Chapter 12: New School, New Friends

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— Full chapters will appear in the printed published book. —

Minnitaki School was a typical, rural, one-room schoolhouse with eight grades and about 25 students. Our teacher was Mrs. Dunn. I was in grade five which consisted of three girls: me, Faye and Clara.

Even though it was called a one-room schoolhouse, a more appropriate term would have been one-classroom schoolhouse. As there was another small room or two, including the office for the one teacher who taught all grades.

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At school, we were a cohesive group of generally happy farm kids. At lunch time, everyone who wanted to was allowed to play baseball. The boys in the upper grade levels were the best, but they needed a team, so had to recruit anyone who could hold a bat, swing it, hit the ball and run. We shared baseball gloves. When one team came off the field, they tossed the gloves to the rest of us. Even a girl my age with few athletic skills was welcome to play. I was accustomed to playing rough-house games with my older brothers, so was not intimidated at all.

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All of the students either walked to school or took the bus. No parents came to pick up their kids. My brother Raymond was in grade seven now as he had been held back a year when we lived in BC. We took the bus together. One-room schools had disadvantages as the teacher had to spread their time between so many grades, and the grade ones and twos needed more time and attention to learn the basic skills of reading and writing. An advantage was that, if you were eager to learn like I was, you could hear the lessons from the higher grades, to learn more than you might otherwise. However, the disadvantages far outweighed the advantages.

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The boys knew exactly which girls to pick on. Had they put army worms in my desk, I would have looked at them quizzically and just shook by head. So the joke would have been wasted on me. I would have picked out the army worms one by one, very careful not to squish them, and put them in the garbage can. Army worms did not scare me, nor would a mouse or a garter snake. The only creature I didn’t like were spiders. Had they put a bunch of spiders in my desk, then I would have had the same reaction as the sisters.

Another lesson learned. It was best not to let anyone know your weakness because then they can find a way to exploit it.

School was a refuge for me. It was always enjoyable. I knew I was a good student and I loved to learn. I always respected my teachers and wanted to please them. I liked all my classmates. I felt like I belonged, despite my Freak name, and despite my hand-me-down boys clothing.