College Elementary School Sixth Grade Class of 1958

Brief Personal History Since 1964

Following high school, I followed the lead of many members of the Class of 1964 and walked the few blocks from MPHS and enrolled in CMU. Like all of us that were 18 years old, all I really knew was that I wanted to further my education, although I was not just exactly sure of what direction I wanted to take. I decided to study business, and I was surprised to find that my first class was in the third grade room in the old College El building, then known as North Hall, and now known as Smith Hall. To make a long story short, I graduated in 1968, and stayed on for a master’s degree (M.B.A.), graduating in 1969.

The late 60’s was the buildup of the Vietnam War. Rather than get drafted, I decided to enlist in the Navy to "see the world." I visited San Diego, the Holy Loch in Scotland, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Panama Canal, and New London, Connecticut.

In 1971, I began a Ph.D. in Business Administration at Michigan State, graduating in 1975. I began teaching at Western Michigan in the fall, and stayed for ten years. I was hired to teach industrial marketing, but I was also asked to teach industrial purchasing. This resulted in a side activity of doing seminars for professional purchasing groups.

Although I was tenured and two years away from being a full professor, I left the university in 1985 to pursue a full time career conducting purchasing seminars. We decided to stay in Kalamazoo because it was hometown for my wife, Marie, and because it really didn’t matter where I lived because I almost always needed to get on a plane and go somewhere. Sixteen years later, we are still in Kalamazoo.

                                                  Memories of College El

I came to College El in the third grade, having transferred from Ganiard Elementary, a regular public school on the west side of Mt. Pleasant.. At first, I suppose I felt left out because most of the class had been together since Kindergarten, and I was an outsider.  It took me well into the fourth grade to begin to fit in with other kids.

The school was named, "College Elementary School," although local residents still referred to it as the "Training School." It was part of the Central Michigan College of Education. For a historical note, the "Education" was dropped in 1955, and the "College" was changed to "University" in 1959. At the time I was at College El, there were about 3,000 college students.

The building housing the school is now named Smith Hall in honor of Woodward Smith, one of C.M.U.’s vice presidents.  Originally built in 1933, we were the last sixth grade class to occupy the building prior to the school’s move to Rowe Hall in the fall of 1958.  For over forty years, the building has served as office and classroom space for the College of Business.  As a C.M.U. business graduate, I ended up having many classes in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grade rooms.

Third Grade (1954-1955.). The teacher was Miss Ella O’Neal, a tall, thin woman with a low-key demeanor. In this grade, we played the part of a tribe of Indians in a school pageant celebrating Michigan Week. Every day after lunch, Miss O’Neal read parts of a book to us. One book I remember was entitled, The Cub Scout Mystery.

The student fad for this grade was stamp collecting.  Everyone had a stamp album, and bought stamps from Cole’s across the street to paste into these albums.  The fad carried over into the fourth grade before it ended.  However, since I always save more things than I should, I still have my stamp album from third grade on a shelf.  The third grade student teacher I remember: Miss Schultz.

Fourth Grade (1955-1956). For this grade, we had Miss Ethel Praeger, a short, stocky woman from Green Bay, Wisconsin. She shared a home with a high school librarian, Miss Ethel La Moore. Her specialty was Michigan history, so many of our activities were geared toward "pioneer" Michigan. We decorated an old-fashioned Christmas tree with strings of popcorn and paper chains, made hand-dipped wax candles (which I still have), and made maple syrup. Many of us still remember our trip to Bundy Hill, where we planted trees. During the trip, it rained on us while we were having lunch, so we collectively wrote a song about our experience, which was sung to the tune of "Three Pirates," a song from music class.

Another unique aspect of the fourth grade was caring for fish.  Miss Praeger had two fish tanks, one for guppies, and the other for ornamental catfish.  Student were assigned rotational feeding responsibilities throughout the year.

Student teachers I remember: Miss Goodrow, Miss Shippy, Miss Millard, and Mr. Gwynn (who had a beautiful voice and sang, "Tell Me Why.")(Another note: Mr. Gwynn must have liked our trip to camp. He is retired, and shows a Caseville address.)  As for Miss Praeger, she retired two years after we had her, and began writing her book about Michigan history.  She remained active in the Presbyterian Church and other activities before her death in 1985.

