What I Remember — From Fourth Grade (1960–1961)

I’ve heard it said that a child remembers nothing from his or her first three years. I’ve also heard it said that old people like myself — I turned 73 recently — remember more about their youth than they do about last week. Thus, as I prepare to attend my 55th high-school reunion of the class of 1969 later this summer, I thought it might be interesting to see what I actually remember from those early years, kindergarten through twelfth grade in the Catholic schools I attended in upstate New York. Since I don’t honestly remember much from those early years of school, I thought I would post my vague memories, and perhaps they might stir up the memories of others who attended school during that same era.

As fourth graders, we were finally out of The Annex and situated on the second floor on the front side of the building. However, some of us faced a new experience because we were in a double grade with Sister Agnes; half of the class was in fourth grade, and the other half was in fifth grade. Sister Agnes would actively teach us for 30 to 45 minutes while the fifth graders worked on their projects, and, then, the process would be reversed.

I’m guessing the idea behind this combination was to allow the younger kids to learn from the older kids and to give the older kids a chance to model academic skills and proper behavior. As one of the…