50 years ago today

It seems like yesterday, but exactly 50 years ago today I graduated from Wheelock College in Boston, Massachusetts. My mother graduated from Wheelock as well, her little 50 year pin from 1993 is in the photo as well. She graduated during WWII and used her BS in Education as a First Grade teacher. 

I also received a BS in Education, specializing in, as we called it in the day, 'Nursery' to Grade Three. I minored in Art and put that passion into good use teaching Kindergarten for 27 of the 28 years I taught. My very first year teaching in rural northern Maine, Van Buren, on the Canadian Border I taught children aged 6-9 in an open space, ungraded school. My next year in Van Buren began my Kindergarten teaching career, with 4s and 5s, my favorite age. I moved back to Massachusetts and continued teaching kindergarten in a public school until my retirement. 

The children in the photo with me were from my second student teaching semester in the fall of 1970, they must be at least 56 years old now. I remember both of their names, it was a wonderful class and learning experience. 

At Wheelock we learned to teach by doing, the same way children learn best. It was a very small college started in 1888 and graduated many gifted educators. In 2017, Wheelock College entered into discussions with Boston University with the goal of merging Wheelock with Boston University The two schools merged on June 1, 2018. My mother would have taken that hard, but I see it now as an opportunity. As one of the leaders in education and education reform in the nation, the Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development provides comprehensive teacher preparation to students in more than 20 concentrations. It honestly seems like yesterday that I was receiving my degree on the Fenway campus. Speaking of Fenway, I remember glimpsing a World Series Baseball game at Fenway Park from afar, atop the roof of Peabody Hall West, my dorm.


For the Record, 
This day came in as cold as November with steady rain. We have the heat on and Merry is wrapped in an afghan in a chair, no sunbeams!


All hands happy to be vaccinated.