2008-03-11 First grade

First grade was an unforgettable year for me and this is in no small part due to having had the world's best first grade teacher, Miss Rosa Jackson, at C.M. Bardwell School.

At the end of kindergarten we all walked to the first grade rooms to meet our new teachers and get a look at the classrooms. In Room 8 I was given a butterfly colored by one of that year's first-graders welcoming me to first grade. We learned how much fun first grade would be and that turned out to be completely true.

Learning to read has to be one of the most significant occurrences in one's education and most of us at that time were taught to read in first grade. I loved reading from the start and was quickly one of the best readers in the class. Reading has continued to be one of my great joys in life.

Miss Jackson made learning fun and cared about all of her students. She handed out play money as rewards, and this money could be used to buy items that were displayed around the classroom. I made it my goal to be the first to have enough dollars saved up to buy the most expensive item in the classroom - a large inflatable pink dog with green spots. How magnificent it was when I got that dog!

Our classroom put on a first-grade play that was fairly unusual. The scenery was projected from the rear onto a screen behind the actors and the props were painted with fluorescent paint to glow in black light. The play itself was an adaptation of Little Red Riding Hood and I got to star in it with Steven Doyle. I still have the playbill and Beacon photo from this performance.

It is easy to conjure up memories of first grade - using the System 80 “computer” that had only a few buttons and was not remotely like the computers of today, Ricky Cepeda teaching us how to count to 10 in Spanish, the class dancing to songs including "The Candy Man," being a Brownie, walking home for lunch, getting my first lunch box and bringing lunch to school for the first time to eat in the cafeteria and participating in outdoor recess.

In the spring I had to have my adenoids out. In those days this meant a stay in the hospital. I was admitted Wednesday evening, had surgery on Thursday morning, and went home on Friday. Luckily I remember more about the fun of having 7-Up, Jello and ice cream for dinner than about being in pain. While I was in the hospital I received a letter from my first grade class. Miss Jackson wrote several pages, the students each made a page, and they were taped end-to-end. I loved this letter and cherish it to this day. At about fifteen feet long it is easily the longest letter I’ve gotten in my life.

Jack Pool was assistant principal that year and became principal the following fall, a position he held for several years. He says that Rosa Jackson “was one of the most outstanding teachers I’ve ever worked with.” He mentioned that she had opportunities to work in another district but remained dedicated to helping children at Bardwell. She was very highly organized and respected by parents, staff, and students and was once named Kane County Teacher of the Year.

I have seen Miss Jackson several times since I was her student. On the last day of school each year of grade school I visited all of my former teachers. I was delighted to have the opportunity to help out in Miss Jackson's class during my lunchtime when I was in sixth grade. As an adult I visited her classroom with my own children (one of whom continues to insist that her first grade teacher was better than mine). We ran into each other again at Bardwell's 75th anniversary celebration in 2005.

I had many wonderful teachers at Bardwell. Here is a public note of appreciation and thanks to them all. Mrs. Wallo – kindergarten, Miss Jackson – first grade, Mrs. Barbee – second grade, Miss Travis – third grade, Mrs. Kellett – fourth grade, Mrs. Hanley – fifth grade, Mrs. Proczko – sixth grade, Mrs. Weber – librarian, Miss Shoger – music, Mrs. Breese (Miss Koperski) – student teacher.