childrens highlight was to have a picnic at the end of school. Mary- The children did the... Juanita- Our rooms would have a picnic and they would be able to come school that morning and we'd have a couple of classes and then leave and go haveour picnics. They all brought a picnic lunch and then we'd go to either a park. remember one time there was one child in a family I taught and they had the first, the grandparents had the first swimming pool, and they invited us to bring my class since the grandaughter was in my class over there for my picnic and have them swim. Of course we had to have a lifeguard with them. Mary- Oh, well that's something they need now. Juanita- Yes. Those they look forward to those outings because sometimes its going out to a park or going to somebody's farm. That was called the end of school picnic and it was a lot of fun. Stirrs lots of memories. Grace- We were a lot younger then. 35 Delia- And then before the last week of school we had field day. Did you all have that? Sack races and... Grace- Yeah, we did. Juanita- We did. Grace- Three - legged races, all that. Mary- Did you give awards? Juanita- Yes. Grace- They got awards. Juanita- Ribbons, I think. And I think if I'm not mistaken one of the clubs, one of the local clubs, had those ribbons printed. Maybe it was Kiwanas or Rotary, one of those clubs in the community. Of course that ribbon had so much meaning to it. And we tried to have all students participate. In other words, many of them got the white ribbons which was for participation and I've always felt that you have to appreciate and recognize a child's effort. And I think that's one of the things that we fail to do so many times today. I won't be critical of today because I think we have so many wonderful young people, but I think sometimes those that succeed at a high level are recognized. That even goes in sports and other things. We recognize those that excel. And yet it's that middle quarter that we need to really give recognition because after all they're the main stream of society. Mary- That's right. That's funny, did you have, I remember chemines. How did we get money or am I remembering that correctly. I had general science... Grace- ...and biology, you were in biology weren't you? I think I had you in biology. Mary- Well, for me it was when I was a freshman. Grace- Oh, well that was general science. But did we have supplies? Mary- I'm kind of vague on that. Delia- I can't remember whether we made it up to the old lab or in the classroom. I just don't remember. Mary- Now, when you taught those science classes, did you have lab equipment? 36 Delia- We do for biology and then somebody else taught chemistry and physics. I've forgotten who, I think it was a man. Mary- But they had money enough for all that? Delia- Uh -huh. For frogs to dissect or whatever. Juanita- I think in our 4th grade curriculum, we had science and health combined. We had a textbook assigned both for health and science. We sort of divided and correlated the two together through the year or you could use science one semester, health another. Mary- You mentioned the textbooks. Did they do it then say before the war, the end of the war, like they do it now where the state has a certain group of books that you choose? Grace- Uh -huh, well it was when I was. Juanita- They sent the books to you if you were on the textbook committee for your grade. Mary- There was a time wasn't there where students had to buy their own books. Delia- Not in Texas that I know of. Grace- It was before Jim Fergerson, he's the one, the governor. Mary- Oh, way back. Grace- Yes, way back. Delia- I can say that was before my time. I didn't know about that. I know living in Alabama we had to but our textbooks. Grace- The students had to but them? Were they able to? Delia- Well, no one thought anything about it. They either bought second hand or used. I have mine. Juanita- I think we were given the privilege to buy them. I don't think we had to buy our textbooks. You were given the privilege of buying a book afterwards at 1/2 price, a used book. And many of the parents liked to teach those things especially to the younger children they had. See what they were going to face. 37 Mary- Well, we still have a little time. Delia- There's one thing I would like to mention. Jean Rosburn called me not long ago. They were worried about the church and the Lincoln School and when came here in 1936 the Lincoln School was down where the Wayne Smith Park is on Fairview and Park Place. As I remember there were two rooms in the building and I suppose that's why they moved from that corner to Holleman. Anyway, there were two rooms and I could go out in my yard and I could hear the teacher and I could look down Fairview and see the teacher ringing the handbell and the children would line up in two lines and go into the room and it was also the church. Somebody called me about it and I said that's where it was. I don't remember when they built the new church. Mary- I was going to ask you that, when they did that. Grace- Probably when they built the Lincoln School. I just don't know. Mary- Were you here when the schools integrated? Grace- Uh -huh. Juanita- Not at this original elementary school. We integrated College Hills later on Mary- College Hills. Was there any communication between the teachers of the black school and the white school? Grace- You mean before we integrated? Mary- Yeah, in those days was there any interaction at all? Grace- A little bit, with the principal and the homemaking teacher that was the only ones that I knew. But I thought we were very fortunate when we integrated. Don't you? Juanita- Yes. We didn't have the problems that a lot of places had. Juanita- We had no problems with them at our school. I was teaching at College Hills. They were sweet children and they fit in with the group and most of them had a real desire to learn. And I think their family had sort of instilled that in them too. That they thought privileged to be in a good school. I still see some of my students that I had when they first intergrated. It was going real smoothly, they were reared in this community so to speak in this area of Texas. 