Cancel School? Why?
For the past two days I have been watching announced school closings. Yesterday, schools were closed because of cold. Today, schools were closed due to 6-8 inches of snow on the ground. I see that schools are more liberal with closings than when I went to school. Keep in mind that the days I attended schools, the use of ink pens were forbidden, corporal punishment was the norm and we never heard of school levies. As a matter of fact, the actual school buildings I attended were built after the turn of the twentieth century. I'll admit that we were outdated in some things but overall we got a good education and discipline without the outrageous levies and ACLU of today.
As a school girl one hundred years ago, my brothers and I did not often see school closings. We, like the majority of the student body, lived on a farm out where roads were not often tended. There had to be a blizzard before the school was closed. Other than this, if the bus was late, we still had to wait for the bus and get to school. We went to school when there was snow on the ground, no heat in the school and much sickness among the student body. While at school, if the weather was inclimate, then we had to stay indoors with activities to keep us occupied.
If there was no heat, teachers told us to keep on our hats, coats and gloves (we had the old radiator heaters). If there was a lot of sickness, the healthy students went to school while the ill students stayed at home. We never had air conditioners in our school and we were not permitted to wear short pants except in gym classes. If it was too hot, windows and doors were kept open throughout the building.
If the climate was unbearable for some, well too bad. These kids still went to school with their parents blessing. These were the days that a written note was not often required from parents because school officials mutually trusted parents. Truency was rare (darlings, this word is no longer found in the dictionary) Well, I can say that notes were not often required on behalf of us as we were too terrified of our parents to miss school. If a note was sent on our behalf it was a courtesy, not a requirement, from our Mother.
All of these closings of today and times past got me thinking of two school bus drivers we had; Bruce Carmichael and Janelle Kiracofe.
Mr. Carmichael, as we chose to call him, was a very quite man. An excellent bus driver, he ran a successful farm outside of College Corner, Ohio. Mr. Carmichael never had a problem out of any student on his route. There were no fights, foul language, insults, pranks, tattling, etc. There was no set rules on his route yet everyone got along well. In the days when kids of all ages began the school day at the same time, there was one bus run in the morning and one bus run in the evening. High school students tended to look after the little ones on the bus. Furthermore, respect was always expressed between us and Mr. Carmichael. As a result, he never had to slam on the brakes nor stop his bus except if a student got sick. I was one of those students. The day I got sick (I was never a good passenger) everyone got real quite while he stopped the bus, took me off, and he stood there with me to make sure I got enough fresh air. He did not get back on that bus until he was sure I was alright.
I can never forget Mr. Carmichael at Christmas. On the last day before Christmas break, Mr. Carmichael would place this big cardboard box near the bus gearshift. As each student stood next to him ready to get off the bus, Mr. Carmichael would hand the student a large gift wrapped Hershey bar. Furthermore, if a student's siblings were absent from the route, he made sure the present sibling took a candy bar to them too. Mr. Carmichael did this for us every year. I only hope he was rewarded for his kindness.
The day my parents sold the College Corner farm was the day we attended a different school elsewhere in the county. My how things were different at this school. Rather this school was more strict. We were rather confused by such strict codes in a school within a farm community. Our bus driver, Janelle Kiracofe was no exception.
Janelle did not put up with rowdy students. She definately had zero tolerance for nonsense. I recall countless times I went face first into the seat in front of me when she hit those breaks. When she hit those breaks, she got up, went back to the source of trouble, grabbed the student by the collar and either slammed them down in a front seat or threw them off the bus. Of course, these were the days that discipline was allowed. She did not have to run her bus route in fear as do bus drivers today. She was never shy about letting students know whether or not she liked them. If students were constant trouble makers she had it out for them. This lady had two bus routes in the morning and two bus routes in the evening. She then had student routes to JVS and sporting events. Furthermore, though rare in her day, she was a single mother and operated a farm.
Janelle had an interesting approach to bus fights. She was partial when it came to students fighting on her route. If two students started a fight and she did not like one of the students, she would call the student she liked up front. She would say something to that student. That student would got back and intensify the fight into a knock down drag out. I never knew what she said to the student called up front. Also, I thought it was unusual she did not slam on her brakes let alone stop the bus at all during a fight. It wasn't until one day, I found myself getting involved in a fight I did not want. It was at this time I discovered what Janelle would say to a student she would call up front. After I got so fed up with this girl turning around from her seat to pick on me, I stood up. Janelle had a grin on her face when she called me up front. She said "I can't stand her and if you don't kick her *@%, I will take you into Mr. Russell's office and you will be barred from the bus for two weeks. Your parents are not going to like you being barred from the bus. So you better make this one good". Refraining from darma, I did not have to go to the principal's office nor was I barred from the bus.
