No more braces(!)....for now.
Here it is: my last year at Bonneville Elementary was in the sixth grade (1985-1986); in fact, after this school year my family and I moved to Rigby, Idaho.
I'm in the front, dead center.
Note: No, the boy next to me is NOT holding my arm! I'M holding my own arm!
My sixth grade teacher was Mrs. Edwards, a very nice, calm, caring teacher. I felt extremely comfortable around her, to the point that I would often stay after school and help her. Looking back now I suspect that I was more of a nuisance for always staying around when Mrs. Edwards probably just wanted to get the heck out of there! But even if she felt that way she never let on about it.
This year our class got to go on two different field trips. The first field trip was to Brigham Young University for a historic exhibit of ancient Egyptian artifacts (including the tomb of Ramses II!) that were being presented on a tour throughout the U.S. It was an awesome experience, and we went on this field trip in the evening!
The second field trip was an overnighter to Clear Creek, a mountain resort; the girl students went up there one night and then returned, then later it was the boy students turn. All of the students stayed in cabins and spent time outdoors in the snow (it was wintertime). I wanted to share more memories about this trip, but that will be for another post.
In sixth grade we had a “READ-A-THON”, where all of the students stayed after school and proceeded to read, read, read for one hour at a time; then we’d take a 10 minute break and then return to reading our books. Since this was a marathon you weren’t supposed to stop reading until it was time for the break, so I remember how I’d be reading the end of one book while reaching for another book nearby and then making a quick switch. I took this very seriously! It was such a cool experience, because we got to bring pillows and sleeping bags to rest on in the auditorium/lunch room and we got to have snacks and soda while we read. I lasted until about 2 in the morning (the latest that I had ever stayed up at that point in my life!), having read several books in the process. Talk about straining one’s eyes!
The big event of sixth grade was the Science Fair! It was a big deal because it was just for the sixth graders and I remember being so excited about it! I chose to do a presentation on Heredity and I made three individual posters (which were then placed on three easels that my dad built - thanks Dad!): one was about the monk Gregor Mendel and his experiments with cross-pollination; another one was a further explanation of cross-pollination; and the last poster was a chart that presented the concept of dominant and recessive genes in regards to eye color. Heady stuff, huh?
Another favorite moment was during the school’s Field Day. During this big day each class had to do a little dance recital for the entire school. In 3rd grade my class did a maypole dance. In my other grades my class did a square dance, as our principal, Mr. Milne, was a huge fan of square dancing, and he would even be the “square dance caller!” But in sixth grade, my class voted to do something other than a square dance (thank goodness), so we did a different dance: we danced a bossa nova, to the Eydie Gorme hit from 1963 - “Blame It On The Bossa Nova.” What? We were gonna do a waltz to that song? Oh, please! As I look back and try to remember the moves of the dance I realize that they were very similar to the moves of “The Electric Slide” - hmmm….
I made it to 7th grade!!
There you have it--my stint in elementary school has come to an end and next up is junior high!
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