Fifth Grade (1956-1957). Dr. Aubrey Carlson moved to the education department at C.M.C. in the fall of 1957, and was replaced by Mrs. Margaret Foley, the wife of a local jeweler. Activities in this grade included making string puppets, and conducting a puppet show, "Foley’s Follies." I also recall that we did book reports every time we had a college class in for observation. Mrs. Foley wanted me to do the same report on a book, "Paddle to the Sea," probably because I did a "hammy" role play. Several of the girls did "Little Women." Academically, we did multiplication tables. As for Mrs. Foley, she want on to handle the children’s literature section of the main library after College El closed.

Sixth Grade (1957-1958) The teacher was Mr. Jack Anson, a young man who was in about his third year of teaching. Mr. Anson was probably my epitome of what a sixth grade teacher should be. He was tall, personable, and seemed to possess many talents from athletics to music. He seemed to cover everything from geography to astronomy in an easy-to-understand and interesting manner.  Sensing the demise of the training school concept, Mr. Anson only stayed a couple of years after we left.  He furthered his education, and ended his career as superintendent of public instruction for the Mt. Pleasant school system.

On the controversial side for the sixth grade was the decision to teach sex education – not to the entire class—but just to the girls.  All the parents in the class were called together to hear about the plan, and apparently none of them objected.  The class was then split between boy and girls, and the girls were taken into the adjacent (and much smaller) room to study the basics of human reproduction.  This section was not handled by Mr. Anson but by one of the female student teacher.  The boys remained with Mr. Anson and studied other non-sex aspects of the human body.

The big production for the spring of 1958 was the United Nations Pageant.  This acitivity involved all of the upper grades at College El.   We sang songs and produced skits depicting the various works of the United Nations.  Don Marks was elected Dag Hammarskjold, who was then secretary-general of the United Nations. We received some goood press from the “Centralight” campus newspaper

The fad of this grade was the combination padlocks that we put on our lockers.  In 1958, we really didn’t need locks on our lockers.  We just thought that they were neat.

The sixth grade student teacher I remember: Mr. Spenser Scott, a black man with a winning personality, who also had a brother that was a C.M.C. football star. (Note:  Mr. Joseph Scott, his other brother, continued his education, and earned a Ph.D. in sociology in 1963.  He is currently a sociology professor at the University of Washington.  Regrettably, he told me that his brother Spenser has died.)

All in all, it was still Mr. Anson who made it a memorable year.  Here are a few quotes, as best I can remember them, from Jack Anson:

"The greatest asset of Japan is its people." (Mr. Anson was a veteran who served in the Navy during the later part of WWII and was part of the early occupation force in Japan).

"One day, someone will say to you, ‘Were you in the day and age when the Sputnik was  launched?’ You will be able to say, ‘Yes I was. I was in the sixth grade.’"

"As we get older, we all have to learn to walk a little slower. I think that we all walked a little slower the day Doc Sweeney died." (Sweeney Hall is named after the late Doc Sweeney)

“England and the United States are like brothers. They quarrel over little things, and periodically get mad at each other.  But when the chips are down, the two of them fall in line with each other quicker than any two countries.”

“We forget too quickly.  Everyone tells us this.  In World War II, the Jewish people were stacked and burned like firewood.  And now, it is as though it was a hundred years ago.”  (Given that this statement was made in 1957, the holocaust was only twelve years prior.  In the innocence of the sixth grade, few of us would comprehend the magnitude of this tragedy until years later.)

After the sixth grade, we all went to the Mt. Pleasant Junior High for seventh, eighth, and ninth grades.  It was in 1958 that the junior high section of C.M.C. was permanently closed, and the remaining students transferred into the regular public school system.  Since the seventh and eight grades were housed in the “sheep sheds,” the temporary World War II buildings across campus, we had little contact with these upper grades.

