Education Through the Years

Jim and I have had a varied education, both in the classroom and outside the classroom. However, this chapter will deal mainly with our formal education.

Jim grew up in Gallatin, Missouri and had his first twelve years of schooling in Gallatin. He was a good student, studied hard, and teacher liked him because of those traits. He graduated high school in 1941.

           

He received a scholarship to Wichita State in Wichita, Kansas, and this was fortunate because he had a cousin living there who offered him housing. Since his cousin also ran a Western Auto Store, he hired Jim, which helped with his expenses.

His schooling was interrupted when he enlisted in the V-5 program of the Naval Air Corps. He spent time in training but became ill with pneumonia and tuberculosis and was given medical discharge.

Now he had the “G.I. Bill” for his service and entered Missouri University in the fall of 1944.

With the interruption of TB again, he graduated from the University of New Mexico in May 1948 with a degree from the School of Business in accounting.

My education began very early in life. Since I was an only child, my mother had time to read to me and by the age of 2 or 2 ½, I was reciting most of the Mother Goose rhymes. (I don’t remember this but relatives tell me that at a picnic in Junction City, KS, my mother stood me up on the table and I recited many rhymes and I was about 2 years old.)

I entered kindergarten at Askew School in Kansas City and loved school from the very beginning. At a spring PTA meeting, my teacher had me memorize a little storybook, and while 2 of my classmates rolled a holder with butcher paper illustrating the book. I recited the story along with the pictures.

We moved to Columbia, Missouri in June of 1931, where my dad had interviewed at Missouri University and was successful in getting the job as Chief Engineer at the power plant. (Remember this was in the midst of the depression and he was thrilled to get the job at $1800 a year.)

I entered Grant Elementary School – in 1^st Grade and my teacher Mrs. Whitmore, was a lovely lady – stately and very pretty. A few days into the year, she set up the board with the letters of the alphabet – Aa, Bb, Cc, etc. I guess I raised my hand and Mrs. Whitemore called on me. I told her I could already read.  I don’t remember her exact reaction, but she asked me to come up to her desk, handed me a book and asked me to read it, which I did.  (Many years later, as I was a teacher, I realized how smart she was.) Instead of having me sit at my desk, bored, she often asked me to go help someone who was struggling with reading.

In the summer of 1935, my dad decided he wanted to own some land, so he bought 40 acres east of Columbia about 5 miles (its all built up now) and we moved to the country.

I entered fifth grad at this little country school, one teacher, Mrs. Walker, about 40 students. A typical schedule was as followed – teacher would have one class up in front – go over their lesson and give them their assignment – then the next class would come to the front. Thinking back, I must have been a real nuisance because when Mrs. W would ask a question of the class in front, if I knew the answer, I’d wave my hand and want to answer. Another incident could have had my classmates turn against me. There was a little stream running through the school property, and someone would say, “Let’s go down to the crick.” Well, I’d heard this just about enough so I said to them, “It’s not crick, it’s creek.” And ever spelled it out for them. It’s a wonder they didn’t throw me in the creek.

During the Christmas break a change was coming in my scholarship. My dad arranged for me to take the Stanford – Benet IQ test. I don’t think that was part of qualifying for entering the laboratory school of M.U., but maybe my dad had talked to Dr. Gorman, principal, and they decided it would take it. When Dr Gorman called my dad to give him the results, my dad told my mother and they told me. Because of this rather high score, my dad and mother instilled in me the concept that I could to most anything I set my mind to.

When I entered the lab school for the second semester of fifth grade, I was now in an entirely different mode of learning. Mrs. Farthing believed in group projects, so right away, I was on a project where we were constructing a map of South America with its mountains, river, etc – quite a change from just sitting at your desk and doing your assignment.

Those years at the lab school, 5^th through graduation from high school, where very good for me. We started French in 5^th grade and I continued with French through high school. Someone discovered I had an ear for music and started me on bass violin  in 5^th grade. I switched to the viola in 7^th grade, because I had almost made up my mind by then that I would concentrate on music.

I sang in many ensembles, and had the lead in several musical productions including “Pirates of Penzance.”

As we neared the end of high school in 1943, we had entered World War II, and many students were anxious to get on with their lives. Because of this, two bright students, and boy and a girl, were allowed to moved from junior status, to seniors. Now Max Threuholme and I had gone back and forth in our ranking of #1 and #2 but when the two students came up to be in our class, they bested both of us with their grade point average ad were designated #1 and #2.

I received a scholarship to Stephens College, a 2 year girls school in Columbia, and was thrilled to get it. Tuition at that time was $2000 a year and my parents would not have been able to afford that.

Our classes were small – 16 to 18, and I was able to take lots of music – viola, piano, voice – the symphony orchestra and two different singing groups. Our Sunrise choir was composed of 12 girls, sang each Sunday morning on the radio (no TV yet.)

I graduated from Stephens in 1945, spent the summer in Pittsburg, KS, where my parents had moved that summer. I had become engaged to Jim (more about us in another chapter) in the spring of 1945. Jim had taken a summer job at Lassen Volcanic National Park, so in addition to writing him every day (he wrote me every day, too) I worked at the telephone switchboard at Pittsburg State University where my dad was chief engineer and supervisor of buildings and grounds. Jim and I returned to M.U. in the fall of 1945 where I continued with my major in Music Education.

During the first semester Jim and I were awarded several honors – you have to realize this seemed very important to us at the time, but in the grand theme of things, it too its place as not quite so important.  Jim was inducted into a male organization called “Meptical Seven,” which was an honor. I was named to Mortar Board, a girls’ national organizations of ten girls from our campus. We were chosen for our qualities of leadership, scholarship, and character. I was also named to Sigma Alpha Iota, a national music honorary and was also chosen at the U of New Mexico to lead our chorus. I also became a member of the National Honorary Education fraternity. I have ben active in S.A.I alumnae group in several places where we’ve lied, and have also been active in the American Association of University Women, attending a national convention for both AAUW and SAI. These organizations have allowed me to remain active with music groups and women with degrees, where we try to encourage high school girls to pursue college degrees by awarding college scholarships.

Jim became ill again, so spend the second semester recovering, as we were getting married in June 1946. My parents were not too happy about us marrying before we finished college, but I promised I would finish school, and they approved of Jim.

We were married on June 4, 1946, spent several days on our honeymoon and then traveled back to Pittsburgh. My parents drove us to Albuquerque, N.M. where we had been accepted as transfer students. Doctors thought that the dry air would be good for Jim.

We had trouble finding a place to live, finally subletting an apartment for te summer. We found a re-modeled garage down in the valley and entered U of NM in the fall. We each lost quite a few credits in the transfer, so each had to go an extra semester to graduate. We were living on the “GI Bill” – about $160 a month – so on the off semester, one worked while the other went to school.

Jim and I had a class together, but we don’t talk much about it. It was part of my English minor, so I had the advantage and I graduated 2^nd in the School of Education.

We graduated in May 1948, and that was the end of Jim’s formal schooling. However, I needed hours for a major in English Education so I attended U of MO, Kansas City where I received my master’s degree in May 1974.

Thus ended our years of formal schooling. However we hope we are learning something new everyday as life goes on.