5th Grade




I was a difficult child for teachers to teach. At least in our generation, my behavior was unusual. Today perhaps it'd be more normal. I remember my 5th grade teacher, Mr Willson, my first male teacher, said "Rauma if I don't paddle you this year I'm going to feel cheated". He never paddled me. I knew how far to push it and never went over the line. Plenty of my friends got swatted but not me.
Building
Mazie Gable Elementary - Red Lion, PA
On Fridays he'd choose a Student of the Week. That person could go into the teachers' lounge and get a soda out of the soda machine there. The machine was old-school where one pulled the bottles out of the machine after putting 5 or 10 cents into it. Exact change only I might add. Those machines couldn't make change. I then went back to class and drank my soda.

1000+ images about Pop machines on Pinterest | Soda vending machine, Vintage coke and Coca cola
It looked like this pretty much.
One might ask how a problem student like me knows so much detail. It's because I decided to stop acting up about half-way through the year. After a couple of months of good behavior I was selected as the Student of the Week and got to go pick out a bottle (probably 8 or 10 ounces) of ice-cold Coca Cola. From 5th grade on I was no longer out of control.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Raumas

Image
Arthur Victor Rauma was born in December of 1902 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, the son of Reverend John Victor and Suzzie Oikemus Rauma, pastor of the local Lutheran church. Arthur Victor was a gifted athlete with considerable musculature. The sixth of seven children, Arthur Victor was the third child born in the United States as well as the third boy. A younger brother died soon after being born resulting in Arthur growing up as the youngest child in the family. As an adult Arthur Victor developed a drinking problem which is the probable cause of the violence he committed against his wife and only child, John Arthur. One time my father, John Arthur was driving through Boston with the three of us in the back when he saw his father on the street. Stopping the car, he crossed the street to speak with him. He informed his father that his grandchildren were across the street in the car and asked if he wanted to meet them. Declining the opportunity he instead asked for money so my fath...
Read more

Aunt Quackie

Image
Cape Cod Aunt Quackie was an original. Born in 1913 in Fitchburg Massachusetts, the same town where my father would be born 16 years later. She was my grandmother's younger sister, the 5th girl and 8th child in a family of 11. The daughter of Andrew and Johanna Wahtola, she was the 2nd child born in the United States. She was a lot of fun with a great senae of humor. Quackie's father - Andrew I don't recall how she got the name Quackie since she was born Sylvia Maria. She had one child, Nadine, whose birth has been a bit of a mystery. When I knew Aunt Quackie, her name was Sylvia Hamaleinen, although she was a single woman and Nadine's name was White. I found 2 marriages for Aunt Quackie during the same year in different towns on Cape Cod while doing a records search but the man was not listed. My guess is her first husband was a White. We were told was Nadine's father was killed in World War II before she was born so he probably died soon after her concep...
Read more

Things About My Father

Image
My dad lied about his age in order to enlist. It appears his initial enlistment was in the Navy although after 4 years he transferred to the Army where he served another 4 years.  The Defense Department considers him a veteran of WWII and Korea although he never saw combat. Instead he served as a Military Policeman (MP). Although he never saw combat he did say that in the performance of his duties as an MP on Okinawa he had to kill someone. It bothered him probably until his death.   It's hard to read, but it says US Navy, US Army, WWII, Korea The Defense Department provides these to the families of veterans when they die He spent 4 years in the Navy He also spent 4 years in the Army My father was a diesel mechanic and truck driver who converted to Catholicism from the Lutheran heritage of his youth; both grandfathers having been Lutheran ministers. This conversion was independent of my mother’s influence although she would never have agreed to marry...
Read more