nostalgia time

It's back-to-school time again, which means I've been reminiscing about my own school days from years ago.  Tomorrow will be the first day of school for my kiddos, so I thought I'd share what I remember from the grades they'll be in this year.

Ben starts first grade tomorrow.  I can't believe he's so grown up, going to school all day long like the big kids!  He is very excited about it, and I have a feeling he will love first grade!

This is me in first grade:

I attended Crawford Elementary in Ames (see a picture in the previous post!), just a block from my house, and my teacher was Mrs. McInnis.  She was an older teacher (she retired after that year) and I remember her being quite strict.  She could be nice, too, however.  I remember her comforting me after my grandpa passed away.  My best friends that year were Sheryl, Tracy, Abby, and Chris M.  I was already boy-crazy at that age, LOL, and besides Chris (my official boyfriend), I also had my eye on two other boys in my class, Greg and Karl.

Some things I remember from first grade are sitting at the back of the room by the coat hooks, listening to music and stories with giant headphones, singing a song about vowels, blowing eggs at Easter time, Mrs. McInnis asking the class every morning what we'd had for breakfast, and a cool little paddle boat that my dad helped me make for a science project.

Nick will begin 8th grade, his second (and last) year of middle school.  He does NOT like middle school, and is not looking forward to tomorrow at all.  At least he knows his way around the school now, and knows almost all of his teachers since he'll have the same ones he did last year for most of his subjects.  I'm really hoping that he'll make a friend or two this year ~ it would make school much more enjoyable, I'm sure!

Here's me in 8th grade, thinking I was so cool with my rainbow shirt and my sweater.  (I remember it was very warm on picture day that year, but I stubbornly kept my sweater on because I wanted to look good for the picture, LOL.)

I went to Welch Jr. High. (Go, Welch Wildcats!)  I always walked or biked to school with my friends. That year I had homeroom with Mrs. Pier, gym with Mrs. Smith, Art with Mr. Heinen, and Drama with Ms. Quint.  For my core classes, I had one set of teachers first semester, and another set second semester.  For science (chemistry, mostly) I had Mr. Lippe and Mr. Little.  For math I had Mrs. Rassmussen and Mr. Schneider.  For English I had Mrs. Pier and Mrs. Grant.  History was with Mr. Krull and Mr. Middleton.  For Industrial Ed. I had Mr. Johnson and Mr. Schneider, and then for Home Ec. I had two different Mrs. Johnsons!

My best friends in 8th grade were Tara, Inger, Lisa, Abby, Sara, and many others.  When I started school that fall, I was still "going out" with my boyfriend Andrew (who was now up at the high school, in 10th grade).  He broke up with me around March.  At the end of April, Nathan asked me to be his girlfriend, and I accepted.  (That was after turning him down in 7th grade!)

I was in the 8th & 9th grade chorus, and in the school musical "Bring Back Birdie", I played a kid and member of the funeral choir.  In 8th grade, we had dance lessons in the evenings.  Some big highlights were the 8th grade dance (after the lessons were completed) and the 8th and 9th grade Box Social (another dance).  I also remember fun parties with my friends, hanging out at Tara's whenever I could, and talking on the telephone for hours with my friends.

Emmalie begins her junior year tomorrow, 11th grade.  (I can NOT believe it!)  She is going to have a crazy busy schedule, but if anyone can handle it, it's her.  Here's my school picture from 11th grade:

I attended AHS. (Ames Hi Aims High!)  I took the city bus, CyRide, to and from school every day with some of my friends.  That year I had Mr. Hansen for homeroom, Mr. White for anthropology, Mr. Wiser for Concert Choir (and for Sophomore Mixed Chorus 2nd semester, when the other didn't fit into my schedule.  I had many friends in the mixed chorus, though, so I didn't mind.)  I had Mrs. Kautzky for Modern Dance I and II, Mr. Jones for Physics (only for 1st semester, though, because then I dropped it even though I had an A ~ I just hated it so much!), Mr. Schneider for Sociology, Mrs. Schonhorst for French III, Mrs. Schepers for Adult Living, Mr. Forssman for Survey of American Literature, and Mrs. Campbell for American Literary Masterpieces.  I had also taken Driver's Ed over the summer.

My best friends that year were Tara, Kara, Inger, and Scott.  I also started dating Kevin the summer before 11th grade.  We were together until April, when he broke up with me.  (Right before Prom, too ~ thanks a lot, Kevin!  LOL)  Besides choir, I was involved in the Big Sis/L'il Sis program, and I was on the publicity and scenery crews for all the various plays.  Highlights included getting to go on actual dates for the first time, going to Adventureland with Kevin and some other friends, going to the Christmas Formal dance with Kevin, parties with my friends, spending Saturdays working on scenery, and much more!

Wishing Emmalie, Nick, and Ben a wonderful year of school, filled with all sorts of good memories that they can reminisce about someday! :)