Warren Mary Ellen
Ranger
2 more days and the school year starts for me. Mary Ellen has another week to go.
Morning Cup Of Coffee And Weather
- Thread starter Tour 931
- Start date
Sweeney
Administrator
Destruction of small town America begin with short summers….
awe got off on Memorial Day to Labor Day… lots of long weeks between…
The Postman
Ranger
Now do Dewey decimal system...
Warren Mary Ellen
Ranger
It’s a trade off over when you start up and end. We never have waited until Labor Day to here. We always started in the middle of August. The coastal counties in SC wait to start, but they want their teens available for hospitality & restaurant jobs when during the heavy tourism weeks which includes August.
If you wait until September to start, you don’t end until the middle of June. My school in a small rural county likes this schedule where we do start early but we get time off during the year. We are able to help kids who are behind sooner too. Our passing rate has increased doing this. I actually work in a county that pays significantly less than the surrounding counties and one of the reasons why is this schedule. I get to go camping midweek in October because of it. August is so hot here, I would rather be teaching so I can have more time off when it’s more comfortable. 2-3 more years and it won’t be a concern to me, I’ll be retired for good. Actually we are retired now, but we are working retirees.
Warren Mary Ellen
Ranger
5:45 - oh good, we have an 85% chance of rain in the next 30 minutes.
7:45 - we now have a 2 % chance of rain.
7:45 - we now have a 2 % chance of rain.
Tour 931
Ranger
The weatherman is eventually always right.
In Idaho in the 60’s school always ended before Memorial Day and started after Labor Day. Across the Snake River in Washington they had an extra two weeks of school in June. The trade off was Idaho barely had any days off during the school year. It was especially bad during Christmas and New Years when you only got the immediate day off before and after the two holidays. Five school days off! Some years you might also get two weekends off if they fell on a Monday.
In Idaho in the 60’s school always ended before Memorial Day and started after Labor Day. Across the Snake River in Washington they had an extra two weeks of school in June. The trade off was Idaho barely had any days off during the school year. It was especially bad during Christmas and New Years when you only got the immediate day off before and after the two holidays. Five school days off! Some years you might also get two weekends off if they fell on a Monday.
Warren Mary Ellen
Ranger
That would’ve been rough on the teachers. Lol. We have so many kids in fall sports or in the marching band, we’re all in town & at school for practice. We only have 350 kids total. I coach Cross Country in the fall so I would have to be around anyway.
Chicago Public Schools used to go to almost the end of June when I was a kid a little over a half century ago, and back right after Labor Day. Things have changed since then, with school ending mid June and returning mid August. I think I'd rather be on the old schedule, to be out of school during the Dog Days of August at least...
Warren Mary Ellen
Ranger
That makes in sense Chicago with your shorter summer. I’ve got an aunt/uncle there & when visit them we often get there in the middle of June & my cousins had just finished school. In SC in August, we ‘re all sitting in the AC. The low last night was nearly 80.
Warren Mary Ellen
Ranger
In the grocery store parking lot the other day was large camper (40 ft) towed by a pickup truck. The couple was standing near it getting through food out of their carts. I was tempted to go ask them if they slept in it just to turn the tables on someone just for once.
Sweeney
Administrator
Maybe it was a framing thing here? I don't know. But all the way through High School (graduated in '85), our last day was the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, and we always started the Tuesday after Labor Day. Like clockwork. I remember when they moved it earlier and there was an outcry. Frankly I have mixed feelings about it. A home schooler I know uses a 6 weeks of school, 2 weeks off with a longer break once a year. That would be day-care hell though for working parents...but if you're home schooling, that is probably not a problem.
As for regular school activities, yes, band and other activities started earlier -- I remember football team practicing in the august heat. Which I though a little crazy. But knowing that a local high school swim team practices twice a day -- starting at 4am, and then again after school --- well, there is a point where one has to ask if they are nuts. I know there is a persuit of excellence but at some point it starts to look like athletics is the career, and education is secondary. The priorities are kind of wrong.
Tour 931
Ranger
That is hilarious.
