Teaching at Irma
After I left Lenroot School, I taught Grades 1-3 at a State Graded School in Irma, Wis. This was an advancement for me, since three grades required less preparation than eight grades. We also had Grades 9-10 in our school, so we had bigger kids to contend with on the playground and in the halls. There were four teachers in this school.
During these three years I stayed with my sister Ruth and family. Her husband was pastor of the Irma church and two other churches in the area. They had 4 children at the time. Three went to the Irma School, but none were in my classes. All three were taking piano lessons at the time and each one had to practice for one hour every day, which meant three hours of piano practice daily. Needless to say, between my hours at school and the hours at her house, there was very little "quiet" time. All three turned out to be proficient piano players.
An interesting incident that I want to relate concerned one of my 9 first graders. As we were having reading class one day, sitting on little chairs in a semi-circle, I happened to glance up from my book and saw Allan with red blotches all over his face. Really surprised, I exclaimed, "Why Allan, you're getting the chicken pox!" With big blue eyes he looked at me and in an excited voice responded, "No, I wasn't even by the chickens." I didn't dare laugh at his remark, but I was correct, as he came down with the chicken pox, even though he hadn't been by the chickens! These are the incidents that help make teaching all worth while.
I never did see Allan again after that, so I could never repeat this story to him. I wonder if he remembers it, but it remains one of my favorite "school stories".
At the end of the school year, I had the opportunity to teach Vacation Bible School in a real poverty-stricken area north of Irma. Because the children weren't used to discipline, it was hard to get and to keep their attention. My class was in the basement of the school, and instead of sitting in their seats when they came in like one would expect them to do, they would climb up on the window sills and wait until they were gotten down from there.
When these two weeks were over, I was glad to get home to Wausau. It took me all summer to recuperate, as these children's antics had taken a real toll on me. It's a good thing teachers have the summer months to refuel!
I stayed home this particular summer because I needed to. However, most summers I had to find a job as teachers did not get paid during the summer. Finding a job for the summer months was not always easy. Mostly I did waitress work and worked for insurance companies. After our wages were spread over 12 months, most of my summers were spent in summer school.