I don't know what ever happened to Mr. Carmichael but I have often thought of him at Christmas time over the years. With respect to him, due to his age at the time he drove our bus route, he may have passed on long ago. With this probability, he lived a very humble respectable life. Today, I do not often encounter many Mr. Carmichael's.
Janelle retired long ago. I have run into her a couple of times. To this day, I think she bears grudges against students who were constant trouble makers. She has sure witnessed bad behavior in these trouble makers own kids. Grant it, she had to put up with a lot of problem kids and I am not sure if she is a happy woman today. I know she stayed on as long as she did because she was allowed to discipline unruly students in those days.
In today's law suit happy world of liberal education, I do not think these two bus drivers would be suited to drive a bus for any school route. I think Mr. Carmichael would be taken advantage of if not physically harmed by the mentality of young people today. Janelle would be prime for a lawsuit from disgruntled parents who simply refuse to teach and discipline their kids. As a result, I feel for bus drivers that have to endure awful kids whose parents think they are little saints. It is a sad day when a school bus driver has to confirm to unruly behavior so as to keep a job. Somerville, Ohio comes to mind when I think of school bus drivers. As part of the Talawanda School District, it has become a challenge to keep a driver for this route due to the violent kids from a violent little town of two hundred people.
Had this been thirty or more years ago, we would have been safely in school tomorrow despite 6-8 inches of snow. Though we always had TV in our home, we relied on a transitor radio for weather because radio gave more attention to weather conditions. School closings were determined when the school superintendent actually drove the roads in the early hours of the morning. If he deemed the roads unsafe, he then called local radio stations with his decision to post a delay or close the school. Believe it or not, on an annual average, I don't think we missed more than four or five school days no matter how much snow fell to the ground.
Times are a changin...
Until the next dive bomb my darlings, meow
For the past two days I have been watching announced school closings. Yesterday, schools were closed because of cold. Today, schools were closed due to 6-8 inches of snow on the ground. I see that schools are more liberal with closings than when I went to school. Keep in mind that the days I attended schools, the use of ink pens were forbidden, corporal punishment was the norm and we never heard of school levies. As a matter of fact, the actual school buildings I attended were built after the turn of the twentieth century. I'll admit that we were outdated in some things but overall we got a good education and discipline without the outrageous levies and ACLU of today.
As a school girl one hundred years ago, my brothers and I did not often see school closings. We, like the majority of the student body, lived on a farm out where roads were not often tended. There had to be a blizzard before the school was closed. Other than this, if the bus was late, we still had to wait for the bus and get to school. We went to school when there was snow on the ground, no heat in the school and much sickness among the student body. While at school, if the weather was inclimate, then we had to stay indoors with activities to keep us occupied.
If there was no heat, teachers told us to keep on our hats, coats and gloves (we had the old radiator heaters). If there was a lot of sickness, the healthy students went to school while the ill students stayed at home. We never had air conditioners in our school and we were not permitted to wear short pants except in gym classes. If it was too hot, windows and doors were kept open throughout the building.
If the climate was unbearable for some, well too bad. These kids still went to school with their parents blessing. These were the days that a written note was not often required from parents because school officials mutually trusted parents. Truency was rare (darlings, this word is no longer found in the dictionary) Well, I can say that notes were not often required on behalf of us as we were too terrified of our parents to miss school. If a note was sent on our behalf it was a courtesy, not a requirement, from our Mother.
All of these closings of today and times past got me thinking of two school bus drivers we had; Bruce Carmichael and Janelle Kiracofe.
Mr. Carmichael, as we chose to call him, was a very quite man. An excellent bus driver, he ran a successful farm outside of College Corner, Ohio. Mr. Carmichael never had a problem out of any student on his route. There were no fights, foul language, insults, pranks, tattling, etc. There was no set rules on his route yet everyone got along well. In the days when kids of all ages began the school day at the same time, there was one bus run in the morning and one bus run in the evening. High school students tended to look after the little ones on the bus. Furthermore, respect was always expressed between us and Mr. Carmichael. As a result, he never had to slam on the brakes nor stop his bus except if a student got sick. I was one of those students. The day I got sick (I was never a good passenger) everyone got real quite while he stopped the bus, took me off, and he stood there with me to make sure I got enough fresh air. He did not get back on that bus until he was sure I was alright.
