Ok, I have been peeling back the layers of my memory to find a school story to share. I cannot seem to nail a specific one down, which I find funny, since I used to share my school stories all the time with my friends, family, and in-laws.
Here's what I've decided to do. I'm going to share a memory from each grade of school for the time being. I might share two or three per grade. Hopefully, if my brain ever decides to behave, I'll come back here and drop more detailed recollections of my school career.
In Pre-K, I remember hating the nap portion of the school day. I never went to sleep. I'd always just lay on my little cot and look at the ceiling until the teacher came to get us up. I remember falling asleep one day, however, and being completely stunned that I did. I woke up before the teachers got us up, and I couldn't believe the me, of all kids, actually went to sleep. I also recall asking my mother if the school day in Pre-K was only three minutes long, and she told me that it was.
In Kindergarten, I certainly remember missing those naps we didn't take anymore, that's for sure. My momma told me I was wrong now when I asked if the school day was only three minutes long. While in the hallway one day for a bathroom break, I recall asking my teacher how old she was. She told me, and my response was, "Wow, that's more than how many presidents we've had" (I've always been interested in presidents). My teacher didn't find my remark amusing.
In First Grade, I remember my teacher telling me one day that I needed to stop wasting the class kleenexes. She said it never looked like I was blowing my nose, only wiping it. One day I went and got a Kleenex, used it, and my teacher said, "See, it looks like you did nothing."
In Second Grade, I remember my teacher would reapply her bright red lipstick everyday when we got back from lunch. She would go into the little closet she had, grab her purse, put it on, and smack her lips as she looked into a little mirror she had hanging on the wall. I remember doing the same thing with my chap stick once and she told me to stop being disruptive.
In Third Grade, I remember messing up my knee one time and having to use crutches for a few days. My teacher would get my lunch tray for me and bring it to my table. I at least semi-liked the attention, but I was glad when it was over. I also remember us watching the animated movie ANTZ and it dropping the D-word. The entire class was stunned, but I teacher didn't seem to be bothered by it at all.
In Fourth Grade, I used to sit right in front of the class air conditioner. It felt good when we'd get back inside from recess or P.E., but it would sometimes freeze my back, and I've always been a hefty guy. Our teachers had all of our names written on a popsicle stick, and she would move them into different cups based on our behavior for that day. If we got to a certain cup, we'd owe silent lunch, or possibly owe her our recess.
In Fifth Grade, we were all shocked to learn that our very, very small little school was now considering fifth graders a part of the middle school -- which was typically sixth through eighth graders. We had to start swapping classes and using lockers. It was kind of fun actually. It made us feel a little older and gave us a little slice of responsibility.
In Sixth Grade, I recall our homeroom teacher being a big Georgia Bulldogs fan. The only wall decor he had in his room were pertaining to that specific football team. He was a Social Studies guru, and pressed that subject more than our reading most mornings. He used to get us to stay in his class during our P.E. time (which was his planning period) to retake tests we had failed.
In Seventh Grade, I remember our class being very bad -- well, as bad as seventh graders can be. As I've said, we were a very, very small school. There was only one seventh grade class. I remember several of us having to owe our math teacher recess one day and not a one of us showed up to her classroom. She was furious, as one might guess. They could never get any of us to tell on another that year. I don't know why that was. We stuck together through it all.
In Eighth Grade, our class had to get a tiny little school store everyday. The money we made off of it (which wasn't much, I assure you) was to go to our end-of-year class trip. We didn't end up making the money we needed to, so we had to sell candy, too. We didn't meet that goal, either, so we had to all bring in like $50 or something to do that class trip. We went to Savannah, Georgia, and I remember getting a big white chocolate peanut butter cup on River Street.
The school I went to my whole life only went from Pre-K through Eighth Grade. They had closed down the high school years before I started there. I had to relocate to another school in the same county some twenty miles away to attend high school.
In Ninth Grade, I received a culture shock. I went from a tiny little small-town school to a much bigger school with almost 900 students. I had a tough time adjusting and I laid out of school a lot that year. I rarely saw the friends I had been close to for years and I struggled making new friends for a while. I got in trouble with truancy because of my absences, but I only failed math that year. I passed everything else with really good grades, despite my absences.
In Tenth Grade, I had finally gotten into the groove of high school. I finally had my favorite teacher ever -- my math teacher I'd ultimately have for my make-up ninth grade math, and for my eleventh and twelfth grade math classes. I remember reading "The Kite Runner" in my literature class and having to do a one-person drama skit as a class project that semester.
In Eleventh Grade, I had one of my favorite literature teachers ever. We read "The Great Gatsby" and watched the Leonardo DiCaprio version of the movie. I remember reading "The Fault in Our Stars" and my teacher critquing my taste in books, albeit jokingly. I used to go set with my literature teacher during my lunch, which was her planning period.
In Twelfth Grade, I remember not wanting to miss a single day of school. I was sad that my school career was coming to an end. I wanted it to last as long as possible. We had a new guidance counselor that year, and I went to her office on the first day to have my entire schedule reworked. It was a mess when I first got it. I begged her to give me a certain schedule like my best friend at the time. We read "Beowulf" in my British literature class and also the first Harry Potter book. I didn't care for the latter. The One Republic song "I Lived" is what we had played at our graduation.
So, there you have it. Some of my school stories.
