29 thoughts on “Question of the Day”

  1. At our school, her name was Ms. Trimble. At the Catholic school in the neighboring town, she was known as Sister Mary Joyce. I didn’t know this factoid until I was in high school.

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  3. Ms. Betzweiser.
    I trust that even had she taught somewhere other than Clara Barton Elementary in Milwaukee, WI, her students would have called her Ms. Budweiser.

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  5. It was kind of a collaborative effort: Mrs. Hale, Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. Young, Miss Nola, Mrs. Jeffery, and Mrs. Doster. Hale and her husband owned the school, but Thompson was more the smacking-hand-with-ruler, pulling-pants-down-and-spanking disciplinarian, Doster was the music teacher, as was Young sometimes (we sang John Denver songs mostly, but also songs from slavery like “Jimmy Crack Corn,” etc.), and most of the time there were two teachers in the room. The high teacher-to-student ratio must have been a selling point; the school was a private preschool + kindergarten called Little Angel, of all things.
    Heh. Back then, we’d go on field trips in Mr. Hale’s station wagon, whose name was Bert, and they’d cram as many 4-year-olds as would fit into the back of it. No seat belts. I remember sitting there, squashed, hugging my knees to my chin like all the other kids. Mr. Hale took us through the car wash once, and we thought that was pretty cool, being pressed up against the windows and all. Can you imagine? Parents would sue if they did that now, probably.

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  9. Back in the day (1968), kindergarten teachers at my school were still known by their first names, with “Miss” attached. (In the South, “miss” is not necessarily indicative of marital status.)
    Miss Pat and Miss Louise.

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  10. Right there with you, Paige. I went to kindergarten in the late 70s in Alabama, and notice one of my teachers is “Miss Nola” (her first name — I didn’t know her last name). She was one of the older teachers.

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  12. I had a Ms. Parsons too. (My memory is “Miss” but it might have been Mrs. – back then, I’m not sure I knew the difference.)
    I’m going nuts because I can remember my entire elementary school teacher line-up – except for 3rd grade. I don’t remember the school, the classroom, who my friends were or the teacher. (I was a military brat and we moved every year or two.) Evidently, 3rd grade has been washed from my memory. Odd.

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  13. Mrs. McCullough. She was 6’2″ and I was terrified of her at first. She was also my mom’s friend and would tell her everything!

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  14. Ann Guy — at a progressive school in the 70s, I am not sure I knew her last name until much later. My daughter is at the same school now, her teacher was Josie.

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  16. It was either Mrs. Napier or Mrs. Spalding. (one of those was preschool, one was kindergarten). The name of the little girl I had a crush in kindergarten was Bobbie Frew, definitely.

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  18. Sister Clair.
    Holy cow, I can’t believe I remembered that.
    I remember how imposing she was to me. I went back to the school when I was in high school and she couldn’t have been more than 4’8″!

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  19. My kindergarten teacher was Mrs. Moomaw. I felt that she did not particularly like me. Many years later, my mother admitted that I was correct — my kindergarten teacher had not liked me.

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  21. Mrs. Masten ran the morning class (mine); Mrs. Hayworth ran the afternoon class. They served as each other’s teacher’s aides and defacto substitutes. Weird setup. Like a job share, circa 1979.

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  22. Miss Levin. She was young and had long, straight late-70’s hair with part down the middle. She promised us that we’d finger paint but we never did– the administration of the school changed and the focus shifted to reading and math readiness.

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  23. I can’t remember! And it’s freaking me out!! No, seriously — early onset Alzheimer’s? Sleep deprivation? Gaaaah!

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  28. Miss Pezzuto. She seemed so young compared to the other teachers in the school. And she had the same cool flip hairdo as Marlo Thomas in ‘That Girl’. I thought she was beautiful.

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  29. I think her first name was Mrs. 😛
    Actually, I’m pretty sure her name was Mrs. Doran (though I’m not positive about the spelling). I lack fond memories of her, as she thought I was a day-dreaming idiot, when really I was bored out of my skull by reading flashcards that said “it” and “and”, when I was reading real books (I remember sitting in a circle on the floor with other kids wondering why on earth are we doing this?). She actually told my parents I was a trouble-maker because I didn’t give her my rapt attention. Note to self: make sure my own child is not bored stiff by school.

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