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I remember when I was at Hatton, and I could
go up to my first-grade teacher and give her a hug. She would
look so pleased and be so happy when you showed her you cared.
Mrs. Ondack retired after I had her, but the memory is still
strong.
– by Vanessa Casteel
I remember kindergarten at Windemere
Elementary School with Mrs. Kenimooth. I remember kindergarten
as rows of huge wooden tables with cubbyholes. I remember the
paint easel that always had promises of beautiful rainbow colors
only to find them all mixed together when it finally became my
turn. How devastating! I remember once she would not let me go
to the restroom because the class had just gone. She soon found
that she really should have let me go. She never denied my
request again.
I remember my first-grade teacher at
Hatton, Mrs. Williamson. She encouraged my love of writing. She
used to ask me to read my stories to the guests that came to our
room. This is a very special memory.
I remember I.T.A .– do you? Remember
those strange letter combinations that were supposed to help you
read better? It had something to do with writing a word the way
it sounded.
I remember Miss Abdoo (who later that
summer became Mrs. Hromco). She read us "Charlotte's Web." I
read it to my own students every year now.
Remember when "ladies didn't wear
slacks?" I was in fifth grade before the policy changed. Mrs.
Herlbert, my fifth-grade teacher, didn't believe in ladies in
slacks; so it was sixth grade before I wore slacks to school.
(And pantsuits–remember them?) Gym class in grade school was a
ritual of "go to the restroom, put your pants under your dress,
go to gym, go back to the restroom, take off the pants, go to
the classroom."
To Herr Tittle, Herr Frank, und Frau
Schmidt ... danke shon. I can still hear Herr Tittle saying,
"Die fergel fliegen und tanzen und Coca Cola trinken." (Forgive
my spelling – it's been years.)
I remember Miss Redovian and our trip to
eat crepes – a fancy word for flat but tasty pancakes. Merci!
I remember Mr. Monroe who was the only
teacher in my 12 years of school who gave me a detention (for
getting in my locker between classes). How devastating!
I remember the late Tony Okolish and his
extra credit. I remember Mr. Singer and his flashlight arrow in
biology class. I remember Mrs. Ellet's journals. I remember Mr.
Shellenberger giving extra credit on his tests if you spelled
his name right. I remember playing cards in Ellet High senior
study hall.
I remember a group of us used to call
ourselves "Rachita's Bananas" because we would hang around
then-assistant principal Alex Rachita's office. It was the only
way we ever saw the office.
I remember school plays and speech
competitions with the late Dan MacLachlan. He went from teacher
to friend to family friend. He was at my house when I brought my
newborn daughter home five years after graduation. He will be
greatly missed.
It seems that every time I left a school,
they got a new addition. Hatton got a library, Hyre got a
community center, and Ellet got a vocational wing.
From the teachers who handled the
day-to-day grind, to the secretaries who handled the
bureaucracy, to the librarians who saved us from study halls, to
the custodians who saved us from ourselves, I thank you!!
– by Joan Gipson
I remember all my elementary teachers at
Ritzman. Mrs. Rubright taught kindergarten, which was held in
the school next door because the main building was overcrowded.
I was lucky to have the same teacher, Mrs. Cartwright, for first
and second grade; and I remember that she would shake the
stuffings out of you if you did something wrong. Of course, I
never did. For third grade, Mrs. Shear was always very strict
but fair. Mrs. Frye, my fourth-grade teacher, needed new
curtains for the classroom; so naturally I volunteered my
mother. For fifth grade, we had to study poetry because that was
Miss Grant's favorite subject. But sixth and seventh grades were
different. Our classroom was in an old portable in the back of
the school. Mr. Boxler and Mr. Welch had an honest-to-goodness
"black" chalkboard to write on, a cloakroom for us to hang our
coats in or to stand in when we were less than agreeable, and an
old potbelly stove to fill with coal so that our room was warm.
Oh, those were the good old days.
Well, they finally built Hyre Junior High
School; and I was in the first eighth-grade class to attend. We
picked the Hawk, the school colors and the alma mater.