38 Grace- I know there was a freedom of choice. Do you remember that? They had a big to do over that. That was bussing the children from one to the other, that was in Bryan schools. Mary- But not here? I guess everybody was just all together. Delia- I just think, now how is College Station going to grow? There's a creek all back here you know. How could they go south and all those children, they just jumped over and kept going and going and it amazes me. I have some relatives that live out here in somewhere. I can't find it. I can't get there. Juanita- I think the real opening was, I don't know how many of us still remember, when they built Highway 6. There was no Highway 6 here. The campus turned towards the train station because that's where the cadets came in or the students came in. Only when they built Highway 6 near the university. They built buildings, the big administration building and faced it toward Highway 6. That was just a cow trail at one time. And if you've been here some time you've seen a big change in the community and in the neighborhood in all homes built across from the University. That's where College Hill Elementary is located. I started teaching there the year College Hill opened Mary- Anything else you can remember? Different event? Grace- We were talking about the reading, how they liked to read books. When school was out, this little girl said, "Mrs. Shrivanek, may I borrow your... ". I had this children's literature, the anthologies about that... She said, "can I have that over the summer to read ? ". I said, "surely ". So she did, and I gave it to her. Well, she lost the cover, but I still have the index, the table of contents. I still had that. It was Edwin Kincades little girl. Juanita- Oh, yes. Grace- Carol. Juanita- Carol. Grace- She read that thing and you could tell she'd read it over and over and over, she really liked it. She read that whole anthology. Mary- So there was no library for them? Juanita- You used your own library from home or checked them out from Carnefie Library. 39 Grace- She wanted it during the summertime, she wanted to read. She had to go all the way into Bryan to school, I mean to the library then, the Carnegie Library. I used to once a week to the Carnegie. My library card is #12, still. But think it's great to instill that in children and they don't need to sit in front of a TV and of course now, my granddaughter always, they're into sports, they don't have time to read and it's a shame. Then they have to practice their clarinet or then they have to practice piano and play volleyball. Next week she starts basketball. Then comes in cross country track. We didn't do that. Like in the 5th, they didn't have all this outside, all this activity, the go, go, go. I get out of breath just listening, to hear what they're doing. I have one in high school and she's a cheerleader and in cross country track and all that. And the other one is in the 8th grade. They take part in everything, too much. They want to do it. Mary- So what would the children do after school? Would they just play with each other before they had all that? Grace- You mean at school, after school? Mary- Well, just in general. Grace- Some of them would go into the library to read, others would play out on the playground, especially those who were waiting for buses. Mary- Uh -huh, but they didn't have all the cross country and the... Grace- No, no. I remember Tommy was in the 1 st grade and he'd go to the Smith boy, David Smith's little brother. He was waiting for the rural bus and Tommy was waiting for me, he came over when it was time to go and he told me, "mommy, I almost got in trouble ". I said, "what do you mean ? ". He said, "I almost got away with it, I didn't get in trouble ". I said, "what do you mean ? ". He said, "I was playing in front of Mrs. Knolls' room, the windows were opened out. We just grabbed a handful of rocks and we just threw them in the room ". And he said, "and you know what, Mrs. Knolls was right by us. She just passed right by us and went right into Mrs. Delaney's room ". And I said, "what happened then ? ". He said, "Mrs. Delaney came out and got us and she wore us out ". I said, "well, wonder what's going to happen when we get home ". He said, "I'll get wore out again ". But he still remembers that. He doesn't do it anymore. Juanita- I remember your expression and I guess it came from home about The Board of Education. Mary- So that's the was discipline was administered? Grace- Oh, no. I used my hand. He was fair complected and you didn't have to hit. I'd say hurry up and I'd do like that and there'd be