One’s first few days at Orville Wright Junior High School, the first institution of lower learning north of what at the time wasn’t yet called LAX, were days of wall-to-wall terror.
My take on public "education" is that it simply isn't and no matter what the politicians do, it will never get better - Note: I fled for my life from the L.A. "school" system in 1965 . . .
Well, 1965 is the year I graduated from Santa Monica High School, which wasn't part of the LAUSD, but which certainly wasn't without flaw. :-) I would enjoy hearing more about your experience.
Climbing up a rope is no small feat. Girls at my school didn't have to do it. Girls weren't thought of as athletic. The options for us were: swimming and cheerleading. At the time I sucked at both so spent a lot of time in the school library reading Earl Stanley Gardner novels (Perry Mason).
Juniior high school was hell for me, also -- at least the first two years (grades 7 and 8). The last -- actually our freshman year of high school -- was rather enjoyable.
Ah, yes, the "hustlers"! In those days, we could get half-pint milk bottles for three cents (due to some or other subsidy). Since many of us went to school with a nickel, the bullies had a good chance to score. Imagine staring up at someone twice your size, his right fist clenched and eyes blazing. "Hey, Man -- gimme two cent," the 9th-grader would say softly to the 7th-grader. Often enough, the latter was only too willing to part with the two pennies. [These, of course, were the 1959 pennies, worth approximately 10.85 cents today.]
Happily, I learned quickly and always carried exact change to the cafeteria...
My take on public "education" is that it simply isn't and no matter what the politicians do, it will never get better - Note: I fled for my life from the L.A. "school" system in 1965 . . .
Well, 1965 is the year I graduated from Santa Monica High School, which wasn't part of the LAUSD, but which certainly wasn't without flaw. :-) I would enjoy hearing more about your experience.
Climbing up a rope is no small feat. Girls at my school didn't have to do it. Girls weren't thought of as athletic. The options for us were: swimming and cheerleading. At the time I sucked at both so spent a lot of time in the school library reading Earl Stanley Gardner novels (Perry Mason).
Juniior high school was hell for me, also -- at least the first two years (grades 7 and 8). The last -- actually our freshman year of high school -- was rather enjoyable.
Ah, yes, the "hustlers"! In those days, we could get half-pint milk bottles for three cents (due to some or other subsidy). Since many of us went to school with a nickel, the bullies had a good chance to score. Imagine staring up at someone twice your size, his right fist clenched and eyes blazing. "Hey, Man -- gimme two cent," the 9th-grader would say softly to the 7th-grader. Often enough, the latter was only too willing to part with the two pennies. [These, of course, were the 1959 pennies, worth approximately 10.85 cents today.]
Happily, I learned quickly and always carried exact change to the cafeteria...