More on teachers and a lot on learning

I left off with first grade.  I started second grade at Home Heights in the Riternour School district in St. Louis.  I have zero memories of the teacher I had at that school, which is odd for me.  I think it may be due to the significance of moving to a new house and a new school when we moved onto the campus of the Children's home.

We move around Christmas time.  I know this because I remember buying something for our class gift exchange.  Those were the days before political correctness and worries about liability.  Gift exchanges were a common practice and sexism was a given.  Girls had to wear skirts or dresses even in phys ed.  Boys chased girls on the playground and it was a given that every one would fall into gender roles with ease.

Given the sex divide, politically incorrect Christmas gift exchanges were generally separated by gender.  Since  I was new to the class, my mom bought gender neutral school supplies as a gift, just in case it was a random exchange.  Turns out it wasn't,,  Girls gift and boys gifts were piled on separate tables.  We all drew a number and gifts were selected (from the appropriate tables, of course) in numerical order.  My number was high, so I had to wait while the bigger and flashier gifts left the tables first.  I was less interested in getting a good gift than I was worried about someone having to receive pencils and notebooks when they selected my gift.

The girl (naturally) who picked mine was as gracious and appreciative as a second grader could be.  She thanked my and said  that was always happy to get new supplies for school.  I'm sure she cried all the way home.  I had to choose from the last two or three small packages left on the table.  Good things often come in small packages.  I got a really cool Liddle Kiddle  (remember those?) bracelet with a tiny little doll inside a tiny little locket.  Wish  still had that.  It's probably worth a fortune on ebay!

My teacher that year was Mrs. Feeney.  I don't think I could have been more fortunate in being assigned to her class.  There was a Japanese student in her class who was also new that year.  He spoke no English when he first arrive in her classroom, but Mrs. Feeney was so excited to have him in her class, that he was able to communicate and flourished by the time I got to the class in December.  She was excited to have me there, too, although I was a lot less interesting than Kazu!

She made Kazu into an opportunity to teach us all about Japan. We learned how to sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in Japanese, and made a Japanese Christmas tree from newspaper. Kazu painted our names in Japanese figures for each of us (very inaccurate translation, I'm sure).  We always sung Happy Birthday to each child in Japanese and had Japanese bean cakes for snacks.

I don't remember if Kazu stayed at that school for more than just that year (or even for more than that semester), but Mrs. Feeney made his stay in her class something significant and wonderful for him and for everyone in the class.

Thanks, Mrs Feeney, for making my own transition to a new school, a welcoming , nurturing magical experience.