this hand print and I said 40 oh my, they're going to get me for child abuse. He was just that way, he was just kind of grab like that, he was so fair complected. But we didn't hit Joey we couldn't do that. If he didn't make a 100 he'd cry. Juanita- I remember ,Grace, when you became very excited. We were lining up to go to lunch, and Joey was crying. I had tried to console him because we used to have spelling matches. Children loved to do that you know, have spelling matches and contests. And somehow, Joey missed a word that he really knew and he missed it and he was always the last one, not always, but usually he stood a very long time. So I was trying to console him. Grace I think had thought that something had happened to her son who was such a model student, but that was the thing. He took it very seriously. It has it's merits and demerits. Anyway, it's the make of the child, taking it real seriously and he did. The other one was not quite as serious. Grace- He was very opposite. I guess he took after his mother. Speaking about discipline problems, there's something now that bothers me if I was a teacher now. I think the business of... end tape, side A Side B: Delia- ...too loud or too boisterous in the room that weren't putting ... just a ring of that bell and that's all they needed. Instead of trying to out shout the children or try to go over them, punching each one to sit down. So I think the discipline was easy. Grace- And in different parts it didn't have to be... Mary- So Mrs. Shrivanek, was that similar... Grace- ...it got to be this way or that a way, this way or that a way. I followed that for three weeks and he changed. And then after that I had no trouble. don't raise my voice, I don't say anything. I could even be in the room they knew there was a time to whisper and another time to work. I mean, you start out at the beginning and they like organization, they like to know what's next and next. You see some that just lose control of their classes but you don't have to. Mary- Did you ever try to help those other teachers? Or did you ever have student teachers? Grace- Yes, I had 15 at a time over at... Mary- 15! 41 Grace- They were the physical education majors, Dr. Landiss. I was thinking of how children will run up and hug you. Well the string, he was way up there, 66 ", you know, basketball player and the little 3rd graders oh Mr.... I bet this rabbit was around his knees. But they just loved the teachers. But we had an incident from Willie Leighton's room to mine. This boy was very affectionate and he always kissed her after school when he left to go home. So we got in my room and we said oh, he's so affectionate that if he ever marries he'll had a god of children. So she told me what he did and I said well he needs to grow up. And we told him, we're in the 4th grade now and we just don't go around kissing teachers. And then he met a friend, he didn't have any special friends in that year but then... Usually you don't find that. But the boy, he was very affectionate. Juanita- He was from a very close and affectionate family. I think they knew the family, too. Mary- So Mrs. Fleming, how did you handle those junior high kids? Delia- Well, one day they were grown, you know, they thought they were. And they didn't need you but if they got hurt, you took the mother's place. I loved 7th grade. I had... Fort Worth system for many years, 1 st grade. And she said, "oh dear, you need ... 7th grade ". But they were, as I said in the beginning, they were, children. Were eager to learn back in those days. Grace- There weren't as many distractions either. I think now there are so many other distractions and then so many of them come home and the mothers not there maybe and they turn on the TV, company. They miss that, the supervision to a degree. At least a start out in the right direction. Delia- Those days are gone. Grace- What? Delia- Those days are gone. Grace- Yes they are unless the parent is really far reaching in that plan, maybe an adult ... That was done a lot during our era. Juanita- At thhis school, a neighbor would pick up children sometime ... and then they would stay with the children. The children stayed with that adult or neighbor until parents picked them up. I remember too, in that day no hesitancy in having your child going to a movie after school on campus. Wasn't his name Mr. Puddy? He ran the movie and ran a tight ship! Grace and Delia- Puddy! 42 Juanita- ...if they went to the rest room they always had their pal go with them. When you'd go in there to pick them up he'd say, "Ms. Sloan, Daisy and Sally, they're down there on the right where you left them if you want to pick them up. Sometimes they'd love to look at the movie again. Like I said, you had that feeling of ease. Then they could walk back and forth to school, some children did that. You know several blocks, some across town. Parents knew that they were coming home and ... There was never an uneasy feeling that something might happen between school and home. Mary- What a wonderful place this was here. Everybody- It was. Mary- I think it time for us to wind up. I've certainly enjoyed this tremendously. Thank you for coming. Grace- Makes me want to go back. Mary- Doesn't it stir your memories though. Grace- I think you're privileged cause you've experienced some of this. I think you have a deeper appreciation, maybe, then even we do. 43