Sweeney
Administrator
I received the local school district calendar yesterday. Looks like they have a similar schedule that I had 50-some years ago.
yah, that’s more like it. Of course then Mom stayed home, or we went to Grandmas, we rode bikes, played baseball at the park (where the school system had an arts and crafts program and provided basic sports equipment…tennis rackets, baseball bats, mits, and balls, basket balls…)
awe we’re allowed and encouraged to play. Assisting that was that we had no YouTube, TikTok, and 5 channels on TV. ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and a local religious channel that showed some old TV shows and movies (little rascals).
a I wouldn’t want to be a kid today….hyper vigilant parents, and constant monitoring. Heck, at a campground we’d be cut loose at least in the loop….we’d surely slip into the next one to. I see kids limited to such small areas today…
.....TV? I remember not even having one! ...and I remember my folks talking about having to walk miles to and from school every day, up hill both ways through a foot of snow, and doing chores before going and after getting home each day as well, with no time to play, much less get bored.
Fun was reserved for the gunny sack races at the pot luck church picnics on Sunday afternoon. They felt a lot of gratitude when they got a new stocking cap for Christmas and got to listen to Fibber McGee & Molly on the radio as a special treat before going to bed in their unheated bedrooms....and actually I don't think it was all that far from the truth! LOL
Warren Mary Ellen
Ranger
How rural is my county & how trusting are they of each other? There is a small dairy farm there called Southern Oaks. They sale milk & make ice cream. We got some tonight for our cross country runners to celebrate the end of summer conditioning.
If you want anything you drive to the farm. Park at their sales building. Pick out what you want. Figure out how much you owe. Put the money in the can. They have a change box if you need to break a larger bill. Open 24 hours so if you are driving near Abbeville, SC anytime day or night & need an ice cream fix, it’s good.
If you want anything you drive to the farm. Park at their sales building. Pick out what you want. Figure out how much you owe. Put the money in the can. They have a change box if you need to break a larger bill. Open 24 hours so if you are driving near Abbeville, SC anytime day or night & need an ice cream fix, it’s good.
The Postman
Ranger
Sweeney
Administrator
.....TV? I remember not even having one! ...and I remember my folks talking about having to walk miles to and from school every day, up hill both ways through a foot of snow, and doing chores before going and after getting home each day as well, with no time to play, much less get bored.
Fun was reserved for the gunny sack races at the pot luck church picnics on Sunday afternoon. They felt a lot of gratitude when they got a new stocking cap for Christmas and got to listen to Fibber McGee & Molly on the radio as a special treat before going to bed in their unheated bedrooms....and actually I don't think it was all that far from the truth! LOL
Alright dustin...be nice
Born in '67, I remember a TV being there all the time. This big RCA piece of furniture, even remember a repair man coming to the house on at least one occasion. I also remember when we got "Cablevision" which gave us 13 channels! I could finally watch channel 9 (WGN) out of Chicago with crystal clear picture. This of course was a big deal because Sunday Afternoon meant Frazier Thomas and "Family Classics" At some point it became about WFLD (32) now fox.
But summers -- we were pretty free range kids. Get up, breakfast (froot loops or Cookie Crisp) then out the door we went --- bikes, baseball and if I could scrouge a few dimes maybe some arts & crafts at the park. Back home for lunch, repeat in the afternoon --- home for supper. Back home when the lights came on.
Warren Mary Ellen
Ranger
Alright dustin...be nice
Born in '67, I remember a TV being there all the time. This big RCA piece of furniture, even remember a repair man coming to the house on at least one occasion. I also remember when we got "Cablevision" which gave us 13 channels! I could finally watch channel 9 (WGN) out of Chicago with crystal clear picture. This of course was a big deal because Sunday Afternoon meant Frazier Thomas and "Family Classics" At some point it became about WFLD (32) now fox.
But summers -- we were pretty free range kids. Get up, breakfast (froot loops or Cookie Crisp) then out the door we went --- bikes, baseball and if I could scrouge a few dimes maybe some arts & crafts at the park. Back home for lunch, repeat in the afternoon --- home for supper. Back home when the lights came on.
You are lot older than me. I was born in ‘68. We had a big RCA console as well. When we got cable we pick I Channel 17 WTCG which later became WTBS & even later, just TBS. We could sort of pick up Channel 17 as a UHF without cable but it was spotty.
We played ball of all sorts & pretended to be Evil Kneival with our bicycles. My mother is shocked when I tell her where I went on my bicycle. Jumping off the bridge into Lake Hartwell near house was apparently something we weren’t supposed to do. If only had known. lol Did go to the movies a lot. There 3 movie theaters within a mile of the house.