Summer School. It was well into the spring of the academic year before I learned that we were all coming back for half-day sessions during the six week C.M.C.E. summer term. Yuk!! But it didn’t turn out too badly, because activities seemed to be more fun than during the regular year. Just for instance, we usually had milk in 6 ounce bottles delivered to our room just after morning recess (about 10:00 a.m.) every day during the regular school year.  In the summer, we received orange drink instead.

Swimming. None of the public schools in our area had swimming pools, so Friday swimming was a unique feature of the College El program. I was not a good swimmer, but the experience was very good because it gave me enough ability to swim enough when I needed to. I recall that our "star" swimmers were Francie Cuthbert and Lynn Smith.

Lunch. The kids from town generally went home for lunch, while those of us that commuted by bus were subjected to a hot lunch, which appeared to be partially catered from one of the college cafeterias. The food was nutritious, but highly institutional. Almost everything was canned, re-warmed, and allowed to get cold again before serving.  The head of the College El kitchen:  Mrs. Veit.

Lunch was presided over by a student teacher, the most notable of which was Miss Dottie Berlin. Miss Berlin was famous for her auctions of left over food with a game we called, "Eine, Zwei, Drei, Horsengoggle!"

After lunch, we had a recess period. In the winter, we made snow forts. In the summer, we played rotational softball, whereby we worked our way up to bat by way of the outfield and sequential infield bases.  When you were “out,” you went back to the outfield and started over again. The star softball players were Bob Warner, John Bollman, and Bill Beckett.

Art. The art teacher was Miss Barbara King. Unlike some art teachers, she always had us doing something different. Often the art project coordinated with the classroom activities such as making dinosaurs, building puppets for the fifth grade play, or making scenery for a play. In addition to drawing with crayons, I remember carving soap figures and doing clay pots.  A couple other notes on Barbara King.  She came to Central in 1946 to teach at College El and to teach art at the college level.  After the demise of College El, she continue to teach in the art department where one former student says that she was by far the best art teacher she had.

Spanish. Clearly, one of the most unusual features of the College El program was the twice weekly visit by Dr. Elizabeth Etnire, a college professor who embarked on the challenge of trying to teach Spanish to elementary school students. Again, we are reminded that the College El was a "lab" school, and that the school was trying to build a case for introducing foreign languages to children at an early age. This knowledge gave us an edge in high school, and left many of us with a permanent (perhaps latent) knowledge of Spanish that still roams our minds today.

The session always began with Dr. Etnire knocking at the door, to which the class would reply, "Pase, Señorita." We learned basic phrases and objects in Spanish, and did different things to apply what we had learned. One game was "Criminal and Detective," where the class would answer questions posed by the student detective.  The criminal was always one of the students, and in the case of David Mayhew on at least two occasions, was also the criminal!

Music. The music teacher was Miss Myrtle Thiers, a highly accomplished piano player, who seemed to have a talent for bringing out the best musical talent in all of us. Mr. Anson later suggested that our class might have been more "musical" than others. I do recall that we did two part harmonies almost without instruction.

A few other notes on Mrs. Thiers.   I spoke with her son, Winston, who attended College El with classmates like Bobb Wardrop and Dorman Gothup.  Mrs. Thiers attended the Crane Institute, a.k.a., the "birthplace of music education," in Pottsdam, New York, was hired to teach music at Central in 1923, and completed her undergraduate degree at Central.  About 1931, she married Harry L. Thiers, a Mt. Pleasant banker.  Harry Thiers died in the early 30's, so she felt it necessary to forward her education.  She complete a master's degree at Northwestern in 1940.  Her favorite on-campus activity:  Faculty sponsor for the women's glee club. 

On Wednesday mornings, we gathered in the lower hall with the other grades for "Hall Sing." Songs I remember included "Bingo," "Raining," "It isn’t Any Trouble Just to S-M-I-L-E," "The Old Ford Car," "Teritumba," and "Bells of St. Mary’s."

I think Mrs. Thiers may have also had a role in the formation of the sixth grade quartet who sang Everly Brothers and other popular songs. The members were Dave Mayhew, Lynn Smith, Bill Beckett, and Mike Grove. Mike’s father, Dr. Eugene Grove, was the musical arraigner.

