Friday, August 25, 1928

My First Years at School

My school days began in Kindergarten at Manila Central School. I was taken into a very large room, at least it seemed so at the time. The blackboards had many beautiful pictures on them. There were more children there than I had ever seen before in my life. We all sat around in a large circle in little red chairs. I remember one boy who was always being punished. He was always getting sent to Miss Tormey. I heard dreadful rumors about a spanking that was in her office. There were two ladies in charge, one led us in the games and songs and other played the piano. I remember one game in particular that we played. It taught us to tell the time. There was a large clock face on the wall. One of us would go up to the clock and adjust the hands then he would call on someone to tell him the time. The person who answered right first was it next.

The thing that stands out most clearly in my mind in connection with my first grade was the three months I spent with my teacher. My mother was in Baguio. During that time I lived with Mrs. James, Elizabeth James was my particular friend at the time. Mr. James was Superintendent of Parks and Transportation so they lived in a house in the center of the Botanical Gardens. I was delighted when I heard I was to live with them for then I could see the animals every afternoon. I remember one of the especial haunts of my chum and I. It was a clump of trees near the goldfish pond. that was our playhouse. One afternoon while Elizabeth and I were looking at the animals, we stopped in front of the cage of a wild boar. He was pacing aback and forth behind his bars. Elizabeth turned to me and said, "Do you know what that means? That means he is going to get out." I was certainly frightened. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me to the house where I locked myself in the bathroom where I stayed for hours until Mrs. James came home.

I don't remember learning to spell Elizabeth but I do remember when I first learnt to spell Powell. I had seen it written often but I didn't realize that that was where I learned it. So one day when I wrote it on my school paper I thought I had learned it all by myself. so I was quite proud of myself and told everybody how I had learned to spell my last name all by myself.