First Day

On my first day of kindergarten, my mother tried to affix a blue Christmas bow to the barette in my hair. I remember her telling me that it was because all little Jewish girls wore bows in their hair on their first day of school. What does that matter I wonder. I was dressed in a little green dress with a white pinafore. I told my brother the correct way to draw a person, with two eyes one nose, one moth two arms and legs. I'm not sure why I felt that it was important for him to know how to do that.

On the first day I was seated at table two in the classroom next to my neighbor, Carrie Asberry. I was in the corner closest to the carpet and the teachers desk. I brought my Mischa bear with me and held it on the carpet during circle time. I sat behind a boy named Shawn Aragon and I remember thinking that I thought he was wearing a diaper, but it was the way his shirt was tucked into his pants.. Mrs. Beasley introduced me to Katy Wells, another girl I wonder what happened to.

Mrs. Caroline Beasley

Mrs. Beasley was my kindergarten and first grade teacher. She had brown hair and was very tolerant of me. While I was very smart, I believe that I would have been diagnosed with ADD had I been going to school at this time. I remember when she told our class she was moving up to teach first grade and had picked some of us to be in her first grade classroom. I worshipped her and it was a relief that I would have the same teacher. She taught kindergarten in room 2 and first grade in room 7 at Heights elementary in Pittsburg.

At that time, our principal was Mr. Goodwin, another man I adored. Mrs. Beasley worked with another teacher named Mrs. Marsh. Mrs. Marsh also moved up to teaching first grade at that time. I believe she taught in room 8. There were two other first grade teacher, Mrs. King and a Spanish woman whose name eludes me at this time.