Now that I am coming to the end of high school and to the beginning of my college education, it scares me to death. Going to school has been one of my biggest priorities and the most routine part of my life for the past thirteen years. I have many more years to get through, but the years that I spent in elementary school and junior high were the most memorable. I have learned so much since then, it has made me a different person today. I have so many memories from my earlier years in school. I especially remember how much easier it was back then and how much harder it is becoming now as I get older.
I started off by going to Peppermint Patty preschool in I do not remember much of preschool because I was very young, but I do remember never wanting to go. I always got sick when I went there and the teachers were very old. From what I can remember, I did not enjoy preschool very much. When I entered Kindergarten, I was ecstatic.
I went to here is a Catholic school and has grades from Kindergarten through eighth grade. My Kindergarten teacher was Ms. Esser. She was a very nice lady. I loved school when I was little and Kindergarten was just awesome because it seemed like all we did is play. I always remember that I wanted it to be harder.
I wanted to have homework and take hard tests just so I could tell all of my friends that I had homework. The one thing I did not like about Kindergarten was when we had nap time. I remember we would have these little blue mats we would lay on. We got to pick out a book and have a carton of milk also. Taking a nap was not the grown up thing to do so I never liked it. Which of course has all changed because I love to come home and sleep after school.
I also remember the igloo that our class made out of milk cartons. I thought that was just the coolest thing. Overall, I think that Kindergarten was a great way to start my education. After Kindergarten, I was all ready for first grade. I was so excited because I knew I was going to get some kind of homework. This has also changed too because what teenager wants to come home and do homework.
That is what I miss most about those years, it was all so easy. My teacher in first grade was Mrs. Lutzen. I did not like her very much.
She was a very strict teacher, and it was not like Kindergarten anymore. I was always one of those students who were very talkative and I do not think she liked that very much. Especially since I would always get in trouble for it. For some reason I do not remember much about first grade. I do not know if it was because it was just a boring year of school or because I just did not like the teacher. One thing I do remember about first grade is that I won the spelling bee.
That was a big accomplishment for me in first grade. I think the challenge of first grade was the whole reading concept. Learning how to read is very difficult for a little six year old. I was actually very good at reading, which made me enjoy first grade a little more. I am just glad that it is over with. When I was in second grade it was a big year for me.
The main reason is because I made my First Holy Communion. My family is very religious and they were very proud of me for making my Communion. My teacher in second grade was Mrs. Lignowski.
She was an old women, but she was very nice. The main subject in second grade was of course religion, so it was not very exciting was a child, but it means a lot in my life now. We would take many trips across the street to the church and practice what we would do in a mass. I remember being absolutely terrified to make a confession with Father Hanley.
That was part of making your first Communion so we had to do it. I of course did not confess my sins face-to-face, so I went in the confessional booth. It is done and over with now, it still kind of makes me nervous if I were to do it to this day. When I made my Communion, I was excited because I finally got to receive Communion at mass, instead of sitting while my family goes up to the alter. Besides making my First Communion, I remember falling off of the monkey bars and losing my tooth. Second grade was a year full of great accomplishments! Third and fourth grade were pretty much the same for me.
I remember the school work getting harder and the homework became less fun than I thought in previous years. Coloring was not always an option as it was before. In third grade my teacher was Mrs. Kohler, and in fourth grade my teacher was Mrs. Willam. They were both pretty nice and a little older.
In third grade I remember we did a lot of art projects for some reason. I loved to make things for my parents when I was little because it made them so happy. Mrs. Willam would always take us outside to observe the environment.
Going outside was always a fun way to learn. On the playground at St. Peter’s, there was a set of swings, some slides, and two monkey bar jungle gyms. It definitely was not the most elaborate playground ever, but I remember having a blast on it.
My friends and I would always play this game during recess called ”boys chase the girls”. It is pretty self explanatory; the girls territory would be on one of the jungle gyms, and the boys would have the other. We would all run back and forth trying to take over each other’s jungle gym. It was not very structured but we all had a blast chasing each other around. I also remember playing jump rope and freeze tag a lot at recess, recess was the best part of the day. I remember having field day during the spring.
We had relay races and games all day, it was a lot of fun. Another favorite memory I have of St. Peter’s is the fun fair. I just loved it! It was in the gym and there were carnival games set up with prizes. The one thing that I did not like about St. Peter’s was the fact that I had to wear a uniform.
We had the jumpers with the red or yellow sweaters. I remember the girls would always tuck the jumpers in because the older girls got to wear skirts instead. My two best friends were Katie Collins and Maggie Devore. They went to a public school, which made me jealous. They would always get out of school earlier than I and they did not have to wear uniforms. So after fourth grade my mom let me attend W.
C. Petty for fifth grade. Fifth grade was my favorite year of all. My teacher was Mr. Bess ette and I just loved him. Going to a public school was a neat experience for me.
Especially since I got to see my best friends in school. I met a lot more people at Petty and I felt like I had more privileges. The school work or course became harder, but I still loved school. I had my first real crush on a boy which was exciting at that age.
Fifth grade was a lot of fun but junior high was coming up and that was even more exciting. Junior high was a whole new world when I got there. There were so many kids and so many classrooms. I did not know what to think. I remember the coolest thing about junior high was having passing periods. I loved talking to all my friends and going to different classes.
It was a lot more freedom. The most memories I have from junior high are teen canteen. It was the coolest thing known to a teenager at the time. It was a dance every other Friday and we would get ready for hours. Again, the work became harder but I still liked coming to school more than ever. My school days are filled with great experiences and many memories.
It is fun to look back and see how much I have grown as a person and how far I have come. When I look at the past I smile because I had a lot of fun and I know that I have many more memories to come!