Kirby School Vermont 1974-1975

Living in Vermont in the 1970's was an adventure in living and a chance of a lifetime.  Not many people get to go back in time and I truly believe that my time in Northeastern Vermont was a trip back in time.  Having lived in the South with my extended family, some of who had lived through the devastation that the Civil War had brought to the south, made me a little concerned about living in the North.  I had heard that Northerners were not as friendly as Southerns.  This proved absolutely not to be true.  I found that the people in Vermont were as warm and hospitable as anyone in the South.  I embraced my new home and my new friends joyfully.

However, I was not prepared to time travel, and that is what I seemed to do.  I had come from Charlottesville, VA., where my husband had just completed his masters degree.  He had taken a position at Lyndon State College in Lyndonville Vermont.  We moved from the city to the country.  This was a rural area in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.  We were about 30 miles south of the Canadian Border.  The first frost there would sometimes come around the first part of September and the last would sometimes be just before the beginning of  June.

One of the opportunities I had while in Vermont was to assist as a teacher's aid in a one room school.  I had not thought that one room school houses were still around in the 1970's.  I had taken a few education classes at the College where my husband worked, and this was the perfect chance to work and get my student teaching credits.  I still had a young son, Scott, at home and he could go to school with me and sit with the first graders. So come the first part of September we started school together.  Needless to say it was quite an experience.  The school basically was two rooms one large room and another for supplies.  You would walk though the secondary room to get to the toilets, which were not toilets at all , but rather an elaborate out house.  One side for the girls and another for the boys. Each had 3 holes in the cold of the winter they would freeze and build up.  In the spring they would thaw out and smell.

My friend Susan Throckmartin was the teacher and together we worked with children from grade one through grade six.  I had studied the open classroom while in school there and here I got to see an open classroom in action. Some of the children had learning difficulties.  This is where I came in handy as I could give each child some special attention.  I remember in particular one little girl who could not get the concept of numbers.  I worked with beans laid out on the table showing her how numbers worked.  Slowly she began to understand.  I also helped with reading giving those that needed more attention special help.

It was not all work Sue with a little help from me made it fun too.  She read out loud from "Charlotte's Web" and we helped the children make paper mache animals from the story.  We had a special Valentines lunch that we made for the children.

Sue was very good at working with multiply grades at one time.  the older children helped with the younger ones and in turn learned while doing so.

To get to the school I had to go through the little town of East Burke up Into the foot hills of Burke Mountain and go miles on a country road. In the fall this was fine, but in the winter the roads were dirt and soon covered with packed snow and some spots were icy.  After coming home from an evening meeting with Sue in the car, I hit black ice and veered off the road and into a tree.  Fortunately we were not hurt, but my car was damaged.  I grew somewhat afraid to drive on the icy roads and now we were down to one vehicle.  So my husband drove us to the school and then went on to his College from there.

There were other things that happened that made me feel that I had gone back in time.  The town meetings were a novelty for coming from Virginia.  I had never been to one before.  I also was amazed that the local drugstore lunch counter sold 15 cent cokes by the glass.

I was fortunate to have been able to experience all of these things, and I have fond memories of my time in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.

Election Results 2016...My Feelings

Never in my 72 years have I had such a fear and a profound sadness for my country.  I have always had a such great pride in being an American.  I have been aware of the perception of the "Ugly American", but thought that was a minority in this country.  I have given other Americans the benefit of the doubt.  I was assuming that as a whole we were smart.  Unfortunately this election season and the election as a whole has proven me wrong.  We have become a country of people who are both uneducated and selfish.  I have accepted that everyone in this country is equal and deserves an equal opportunity.  I believed that racism and bigotry was a thing of the past.  With Trumps raise to power he revealed the ugly under belly of America and exposed the racism hidden within.  Unfortunately the resentment of the uneducated white man raised it's head when a black man was elected president.  Our Black President has been a man of virtue, who despite obvious back lash from the Tea Party Republicans, has managed  to carry off the presidency as gracious gentleman doing an excellent job.  He and his family are remarkable and deserve a lot of credit.  I personally admire and respect him greatly.

Trump is an embarrassment.  He has stirred up so much hatred, and now he is going to have to deal with what he has spawn.  I can only hope and pray that he is able to swallow his tremendous pride and deal with the havoc he has wrought. Hopefully he will be able to put country before his own personal gain and do what is right and just.  For this I will pray.