BACK TO SCHOOL Q & A

I'm starting year 6 of retirement (and last year before I have to pay full price for health insurance.  Since about 2010, there is no health insurance available after you retire.  Only Medicare, if you're 65. That would have been tough for me, since I retired at 54!  However, the District used to LOVE their teachers, and if you were hired before 1990, you received nearly a 3% stipend x number of years that you had taught . . . .HUZZAH!         

I saw this cute "Back to School Q & A" and thought it would be fun to share memories
of my school years and teaching years!  

1) Did you love school or hate it? 

LOVED it! I used to play the board game, "Go to the Head of the Class!"  I also had a little chalkboard at the shop (Dad's business) that I would show my imaginary class about adding and subtracting fractions!  My favorite grade was 5th grade!  I especially loved US History!  

2) Start school before or after Labor Day? 

Before. Always the last week of August. As I became a teacher, it was the same time, then was earlier.  

3) Wake up: early or late? 

Early.  From grades 1-3, we had to go to Aunt Nina and Uncle Cecil's house (Nina was my Grandma Howard's cousin.  Cecil was my Grandpa Mitchell's cousin...and my principal!)  My mom taught in Sandy, so we were up and going EARLY!!!  (Back then, the "Point of the Mountain" had two lanes up and two lanes down.  No division between.)

4) Favorite breakfast? 

I loved scrambled eggs.  When teaching, I liked to put cheese on toast and let it hit the microwave.  In the fall, fresh tomatoes on top.

5) Favorite cereal?

 Cap'n Crunch as a kid.  Raisin Bran as a teacher.

6) School uniform or no uniform?  

Never heard of them!  Charter schools didn't exist, and Utah probably had 2 or 4 private schools in the entire state!  I had to wear a dress to school every day until 8th grade. (wore shorts underneath so we could play on the "tricky bars") Then, we could wear pants.  But, they had to be a part of a "pantsuit", which meant matching jacket.  Those were too expensive! In 9th grade, dress pants and a blouse.  In 10th grade, we could wear jeans! At Dixie College, it was the same.  Shorts were unheard of!!! My junior and senior years at BYU, you could not wear jeans.  

Years 1-8 of teaching, the kids could change into shorts at lunch recess for our "field day." In my 9th year, kids could wear shorts in August, September, and May only.  Year 10+, shorts any day.  Shoes were closed toe, and shirts with tails had to be tucked in. 

7) New outfit for first day or no? 

Yes!  In American Fork, you shopped at JC Penney's, Christensen's and Chipman's.  For "Back to School", my mom took me to Salt Lake!  What a treat!!!  My Aunt Virginia and Grandma Mitchell made all of my junior high dresses.  The University Mall opened when I was in 9th grade.

For my 33 years of teaching, I always wore a dress or skirt the first day.  Never pants.

8) Walk to school or ride the bus? 

Kindergarten:  I rode to school with my mom, who taught 2nd grade at my school in St. George.

1st-2nd:  Rode the bus to and from Uncle Cecil and Aunt Nina's.  3rd:  When Shelley opened, we were too close to ride the bus. Walked to and from Aunt Nina and Uncle Cecil's house.  Aunt Nina took us in bad weather. 

4th-6th:  Walked to and from dad's shop. 

7th-9th:  Dad took me, Reid, and Kenny DeMarco to junior high from the shop (he helped me with math before), I walked to shop after or walked home. Sometimes I rode with Shelly and Jackie's dad (they lived 2 houses north of shop).  

10th:  Rode the bus to and from high school. 

11th-12th:  Mom drove me to school at 7:00 a.m.  I hung around in the high school until my 7:30 a.m. band class started.  Rode the bus home.

Dixie:  Lived on campus...walked. 

BYU: Junior. . . lived at bottom of stairs, walked. Senior:  moved home.  Mom & Sydney drove me to student teaching. Carpooled with Karalee Brady summers.  

