The old schools in the 50's and 60's were like dinosaurs...with great broad stairways made of wood and smelling of oily wood polish. I'll bet the smell of that polish lingers in the schools today. They are all still standing, each now used for something else.
Each classroom was a huge room, standardized with the customary photos of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, the American flag,and a huge wooden teacher's desk. But each teacher made his/her room unique, decorating it with A+ papers and drawings and bulletin boards with bright pictures. The floors were shiny with the wood polish and many were warped with the years of use.
My school had one empty room...the lunch room...where we were examined once/year by old Dr Macek and nurse, Mrs Lecuyer. We were checked over, making sure our posture was good, that our hearts were ticking, and that we had no head lice. Very embarassing. The room had other uses too...lunch for the kids that lived too far to go home, assembly-like sing-alongs, auditions for the 6th grade concert. And, when the new polio vaccine came out, we were all sent to the lunch room to get our cup of vaccine to drink.
My favorite part of the school, besides the playground, was the basement. Here were the boys and girls rest rooms...it was a long trip from the second floor down there and you never knew whom you would meet. The teachers monitored how long you were gone and if you stayed there too long, someone would be sent to fetch you. But the real reson I liked the basement was because, on rainy days, we got to have recess there. We would sing and play silly games the whole time...great fun...girls on one side, boys on the other. Awesome!
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