Mrs. Ladner's Third Grade Class; West Ward Elementary; Gulfport, Mississippi; 1968

When I posted a vintage picture of my second grade classmates last month, I never imagined another photo from that same year would surface.  I recently connected with Lenrose Killegrew Fears on facebook.  After viewing my old photo, she showed me this wonderful full color photo from the same year.

Her recollection of the names:

First row:  Cynthia Marshall?, Pamela Hartford, Linda Mock, Joey Castrogiovanni, Crystal Graham, Mitch, Teddy Carroll, Jill Murray, ?  Middle:  Mike Hancock, Laura Parks, Lee Saucier, Gary Smith, Faye Lynn Holton?, Mona Montana, Hershel?, Allen Conn, Tammy Woodcock.  Back row:  Robert, Delores, Carol, Margaret D’Angelo, Cheryl Drake, Donald or Ronald Ferguson, Anthony Stevens, Keith Evans, Lenrose Killegrew.  The Principal, Mr. Walt Ewing; and the teacher, Mrs. Ladner are top center.

Mrs. Hutto's class; West Ward Elementary; Gulfport, MS; 1972

My favorite elementary school teacher was Mrs. Elsie Hutto.  I snapped this picture of my rowdy sixth grade class with my parent’s “Instamatic” camera (anybody remember those?  Magicubes?).  I’m fairly certain that Mrs. Hutto had left the room because, even though she was a nice lady, she would never have allowed us to cut up like this.

An interesting detail I discovered when I scanned this into my computer and enlarged it–the empty front desk has my school supply box on top, an El Producto cigar box.  Jones Bros. Drug Store in downtown Gulfport used to let kids have the discarded boxes for this purpose.  The dandy little plastic pencil boxes used nowadays weren’t around, best I can recall.

The photo’s a bit fuzzy, but I can make out most of these characters:  Bardo Fox, Clay Giuffria, James Brown, Jerry Matheny, Daisy Harper, Chad Lizana, Chris McLean, Teddy Gaston, Pete Pope, Mark Hansen, Mary McKenna, Bobbie Phelps, and Derek Boyd.

West Ward Elementary School; Gulfport, Mississippi; 1968

Would you believe I can name almost every one of my second grade classmates?  Mind you, I’m fairly pathetic when it comes to remembering the name of someone I met yesterday, but I’m semi-remarkable when it comes to 1968.  I’m the tall girl in the back row of this photo, first one on the left.  And that might have been the last year I qualified as “the tall girl.”

The school, West Ward Elementary, overlooked the endlessly cresting waves of the Gulf of Mexico (in fact, we’re facing the gulf as we pose for this photo), and like Gulfport High School, it was fittingly the home of the Commodores.  The building survived Hurricane Camille in August of ’69, but did not survive progress.  It was bulldozed in the 90s  and replaced by the Island View Casino.

The principal, Mr. Walt Ewing, is standing in the back.  He ran a tight ship, so most of us were supremely terrified of him.  We all told ghastly tales of rumored paddlings for minor infractions–the paddles got larger with every story and evolved into torture devices with holes that sucked up pieces of butt with every stroke.  I think I was more afraid of my second grade teacher,though– Mrs. Krass, the lady with the interesting genie hairstyle.  She switched my open palms with a ruler one day for pulling out my Crayolas too soon.

It’s funny to look at that little second grader (me) and then look at Nathan who is now a second grader himself.  Thankfully, paddles and palm-whackings are a thing of the past (I think I’d have a stroke if someone tried to hurt him).

Alright.  Let me prove my mental acumen:  (Top, L to R) Karen Parker (me), Denise, Greg Gilstrap, Teddy Gaston, Robin Jackson, Karen White, Mike Cook.  (Middle, L to R) Sonia Guyton, Dennis Cospelich, Kenny, Mark Pell, Deborah Ladnier, Thomas Cook, Beth Harrod, Darryl Moore.  (Bottom, L to R) Dawn, Tina Serrato, Karen MacMillan, Shari Cornell, Carl Couch, Conrad Hawthorn, Betty Jean, Phyllis, Shari Davis.

So how’d I do?  If you recognize yourself or a friend, I would enjoy hearing from you.

Related posts:  Mrs. Hutto’s Sixth Grade Class,  West Ward Elementary Revisited.