Teaching:  Carpooled my first 2 years with Ann Searle, Dave Dimond, and Tony Bodell. Carpooled 15 more year with Ann, then drove myself.

9) Backpack, tote, or messenger bag? 

What???  We just carried our books!!!  In our arms!!!  First year at BYU, they finally had backpacks for books! Always had a teaching bag and a binder for keeping track of scores and grades. About my last 7-8 years, I had the binder, but it zipped closed, and had a shoulder strap!!!

10) Eat school lunch or pack lunch? 

Always had school lunch!  Cost:  .25 for elementary (we had a "monthly ticket" . . . $5 for 20 days.)  .30 in Jr High .40 High School.  I usually ordered a salad or ate hot lunch when teaching.  I didn't like to pack.  Favorite school lunch at Alpine: baked potato bar, Hawaiian Haystack, and the Thanksgiving lunch.

11) Remember the little milk cartons? White or chocolate? 

White!  Chocolate did not exist in the schools until about 1990.  At first, we had chocolate milk once a month.  Even the home lunch kids brought their .10 to buy the chocolate milk!  (Chocolate milk was made by putting Nestlé Quik powder in white milk.)

12) Paper bag or lunch box?

 I did pack a lunch a couple of years while teaching!  I had a Mickey Mouse lunch box.  Paper bag in younger grades.  

13) Favorite thing to do at recess? 

Whatever Renae and Carol were doing.

14) Favorite back to school supply item? 

Crayons.  In elementary, we didn't ever have to buy supplies!  They were provided . . . as they should be!  Secondary, we bought notebooks and pencils.

15) Chalkboard or dry erase board? 

Chalkboard . . . green, black, brown.  Dry erase came about my last 10 years of teaching.

16) Regular pencil or mechanical? 

Regular.  Mechanical weren't invented.  When they were, I HATED THEM.  Lead always broke.  Students that used them were always looking to borrow lead from others the last couple of months of school.  I usually write with a pen.

17) Homework right after school or after dinner?

Both.  I had 2 days a week where I had dancing and piano lessons after school.  So, after dinner, or in the morning the days I went to the shop.  Checking papers at all times.

18) Favorite after school snack? 

Toast.

19) Favorite after school show?  

TV was the best when I was growing up! They had cartoons after school (Captain Scotty after school, Fireman Frank in the morning. They talked to kids from Salt Lake, then hosted the cartoons) I liked the Brady Bunch, and the variety shows.

20) Favorite subject in school? 

Elementary:  Reading 

Secondary:  US History 

Dixie:  Program Bureau and Forensics  

BYU:  Social Studies for Elementary Teachers

Teaching Alpine Elementary:  US History.  

21) Least favorite school subject? 

Art.  I liked it, but wasn't very good at it.  That's why I had my students do my bulletin boards.

22) Name of your best friend in high school? 

Renae Allen Reese.  1st grade - now

23) Mascot? 

Nothing until high school.  

American Fork:  Caveman  

Dixie:  Rebels  (Dixie had a lot of "southern" items at the school.  The first to go was

the school flag, part of the Confederate flag was in it.  The mascot went next.  We

could no longer be the Rebels.  Apparently, it was offensive.  They were called the

"Red Storm" . . . whatever that is.  Now, they are the "Trailblazers."  All of this

happened about 20 years after I graduated from Dixie.

BYU: Cougars  

Alpine Elementary:  Eagles

24) SAT or ACT? 

ACT

25) Favorite years in school? 

Elementary:  5th

Jr. High:  9th

High School:  12th

College:  Sophomore (at Dixie)

Teaching: Year #10

26) Class ring or no class ring? 

Ring.  My mom purchased it at Reed's Jewelry.  Also, since I graduated in the "Bicentennial," (200 years since 1776, Declaration of Independence) we had a 

Liberty Bell on our tassel, and a Minuteman on our graduation announcements.  

27) Attend or not attend high school reunions? 

Yes.  

