When I was twelve in New Jersey in 1971, our good-natured and exceedingly patient teacher, Mrs. Barry, gave our sixth grade class a months-long writing project. She gave us time every afternoon to work on the many specific topics we were to write on. We were a racially diverse bunch living through stormy political times, which was not lost on me. Here are a few excerpts from my final submission, along with Mrs. Barry’s conflicted reaction.
Black Power “Right on!” said Karen. “You tell ‘em sister!” said Sarah. “We gotta fight our battles!” said LaNora. “Right on!” said Karen. “You tell ‘em sister!” said Sarah. “We gotta fight our battles!” said LaNora.
Later that night…
“Right on!” said Karen. “You tell ‘em sister!” said Sarah. “We gotta fight our battles!” said LaNora. “Right on!” said Karen. “You tell ‘em sister!” said Sarah. “We gotta fight our battles!” said LaNora.
Time I usually don’t spend my time. I keep it at home in a little box. Sometime I must show you my time collection. I’ve got the largest in the world. When I do spend my time I usually spend it at the Acme. They give you a 25% discount if you use spare time instead of wasted time. I just thought of a disadvantage of time collecting. When you put time in your time book you’re always getting extra time on your hands.
Why We Salute The Flag (Hard Hat Version) We salute the flag because we are proud of our country, the best country in the world. We want to let the world know that we love our country much more than these dirty-commie-weirdo countries. We say it because we fought for our county; we made it safe from our second greatest enemy, foreigners, Indians especially. Some of these “hippies” don’t think too much of the Pledge, but I think they can go back to where they came from. That’s what I say, “Love it or leave it!” I say the pledge because it’s “My country right or wrong.”
Our Week At Sixth Grade Camp In Stokes State Park Stokes was very fun after the difference of opinion between the student body and the Senior Citizens (teachers). Actually it was not a difference of opinion, it was more of a series of arsons, bombings, and muggings. It all began when the teachers would not agree to make a few small changes: co-ed cabins; a cocktail hour between 6:00 and 7:00; and a class on the teachings of Karl Marx. But after a day of arsons, bombings, and muggings, the teachers came around to our way of thinking. After our day of rule changing we still had Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to explore the wonders of nature.
When I Was Young When I was young I was a mere child in my ways of thinking. I actually didn’t like girls, liked plain peanut butter, and thought that the good old U.S. of A. was fine the way it is. Now I’m much more adult in my ways of thinking. I like girls, like crunchy style peanut butter, and call for total world revolution. Also when I was young I thought all teachers were great, but now I know that some teachers who sit around and read strange stories written by strange authors are a little strange themselves.
Science Facts We have a digestive system. We have a skeletal system. We have a circulatory system. We have a respiratory system. We must not have a reproductive system, because no one ever wrote anything about it in our science or health book.
Early Man I could tell you that cavemen first lived in trees, then caves, and then skyscrapers, but I won’t. I could also tell you that they discovered fire, discovered tools, and discovered sex, but I won’t. I might also tell you that early man learned of war, learned of death, and learned of race-riots.
Communication Communication is the art of communing. It was started by the ancient tribe of Cations in the land of Comm. A related art is the art of talking, which was started by the ancient Talks in the country of Ing. This story is all true, but everything has been changed to protect me.
Beginning the trend of letting me get away with academic murder, Mrs. Barry responded to my literary effort:
“I know you did these hurriedly – as a matter of fact you did the majority of them May 25th. However I still like them. They are generally short but generally well written. You are lucky you can get by with something like this. You received an A in all five areas of this book. However, you wasted class time and caused some disturbances in the room as you chose to talk rather than work.”