I was at Mary Lynn (Now Lynn-Urguides) Elementary School from grades 3-6, and one of the memories I have is that the school  had a woman as a school principal.  I never found myself in her office so I didn’t know her very well.  My fourth grade teacher attempted to help me to stop stuttering by having me place rocks in my mouth.  Not necessarily a clean method, and unfortunately it didn’t work very well, it only made me more aware of my speech issues.  I was quite proud that I memorized the Gettysburg Address and gave the address to a fifth grade class, stuttering and all. I remember my first poem here as well, it was a poem dedicated to Arbor Day, each stanza began with the letters in the word “Trees”.  According to my teacher, the author was “anonymous” and the original poem only had stanzas to tree, so we as a class created the last stanza.  In dedication to memory and my teacher’s dedication to trees, here is the poem I still recall from fourth grade:

T R E E S

T is for TALL

As trees can be

They grow near a wall

Or by the sea.

R is for REACH

With their branches high

Where they wear their leaves

And get close to the sky

E is for EVERYTHING

That’s looking for shade

To keep out the sun

So colors won’t fade

Another E is for EXTRA

That trees give each day.

A place for a party

Or a place to play.

S is for Service

From  tree to root

With gifts that help us from day to day

With furniture, fuel, paper and fruit

Trees help our lives to an easier way.

 

 

Fifth and sixth grades were somewhat unremarkable as the same issues related to being poor, socially alone for much of the time and stuttering remained.  I continued to sing and had learned at home not to be very open about my love for singing as removing me from this activity  was threatened when I was caught daydreaming or reading when I wasn’t supposed to. I  tried to have a new hair style for my sixth grade graduation but it didn’t work very well. Still, I do recall being given a dark blue dress, it was one of the first times I liked what I wore to school.

On to junior high!

 

Gratefully,

SaceanCarol