So Much More Than Reading, Writing and Arithmetic

On the eve of so many graduations, college students stepping out into the real world, high school seniors taking the next step the college, eighth graders heading to high school and even kindergartners moving on to "real" school in the first grade, I can't help but let my memory wander back to school. I always loved school and was often described as smart, a model student, and yes, even a teacher's pet, but I didn't care. My white blouse was always tucked in to my plaid skirt and my mary janes were never scuffed - oh Catholic school.... I always made sure my teachers knew me, knew how much I loved learning and I was always the one who offered to help the teacher, no matter the task. I love learning, still do, and as an adult, looking back, I realize I learned so much from my teachers, both the good ones and not-so-good ones. I have some great memories from my days as a student. Here are some (installment 1, grade school):

Kindergarten (Miss Penning): Getting to get the letter person of the week out of the closet and introducing him/her to the class; playing with the big yellow dollhouse and learning that no matter how much I loved it, I did need to share it with the rest of the class; wearing a light blue leotard, tights and matching tennis shoes and being Mr. B, Beautiful Buttons, in the Letter People Show; getting to turn the Kindergarten Homes (chairs) over to the "big" side after break, since we were getting bigger and going to first grade soon after

First Grade (Mrs. Hartman): Learning that I did not have to color "up and down in little strokes" even though I was taught that way' learning that despite what I was told, sheep could in fact be purple if I wanted to color them that way; getting to "vote" in the school election in the coat room of our classroom; getting to be in Brownies, my troop led by my mom

Second Grade (Ms. Hill): preparing for First Communion; getting to go across the hall to the other second grade classroom for the "advanced" reading class; piling books up as high as the librarian's desk during the school book fair and then getting to buy most of them; getting my first missing assignment note and then forging my mom's signature in pencil

Third Grade (Mrs. Layzell): Doing my first partner project for Social Studies; taking timed tests in math class and being sad when I didn't get an A for the first time; making a paper version of me that I taped into my chair so my parents could find my desk on Open House night; making friends with the new girl in our class that year; jumping rope at recess with the school secretary, Mrs. Gall

Fourth Grade (Sister Celestine): Moving to the second floor of the school, which meant being one of the "big" kids; cheating on the Iowa Basics standardized tests with Molly C, the first and only time I ever cheated on a test; getting glasses and having Sister Celestine tell me that they were my "smarts" so that I would feel better about wearing them; going to rollerskating parties and thinking, like everyone else in my class did, that it was a big deal if you held hands with someone during the slow songs as you skated; singing songs from Mexico for the Spring show and playing the maracas, but having no rhythm; gathering in the Late Day room every afternoon right before Easter to watch Jesus of Nazareth

Fifth Grade (Ms. Hill): Having one of my favorite teachers for a second time which made me so happy on the first day of school; starting band and basketball; breaking my arm and quitting basketball after 4 games on the bench; practicing extra hard so I could catch up with my classmates in band, then playing even better than them; turning 10, you know, when double digits was a big deal; switching classes and having 4 different teachers; watching THE Family Life filmstrip and giggling along with my classmates; getting to wear a uniform skirt instead of a jumper

Sixth Grade (Mrs. Bangert): having a "Little Sister" in the Kindergarten class and loving getting to do things with her at school; singing songs from Grease for the Spring show and wearing a dress my Grandma wore during that time, which was way cooler than what the other girls wore; playing four square at recess and not sucking at it; getting to do my end of the year social studies project on Germany because I was going there when school ended, even though the unit and everyone else's projects were on Central and South America; getting my piccolo and learning to play it

Seventh Grade (Ms. Green): having a whole new set of teachers, the 7th AND 8th grade ones; kicking major butt in vocab class, which was way cooler than spelling; joining the after school math club even though I was not good at math just because all my friends did, then quitting when I realized I was no good at it; loving my teacher because she was fun and awesome, and then being sad when she got fired before the fourth quarter; actually standing up to the principal (who was mean and scary) because I knew she was a hypocrite; earning first chair in band for the first time

Eighth Grade (Mrs. Cavanaugh): having History class instead of Social Studies; refusing to dissect a frog because it made me sick and then doing it on a computer program instead; laughing at my history teacher, Mrs. Allieo, when she lost her glasses on top of her head or told stories about the handicapped animals in her yard; reading good books in English (The Outsiders, To Kill A Mockingbird, etc.); getting confirmed and having my favorite teacher from 7th grade as my sponsor; making the 8th grade mural in the back of our classroom during the last few weeks of school; getting to wear the graduation ribbons and signing everyone's at the end of the year; the graduation dance

I have so many memories from my days at St. Agnes, and these are just a small sampling. These are years during which we learn so much, even though we may not know it. As we get older, we remember these things, and so many more; we remember teachers, classmates, classrooms, the lunchroom, the library and recess. We learn to write, to read, to add and subtract. We learn about geography, how to spell, about the states of matter, but so much more the states of growing up, what really matters. St. Agnes was a place I learned, a place I grew, a place full of memories. And most of them go beyond what was in those textbooks....