Third Grade

Third grade was directly across the hall from second grade and Josephine Geddes was the teacher. My vague recollection is of a rather plump lady, at least around her central torso. Miss Geddes’ desk was at the north end of the room and of course behind it was the blackboard. My seat as I recall was near the back in the row closest to the hall.

Again I have one recollection that sticks in my mind. Occasionally the class would have a period of instruction in art and the incident I remember was one where the pupils were provided with an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of blue construction paper and the project was to depict a snowstorm, using a piece of chalk. I, along with most of my classmates attached the assignment with vigor, jabbing the chalk to make little white spots on the blue paper. Two boys however, the Stillman twins, were more imaginative and proceeded to carefully make large, fluffy snowflakes. Miss Geddes noticed this and called the pictures the twins had produced to the attention of the class, with the implication that she considered them more thoughtfully considered than those the rest of the class had produced. I felt somewhat chagrined.