I can never forget Mr. Carmichael at Christmas. On the last day before Christmas break, Mr. Carmichael would place this big cardboard box near the bus gearshift. As each student stood next to him ready to get off the bus, Mr. Carmichael would hand the student a large gift wrapped Hershey bar. Furthermore, if a student's siblings were absent from the route, he made sure the present sibling took a candy bar to them too. Mr. Carmichael did this for us every year. I only hope he was rewarded for his kindness.
The day my parents sold the College Corner farm was the day we attended a different school elsewhere in the county. My how things were different at this school. Rather this school was more strict. We were rather confused by such strict codes in a school within a farm community. Our bus driver, Janelle Kiracofe was no exception.
Janelle did not put up with rowdy students. She definately had zero tolerance for nonsense. I recall countless times I went face first into the seat in front of me when she hit those breaks. When she hit those breaks, she got up, went back to the source of trouble, grabbed the student by the collar and either slammed them down in a front seat or threw them off the bus. Of course, these were the days that discipline was allowed. She did not have to run her bus route in fear as do bus drivers today. She was never shy about letting students know whether or not she liked them. If students were constant trouble makers she had it out for them. This lady had two bus routes in the morning and two bus routes in the evening. She then had student routes to JVS and sporting events. Furthermore, though rare in her day, she was a single mother and operated a farm.
Janelle had an interesting approach to bus fights. She was partial when it came to students fighting on her route. If two students started a fight and she did not like one of the students, she would call the student she liked up front. She would say something to that student. That student would got back and intensify the fight into a knock down drag out. I never knew what she said to the student called up front. Also, I thought it was unusual she did not slam on her brakes let alone stop the bus at all during a fight. It wasn't until one day, I found myself getting involved in a fight I did not want. It was at this time I discovered what Janelle would say to a student she would call up front. After I got so fed up with this girl turning around from her seat to pick on me, I stood up. Janelle had a grin on her face when she called me up front. She said "I can't stand her and if you don't kick her *@%, I will take you into Mr. Russell's office and you will be barred from the bus for two weeks. Your parents are not going to like you being barred from the bus. So you better make this one good". Refraining from darma, I did not have to go to the principal's office nor was I barred from the bus.
I don't know what ever happened to Mr. Carmichael but I have often thought of him at Christmas time over the years. With respect to him, due to his age at the time he drove our bus route, he may have passed on long ago. With this probability, he lived a very humble respectable life. Today, I do not often encounter many Mr. Carmichael's.
Janelle retired long ago. I have run into her a couple of times. To this day, I think she bears grudges against students who were constant trouble makers. She has sure witnessed bad behavior in these trouble makers own kids. Grant it, she had to put up with a lot of problem kids and I am not sure if she is a happy woman today. I know she stayed on as long as she did because she was allowed to discipline unruly students in those days.
In today's law suit happy world of liberal education, I do not think these two bus drivers would be suited to drive a bus for any school route. I think Mr. Carmichael would be taken advantage of if not physically harmed by the mentality of young people today. Janelle would be prime for a lawsuit from disgruntled parents who simply refuse to teach and discipline their kids. As a result, I feel for bus drivers that have to endure awful kids whose parents think they are little saints. It is a sad day when a school bus driver has to confirm to unruly behavior so as to keep a job. Somerville, Ohio comes to mind when I think of school bus drivers. As part of the Talawanda School District, it has become a challenge to keep a driver for this route due to the violent kids from a violent little town of two hundred people.
Had this been thirty or more years ago, we would have been safely in school tomorrow despite 6-8 inches of snow. Though we always had TV in our home, we relied on a transitor radio for weather because radio gave more attention to weather conditions. School closings were determined when the school superintendent actually drove the roads in the early hours of the morning. If he deemed the roads unsafe, he then called local radio stations with his decision to post a delay or close the school. Believe it or not, on an annual average, I don't think we missed more than four or five school days no matter how much snow fell to the ground.
Times are a changin...
Until the next dive bomb my darlings, meow
posted by Divine's Dern Thawts at 7:25 PM
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