Coe School is named after Frantz Coe (1856-1904). The school was designed by James Stephen and built in 1907. I attended Coe School in 4th to 6th grade. This is about Mrs. Jacobson, one of my teachers. For one of our exams we were required to name all of the elements that we knew, such as iron, copper, and calcium. I wrote down many elements including some elements that Mrs. Jacobson never heard of. Mrs. Jacobson marked me down because I wrote down these elements. Bad, bad, bad, Mrs. Jacobson. This is about Mrs. Scholl. For some of our classes she just read from a story book to us. Once Mrs. Scholl told us that when receiving mail or memos her name was sometimes written as "Mrs. School." I enjoyed making my term paper on South America, which included real paper money from a couple of countries. Once Mrs. Scholl was telling us about Brazil nuts and she told the class that they were sometimes called, "Nigger toes." Bad, bad, bad, Mrs. Scholl. We had an African-American boy in our class who lived in a nearby orphanage. When Mrs. Scholl said "Nigger toes," she commented that the boy was out for that day.
Mr.Wingert was one of the teachers. Once, we had to watch a film on the shrimp industry. I was bored with the film, so I sucked on my hand and it was covered with saliva. In the middle of the movie, I had to go on a pre-arranged appointment to see my mother and on the way out, Mr.Wingert unexpectedly extended his hand to shake hands. So I shook hands and he got a handful of saliva. Mr.Wingert also read stories to us, including Huckleberry Finn. I was shocked when he read the "N-word" to us. We were required to go on bathroom breaks which involved marching down the steps to the basement. Sometimes I skipped steps, taking a long step to descend down two steps at once. I got in trouble for this. For punishment I was required to go up and down a flight of steps ten times. I did not see any sense in this because this type of punishment increases risk for accidental tumbling down the steps and breaking bones.
For art class Mrs.Tapp gave me a B. I was the best artist in the class, and perhaps the best artist in all of Coe School. At that time I was exceptionally skilled at drawing trees, apples, buildings, monsters, and so on. I was puzzled when Mrs.Tapp gave me a B. Bad, bad, bad, Mrs.Tapp. Once during recess I paused to spit down the stairwell and watch my spit fall 50 feet down. Mrs.Tapp saw me do this and scolded me by saying "A son of a doctor is not expected to do things like that!!!"
The worse thing was Mr.Bardal the principal of the school. Mr.Bardal roamed the hallways and the schoolyard carrying a large wooden paddle for spanking his students. The paddle had four holes drilled on the end to provide for a more painful whack (the holes prevented the air from cushioning the spanks). Once during volley ball I called to Mary Butler because she was holding on to the ball and not serving it. I exclaimed, "Mary But . . ." I stopped half-way in saying her last name because just as I was saying "Butler" she served the ball. But Mary Butler who was a fat girl and had a big butt thought that I was making fun of her big butt. She complained to Mr.Bardal and I got a spanking. Fortunately, on that day I was wearing thick woolen pants which cushioned the blows. In retrospect I now realize that I am a victim of assault and battery and slander. Mary Butler's behavior could reasonably be characterized as slander which is a tort as well as a crime. Mr.Bardal's behavior could reasonably be characterized as assault and battery.
We also had dance class in the gym. Linda Mueller squeezed my hand so hard that it hurt my hand. When Linda squeezed my hand the flesh of my hand was compressed over the metal of my Smokey the Bear ring which caused extra pain. But I did not mind because Linda was a foxy girl. Brenda Cole and Diana Plank were best friends and they were good at drawing horses. At recess outside they played horsey. Once Brenda Cole made fun of my last name by calling me "Toady-Brody." But I did not mind. Once I called her "Bent-Butt" instead of Brenda. The best teacher was Mrs.Bradley who taught chorus. She had us all perform Christmas songs at a local television station. Bobby Gruber's mother drove me and Bobby to the TV station. A week later my family watched us on television. What a thrill that was. I noticed that I flexed my cheek once between songs out of nervousness. We also had air raid drills in case of nuclear attack and were required to duck under our desks and cover our head and neck. In retrospect I am not sure how that could have protected us from radiation burns and falling bricks.
The schoolyard has nice tetherball courts, and a big dirt field, for playing racing games. Coe School has a great safety patrol program and I enjoyed wearing the uniform (white shoulder strap) and holding up the red crossing flag. Coe School has a cafeteria, but at the time I never cared for the stewed tomatoes. read more
