Getting to Know You

Recently, the son of my 1st Grade teacher, Mrs. McKinney (that's my teacher, not the son), reached out for submissions for a book he wanted to put together for his mom since she is retiring this year after 102 years of teaching.

Some things you should know:  First, she is fairly short in terms of measurement from the floor to the top of her head when she is standing.  Honestly, I don't know exactly.  Maybe around 2' 6"?  I was always certain that Bilbo Baggins was much taller than she was.

Secondly, she was my teacher in 1978.  In first grade, I thought she was old.  That's really funny since she couldn't have been a day over 75 at the time.  She taught my next several brothers, as well.  When I was in her class, she team-taught with Mrs. Schofield.  There was a reason the school was doing this.  As a first grader, I didn't care what the reason was.  And today, I still don't know why.  But I am glad.  It was the source of many great memories.

Third, the First Grade Circus was an annual event.  And by event, I mean a really, REALLY big deal.  A major production.  If you haven't heard of it, it's because you didn't live in the foothills of Provo back then and you missed out.  I'm serious about the missing out.  There were rope jumpers and rope climbers.  Strong men and monkeys. Clowns, MCs and, most importantly, bears.  Ask anyone who was in it what music they remember from it.  Most likely, they would start humming or singing the "interlude" music Mrs. McKinney played on the piano.

I could not find my class picture, or else I would insert it here...I found every grade in elementary but 1st. (And by "I found," I mean "my mom found").

This is my (slightly edited) submission:

I had some good college professors.  And I had a couple of really great High School and Junior High teachers. But none of them compare to the influence and memories created by Mrs. McKinney.

She was team-teaching with Mrs. Schofield at Edgemont Elementary.  And her being special was more than just because as a first grader I was her same height.  She cared about me and I knew it.  I knew I was loved and watched over when I went into her classroom. And I am sure it wasn’t just me who felt that way.

From “Getting to Know You” to the First Grade Circus, I loved first grade.  It's all about the experiences Mrs. McKinney provided for us.  At the risk of plagiarizing Mr. Fulghum, it was more than the 4^th Grade Reading mentors provided for us. More than ABCs and 123s.  And whatever else I learned in first grade. What I learned most about in first grade was to enjoy being at school. To treat others fairly and kindly. To my mind, it was a great supplement to all the things I was being taught at home.

I loved being able to be featured in front of the whole class and have my whole family as “Show and Tell” for the day.  I even remember certain snippets of other kids’ families in their “Getting to Know You.”

I remember walking through the halls at Christmas going from classroom to classroom looking for an inn with a room available.  I was Joseph.  A girl played Mary.

I was one of the “Solo Bears” in the “If You Go Into the Woods Today” number in the First Grade Circus.  Mary (from above) was the other.  I mean, how much fun was the circus?  Each of my little brothers looked forward to their turn to be able to do it.  We all remember what parts we had in the circus and still love singing the “Interlude” music that Mrs. McKinney played between each set.  I won't comment regarding whether or not we skip, too.

I also remember Mrs. McKinney pulling my first tooth.  I was crying over it and she just helped me calm down and pulled it out.

Mrs. McKinney will always be one of the greats.  How can you fit so much awesome into such a small package?

To demonstrate to her how greatly my artistic skills have improved since first grade, I have done this drawing for her:

School is Cool

I seem to recall the excitement and anticipation that came with a new school year. This was primarily in elementary school, perhaps a little in junior high, as well. A new school year was something to look forward to.


















"Summer has been fun and all, but let's get back to school. I'm bored. I need stuff to do."













By 9th grade, those feeling had disappeared. Summer could not be long enough. Oh the dread of returning to school. Sure, there were things that were exciting as school began, but they were far outweighed by the laziness of the teens. Why else would you be late for school to hang out with some crazy, white-haired, weird scientist?

Sometime around the 2nd year of college, though, dread gave way to mere apathy.

"Meh, another semester is coming up." Perhaps it was because school was always beginning - fall, winter, spring and summer. It was just part of the routine. It was life and I didn't look forward to it, nor did I dread it.

Then it's gone. No school. Aside from the going-to-work thing, that was a pretty good feeling.

You get married (or, if you went to BYU, you probably graduated married).

You have kids (or, if you went to BYU, you probably graduated with at least one).

For the first 5 years of their life, you enjoy vacations at any time of the year - not being relegated to summer-only trips that school schedules demand.

Then they start Kindergarten. School is dreaded again, but for a different reason. You are having the "Holy cow, I'm old enough to have kids in school" feeling.

Of course, there's a feeling like that every so often in your life - "Holy cow, I'm old enough to have have a driver." "Holy cow, my child just graduated from high school." "Holy cow, I have great-grandkids." None of them are bad milestones, but when will we ever start picturing ourselves as old as we really are?

You are excited for them and their excitement, but you dread their leaving the home, too.

Before you know it, you have several kids in school - elementary, middle school, perhaps even high school.

Now you look forward to school like you have never looked forward to it in your life. Oh sure, there's the trillions of dollars spent on school supplies and new clothes. That's not so wonderful. But you make your way through it knowing that at the other end of this pain, there is school.

The kids are out of the house for up to 7 hours. There may be a couple of little ones left at home, but the difference in noise level is definitely noticeable. Now, even when all the children are home, they have something to do. Homework, studying, piano, gymnastics, dance, sports. The craziness of scheduling and chauffeuring is a small price to pay for the structure and certain response to the query, "What are we going to do today?"

Yet, for all that, it won't be long before you want a break and start to wonder, "How long until school is out?"