Marbles.  When someone writes the “history of toys,” they will probably note that our generation was the last group of kids to play marbles.  To a certain extent, your marble bag was a measure of your youthful wealth.  The game had clearly been modified from versions played 50 years earlier, although the interest level was actually higher than previous generations and fairly long lived.  Some might compare it to the Beanie Baby craze of recent years, except that playing involved a game that put one of your marbles at risk.  The objective was simple:  Hit the other person’s marble first, and you won it. Generally, you and your opponent played with marbles of equal value.  The value of these marbles began with plain glass marbles, and proceeded upward to “cat’s eyes” and clearies (which we all erroneously pronounced “perrrie”).  A large marble was called a “boulder.”  The most valuable of all marbles (and rightly so) were various sizes of steel ball bearings which we of course called  “steelies.”

Miss Johnson reported to Dr. Kenneth Bordine, dean of the School of Education. Because he resided in Warrner Hall, we never saw him.

We did, however, see the college president. There was a tradition born some years before our time that the entire College El student body would make an annual trek to Warrner Hall to sing "Happy Birthday" to the ever-popular President Anspach.

Finally, no one could forget Mr. Paul Folsom, the janitor and, according to some accounts, sometimes assistant principal (he was in charge of disciplinary problems when necessary).

Mr. Folsom was born in Vermont. As a young man, he traveled to Cuba. How he ended up in Mt. Pleasant is, of course, unknown. Encountering him in later years as I studied in the School of Business, I also discovered that he was an ardent Jehovah’s Witness.

Other features. Since College El was a lab school, it was not unusual to return from recess to find an entire college class (presumably from education) seated in folding chairs with note pads in hand waiting to observe the entire session. Unlike the public schools where classes would typically have one teaching intern, most of the College El teachers seemed to direct a troop of three to five interns each semester.

Final Thoughts. Having spent most of my life as an educator, it is with great fondness and appreciation that I reflect on my four years at College El. I believe that it was Francie Cuthbert who noted that, with the exception of Mr. Anson, the instruction was probably quite ordinary. However, it was the PROGRAM that this faculty put together that was the real strength. The breadth and depth of material that we covered gave us a start in life that was superior to most other avenues of elementary education available at the time - - in any place- - at any price. My class of approximately thirty students produced six Ph.Ds. For me, a kid off the farm from a family that was not highly educated, I have to conclude that I would probably not be where I am had it not been for the College El experience.

I was surprised (but not totally shocked) to find that when Bob Knapp called the C.M.U. College of Education to ask about the whereabouts of old College El records, that no one in the office, including the dean, seemed to even know that there ever was a College El. For those of us in the Class of 1958, it has been almost 44 years - - over half a lifetime. It has been a long time since College El closed its doors. However, I did not think that it would be forgotten so soon, especially by C.M.U.

Theories of education come and go. No one has unraveled the magic formula for running an elementary school, although many educators agree that the quality of education in the elementary grades is the most important determinant in later academic success.

To the best I have been able to determine, funding was the primary reason for the demise of College El. With the rising cost of education in the 1960’s, the administration at C.M.U. felt that College El was a luxury that could no longer be afforded.  Dr. Curtis Nash, Dean Emeritus of the College of Education, also noted that nothing "experimental," such as sex education, Spanish, or field trips came out of the school in the last ten years of its existence. 

In part the demise was also a function of shifting education theory that hypothesized that lab schools were no longer relevant. Over a five year period, dozens of lab schools were closed across the entire nation. Only now is the wisdom of these closings being questioned. As the wheel turns and becomes reinvented, it is at least possible that the concept will one day be revived.

With the dedication of Bob Knapp, who has spent countless hours editing and maintaining this page, the memory of College El can be kept alive. It is my sincere hope that the education theoreticians will someday read this page and learn something about what the concept of a lab school was all about. Others will find this page and remember that once upon a time at a small teacher’s college in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, there was a very special elementary school known as the College Elementary School.

Respectfully submitted,

Brian G. Long

College El Class of 1958

September 30, 2001
Revised September 10, 2002
Revised Again, January 2, 2006