5:  Aspen Grove, Provo Canyon

10:  Excelsior Hotel, Provo  

15:  Alpine Country Club, Highland

20:  Didn't attend

25 & 30:  Alpine Country Club, Highland

35:  no reunion  

40:  AFHS, American Fork

28)  Favorite teachers? 

Elementary:  Duane Durrant, 4th  Wanda Peterson, 3rd

Junior High: Loree Brown, Spanish  Clark Brown, Utah History (no relation),

Merrill Hansen, Seminary

High School:  Stan Reid, Spanish & US History,  Jay Allen (Renae's brother) Biology

Ann Jaussi, P.E. . . . Team Sports

Dixie:  Edna Gregerson, English (she lived 2 houses from us when I lived in St. George), Roene DiFiore, Program Bureau, Mike Woodward & Don Hinton, Debate & Forensics, Pat Roper, P.E.

BYU:  Marie Tuttle, Language Arts for Elementary teachers

And . . . favorite principal at Alpine Elementary:  David Stephenson  (8 years at Alpine)

29)  Favorite Field Trip?  

Elementary: 5th grade to Granite Flats. 

We did a lot of studying and ecology projects.  We stayed until 6:00 p.m.!  Had weinie roast. 

Junior High:  It wasn't a class, but Reid & I went on a  field trip with mom's 1st graders.  We rode AmTrak from Salt Lake to Provo. Dad picked us up in Provo. 

High School:  Band trips:  Reno, Lake Tahoe, Seattle, Spokane (World's Fair), Fiesta Bowl football game.  Also, I went to Acapulco, Taxco, and Mexico City with Renae and our Spanish teacher.

Dixie:  debate trips . . . Colorado, Arizona, California, Wyoming   

BYU:  In my PE class, we helped the kids at Westmore Elementary do a halftime 

show at a BYU basketball game.  The team had Fred Roberts, Greg Kite, and Danny Ainge on it.  They went to the "Elite 8" at the NCAA tournament.  All three ended up at together on the Celtics.  (I heard that Fred Roberts will teach 6th grade at Alpine Elementary,  I can't confirm it.)

Teaching:  Clear Creek, hiking to the North Mountain

District history class:  Boston, Lexington, Concord, Plimoth Plantation, Teacher Institute at Colonial Williamsburg

Coincidentally, I went on an elementary field trip and also while I was teaching to the Bingham Open Copper Pit.  I also went in junior high and while I was teaching to Clear Creek.

30)  If I could have changed anything about my schooling? 

I wish Dixie had been a 4 year school when I went instead of a junior college. I did not like BYU, except spring and summer quarters.  I went to BYU because my mom had had student teachers from all colleges and said BYU had the best education department, which they did.

Here are the schools I attended.

The info about the schools from 

grades 1-12 came from the book,

Shaping Communities & Building Futures.

100 Years of Educating Students in

Alpine School District

1915-2015

"Nursery School"

Dixie Jr. College

President, Arthur F. Bruhn

(my neighbor across the street)

1962-1963

St. George, Utah

I attended "Nursery School" here.  The Nursery School was in the

Child Development class as part of Dixie Jr. College.

Dona Parkinson was the teacher. 

She was still there when I went to college.

She had me deliver my persuasive speech to her

classes about child abuse.

The classroom was across the hall from my dad's classroom.

Kindergarten

West Elementary

(so fun to attend the school my mom taught at!)

Principal, Victor Frei

1963-1964

St. George, Utah

1st-2nd Grades

Harrington

Principal, Cecil Hansen (Uncle Cecil)

1964-1966

American Fork, Utah

3rd-6th Grades

Shelley Elementary

Principal, Cecil Hansen (Uncle Cecil)

1966-1969

American Fork, Utah

The top picture is from the cover of

my 3rd grade yearbook.  That was the year

the school opened . . . 1966.

The bottom picture is of the remodel,  2009.

The school was named after 

George F. Shelley.

He donated the property.

His granddaughter is my BFF, Renae Allen Reese.

His great granddaughter is my good friend,

Lynnell Shelley Fox.

