1982: JUST ONE PAGE FROM MY KUSER SCHOOL DIARY

I will always be grateful for the education I received in the Hamilton Township public school system; first at Kuser school from 1939 to 1947, then to Hamilton High where I graduated with the class of 1951. That education has stood me in good stead in all these many years of my life. Memories of Kuser will always remain indelibly impressed in my memory. The above graphic is one of the many, many Kuser School articles I have written over the years. This particular article is extracted from an 8 week series I ran in the late, lamented Mercer Messenger. I began the series in "Reception Grade" and each week for 8 weeks I recalled my grades from 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. all the way to "Farewell Alma Mater" which was my 8th grade column. When I read of the many shortcomings in today's educational system in many cities and towns across America, I realize what a splendid education those of us who were fortunate enough to attend school before computers replaced hand writing. This was the era when penmanship was a subject one had to pass, When desks were in rows of five with the teacher at the head of the class, when talking out of turn was not tolerated, when chewing gum was a "no no," when the teacher was addressed as Miss or Mister, when we had an unwritten dress code where students dressed in their very best; the boys in shirts and ties, the girls in skirts and dresses. A recent article in the newspaper told of the system now considering eliminating cursive writing from the course of study. How stupid! Future generations will never know how to sit down and write a legible letter. Spell checkers will go a long way to fortify opinions that spelling is also going hi-tech with the word processor taking the place of the human brain. How thankful I am that I got in under the wire!