School Days

As part of this week's #52 Ancestors theme of School Days, I started thinking about my own education and the elementary schools I attended.

The first was Franklin School in Dolton, Illinois. I was there from K-2. I have vague memories of walking to school with the neighbors. My kindergarten memories were mainly of bringing a rug to school and having to "nap" during the morning. We only went for half days, so I didn't appreciate the naps. I don't remember much else. I found a photo but it only looks vaguely familiar. 

Franklin School, Dolton, illinois

At the end of 2nd grade, we moved to South Holland. In fact, we moved a couple of weeks early, and it was decided that I didn't need to start a new school or finish the old one, so I had a bit of a vacation.

In South Holland, I went to Roosevelt School.  I was there from 3rd through 7th grade. It was an old building, even at that time - overcrowded with extra mobile classrooms on the playground. The playground was both in the front and the back of the school. I loved the fact that there were books I could take home to read - I loved reading. But I detested writing book reports. Raise your hand if you loved to write book reports? Ha! I don't see any raised hands. I was always in trouble for failing to turn in the requisite number of book reports.

Another thing I enjoyed about my school days at Roosevelt was lunch and shopping. Yes, that's right!! We lived a way out of town but the school was just off the main street of South Holland and very close to the Ben Franklin. A couple of times a year, my friends and I (Susie Ward and Debbie, with a long Dutch name) would get permission to shop at lunchtime. We'd eat somewhere, but the real excitement was going to Ben Franklin. I seem to recall that we'd do this around Mother's Day. I can remember buying some perfume for my mom. It came in a blue bottle, and I suspect it smelled horrible. 

The last big memory I have of Roosevelt School was the day Kennedy was shot. We heard about it either just before or at lunch. I remember a couple of kids who celebrated, probably parroting something they would have heard at home. But most of us were just shocked. The father of one of our classmates owned a local TV shop and brought a TV into our room so we could watch what was going on. I spent the next few days glued to a TV screen. 

I couldn't find a photo of Roosevelt School. I assume it was long ago demolished. Sadly, the school district was heavily involved in desegregation battles. (South Holland at the time was a very Dutch, very white town.) But I did find a current photo on Google of the house we lived in. It's much, much smaller than I remember; the driveway is gone, and the corn fields are now filled with light industrial buildings. 

87 W. 153rd Place, South Holland

After seventh grade, we moved to Oak Forest, where I went to Laramie Junior High School for one year. It was a great year. I loved the school. It was so modern compared to the schools I had attended. The classes were more interesting - and I made a lot of friends, some of whom I still call friends today. The school is now called G. Kerkstra Elementary School, named after Geraldine Kerkstra, who was our principal at the time. She was an interesting lady who kept a pretty tight rein on us students but got us ready to move on to high school, which in my case was Tinley Park High School.