7th-9th Grades

American Fork Jr. High

Principal, Doug Nicholes (in my ward)

1969-1973

American Fork, Utah

The school was built in 1912.

My grandpa, dad, and his siblings went

to high school here.

The American Fork Rec Center is located at this site.

The southwest stairs are original.

10th-12th Grades

This was how the front door looked

when I attended.

American Fork High School

Principal, Con Brady

1973-1976

American Fork, Utah

College

Freshman-Sophomore

Dixie Jr. College

President, Rolfe Kerr

1976-1978

St. George, Utah

Degree:  Associate of Arts

I always wanted to "go back" to Dixie!

I spent a lot of time looking through my

dad's yearbooks from when he taught there, 1957-1964.

(Elder Holland took several classes from him!)

The top 2 pictures are the "Dixie sign" from when

I was there, and now.

My favorite place on campus was the amphitheater

and the fountain.

My favorite building was the Fine Arts Building.

It is made of mosaic tiles.

The "Liberal Arts" building (LA)

was where I had the most classes:

English, Spanish, Debate & Forensics, US History

College

Junior-Senior

Brigham Young University

President, Dallin Oaks

President Jeffery R. Holland

1978-1980

Provo, Utah

Degree:  Bachelor of Science

Since BYU was so big, I focused

on the building I spent most of my time in.

David O. McKay school of education.

The top picture is 

President David O. McKay, president of the

LDS Church until halfway through my 5th grade year.

It was named after him, because he was a teacher.

(And, you young kiddos . . . we watched his funeral 

AT school!  We also watched the World Series as

we worked.  All games then were in the daytime.

Not unusual!)

Teaching

Alpine Elementary

1980-2013

Principals:  Brian Page, Roger Olsen, Paul Rasband,

Claudia Wasden, Karl Bowman, 

David Stephenson, Cami Larsen

Alpine, Utah

Top pictures are the second Alpine Elementary,

built in 1899.

The first was built in 1851.

The bottom one is the current Alpine Elementary,

built in 1964.

The west end . . . from west door to double doors,

was built in 1964.  

From the double doors to the end

of the 4th & 5th grade halls, including the library,

was built in 1973.

(My teammates, Roger & Calvan, talked about the

"pickle barrels" that were brought in while

they were building the new section.

They were round, and looked like a pickle barrel.)

They were located east of the school on the grass.

This was probably in the early '70s.

The "Satellite"  for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and resource was

brought in in 1983.

It looked like a long trailer!

It smelled horrible, and every room was COVERED

in wood panneling!

The way we decided who went out there was:

1.  Kindergarten had their own rooms

2.  1st graders would get lost going so far

3.  5th & 6th grades always used the library and

the encyclopedias

(At the time, their classrooms were open, and surrounded

the media center.)

The Satellite was removed, and the new section,

2nd, 3rd, resource, and computer,

was added in 2003.  

When walking to it from "Miss Kathy's" preschool classroom,

the hallway goes straight, turns right at a 90 degree angle, then

turns left at a 90 degree angle.

The reason of this strange configuration is because

the owner of the water rights there would not sell.

So, the addition was built around it!

The satellite was taken to

Forbes Elementary on the last day of school.  All of their children were

in it for one year while the (second Forbes Elementary school building 

was torn down and rebuilt. 

This only took two summers and one school year.

Principals

 Every principal at Alpine Elementary since being at the new location,

400 E. 300 N.

Alpine, Utah

Carl Mellor (passed away 2 months after this photo), Brian Page,
(then Roger Olsen, who was not there), Paul Rasband,
Dr. Claudia Wasden, Karl Bowman,

David Stephenson, Cami Larsen, Dave Perdue
(About 4 years after Dr. Wasden left, she married my
6th grade teacher, Jack Reid!)

Secretaries are the best!

Sandra Walker was my secretary from 1980-2001.

Here she is with Principal Roger Olsen

(who wasn't in the above picture)

Lisa Smith Hoover

2001-2013