I’ve Danced My Life Away

I Had Some Good Readers

Much to Miss Knight’s chagrin, on a hot day when it wasn’t too pleasant I used to take my kids out and have reading and spelling under a tree, and she complained bitterly to Mr. Lord about it because she couldn’t do it. Mr. Lord said, "You leave Frances alone. She’s doing just what I want her to do!" So that was that. Whenever the kids were restless I’d say, "Take your little chairs and we’ll go out and under the tree." There was a tree on Pleasant Street, so we sat under the tree, had lessons enough for an hour or so and then we’d go ahead and go back in the school.

Usually about 3 o’clock the kids were pretty restless so I’d read to them all or I’d have one of the kids read. George Tibbetts was one of my favorite ones to read because he read like a professor, and Philip Pendleton was also a beautiful reader. Philip was like a little angel. Oh, he was the cutest little thing, fat and cute! The kids called me Miss Frances at that time because I knew so many of them that it would be hard to say Miss Alexander, so they called me Miss Frances, and that Miss Knight didn’t like either. She thought that was being too familiar, but I didn’t mind it and Mr. Lord didn’t mind it. So Philip used to come up sometimes to the desk, and he’d raise his hand of course and come out to the desk, and he’d say, "Miss Frances, would you like me to read to the children?" The kids loved to have him read. He read so beautifully.

I had some good readers! I don’t know if the kids can read now, but in those days we put out some good readers - real good - because we had phonics and we had exercises in reading and everything. About the time I stopped teaching they brought in a new method of reading, which was picture reading, and none of the kids could spell afterwards and they couldn’t read worth a darn. I’d told Mr. Lord at that time they were making a very big mistake. Kids need phonics, and they need exercises in reading. He said, "Well, we’re gonna try it anyway." So for a long time, you know, there were things written about why Johnny couldn’t read, and that’s why he couldn’t read. They raised some poor readers, and they couldn’t spell either.

ED: So what other subjects did you teach besides reading?
FS: Oh, there was reading, writing, and arithmetic, and English. We had music and drawing. I can’t remember anything else. I used to exercise them a lot, in-you know, holding up flash cards, and- Oh yes! Penmanship! We had penmanship and drawing, and old Miss Cleveland used to teach drawing. She was a wonderful, colorful character! And then after that there were several different people who came and taught drawing.

Mrs. Tibbetts, old Dr. Tibbetts’ wife, used to teach music, and she was beautiful. She looked like a fashion model. She was beautiful to look at, and she always wore beautiful clothes and the kids loved her. At that time we used to have an exhibition at the Opera House. We’d put up wires and put up their papers, and of course we’d saved all the ones with stars on them and put those up! Then in the evening we had, not a pageant, but something like that usually. When I was growing up we had this too and I was nearly always the queen, with a stick that was painted gold and a star on the top and a crown! Ruth was for a little while before she graduated from high school.

ED: And Ruth was your sister?
FS: My sister, yes. She was always paired with Doris Firth who was a redhead too. Ruth was a redhead, and they were cute together. They used to do little dances and singing and everything, so I grew up singing and dancing at the Opera House! And even after-after I graduated from high school, I used to be in the shows there. The Lion’s Club usually put on a show and had singing and dancing. I’ve danced my life away!
ED: So you mentioned that there were teachers that came in to teach music and to teach drawing? So you were responsible for everything else?
FS: Oh, oh yes. I had to teach singing and I can’t read music but I can do the do-re-mi!

While I was teaching I was very much interested in the Congregational Church, and I sang in the choir there, and I directed the young peoples’ choir. I was active in almost everything that they did. I was very, very friendly with Mr. Witham and his wife. He was the minister, and I had two of their children in school.

I had some very interesting people in school - George Tibbetts, Jackie Williams, Aubrey Young, Ken Dickey. I didn’t have Barbara [Dyer] and her family because they moved up to the other building, but I had some wonderful kids. I remember I wrote a column when they were thinking at first of tearing down the Elm Street School. I wrote a very irate letter to the Camden Herald and told them what I thought of it, and I said I felt that they should put the school on the National Register.