Then on to Ellet High School where I
earned a good education and met my husband, Ernie. We are both
1965 graduates.
Our two sons, Steve and Nate, began their
education experience at Windemere, then Hyre and graduated from
Ellet in 1994 and 1996. As parents, we were involved with Akron
Public Schools even more. My husband worked with the computer
club at Windemere for eight years. We both worked in the PTA at
all three schools. Our family spent 15 years volunteering with
Odyssey of the Mind, Mock Trial, Steel Drums, textbook selection
committees, band, musicals and many other activities. Our motto
became "Music Makes the Difference." I had the privilege to
serve the Akron Council of PTAs as president, which gave me the
opportunity to meet and work with parents, teachers,
administrators and school board members from all over the city.
I owe a great debt to Akron Public
Schools for all the lessons (both positive and negative) that
shaped my life and that of my family. Thanks to some very
special teachers at Ellet High School – Mrs. Baltrinic, Mr.
Redding, Mr. Grom, Mr. Terjung, Mrs. Jawyn, Mr. Young and Mr.
Pozu – for the lessons.
Oh, yes, my new relationship with Akron
Public Schools is as an employee. I can be found in the LRC at
Central-Hower, home of the Eagles. Here at Central-Hower, I have
found another dedicated staff helping young students to become
the leaders of tomorrow.
– by Mary Ann Hanes
I went to Betty Jane School. I started
there when I was six. That was so many years ago. My
granddaughter goes there now. I remember walking to school every
morning, then home for lunch and back again. We got 1-1/2 hours
for lunch. It was 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; but we walked home and
back in that time only to walk home again at the end of the day.
I still have cinders in my knees from falling down the path.
– by Sylvia Deming Kling
I remember in the late '40s Betty Jane
School had portable buildings for the two sixth-grade classrooms
and a portable for the gym and music programs. Desks were all
connected together with wooden runners, and the seat of one was
connected to the top of the next desk. We had ink wells in the
top of our desks for liquid ink bottles; there were no ball
point pens. During recess we had marble tournaments. Everyone
went home for lunch; there was no lunch room. Class size was 30
or more.
I went to Betty Jane during all of my
grade school years, student taught there, and later became a
part-time teacher in the primary art classes.
– by Roger McKissick
I remember when, in the fourth grade at
Ritzman Elementary School during recess from Miss Juanita Luke's
fourth-fifth split class, I had a very sticky experience. Each
spring the Ritzman playground became a pit of thick, gooey mud
that you could easily sink at least 3" into. Miss Luke made sure
that we had put on our rubber boots, but the mud was like glue!
I was going to master those dreaded monkey bars before the
others got out on them. Approximately 3-1/2 ft. away from the
monkey bars, my boots got stuck. I tried to pull out of the mud,
but the boot and shoe remained while my sock-covered foot went
right into the mud! I then tried to reach for the step bar but
fell face first into the sticky mess. My mom was called to bring
me clean, dry clothes; this was when little girls only wore
dresses to school – she wasn't very happy with me. That day she
had permitted me to wear my new Easter dress and shoes!
I remember when in first grade we all
traveled in single file to the basement gym at Ritzman
Elementary School to receive our smallpox vaccinations. The
doctors sat at tables ready for us; they looked like the men on
the Luden's Cough Drop box – beards and all. They held out these
extremely long needles that each of us cringed at while waiting
to be "shot." Afterward, our teacher would walk us single file
back to the classroom having us spin our arms around like
helicopters – something about helping the medicine work???
– by Pat Shepard
I remember in the first grade at
Windemere having my good friend Maryanne Crimaldi die from
kidney disease. My teacher Miss Lynn was so caring and kind as
she tried to tell a room full of 6-year-olds that our sweet
little friend had died. She held me on her lap because I was so
upset.
Today I am working as a Chapter One tutor
in Akron Public Schools and am very proud that I attended Akron
Public Schools for 13 years.
– by Becky Taylor |
