Let me take you down memory lane. Another rainy June day tends to discourage any chore of substance and the last few weeks’ newspapers filled with the news of high school graduates, reminds me of what graduation (and school) was like 50 years ago.

Windham had a population about one third of what it is now, and my graduating class included about two dozen boys and girls. Our school was the building which is now town hall. Graduation was held in the gym/auditorium and it was a hot day with no air conditioning. In fact, I don’t remember air conditioners at all from those days. We had a lot of open windows and screens, I guess.

Those of us who had a speaking part at graduation had been rehearsing for weeks. Still, I managed to skip right over a whole paragraph in my address and only my mother and English teacher noticed! That whole thing is a blur. I recall graduation was when I had my first pair of “high heeled” shoes and girls were required to wear a white dress under the traditional gown.

Four years before, we were welcomed to high school at Freshman Reception where weeks of seniors razzing freshmen ended; it was held in the same gym where we would graduate. This was also where Junior Prom and Alumni Banquet were held.

Back in the 50s, the goal of high school was to prepare one for work. Very few went to college. Most of us were in the same economic boat and college was almost unheard of. There was no guidance counselor as such; I remember the history teacher Mr. Currie did give information to some students about what they might consider for secondary schools, but there were no big scholarships then and Pell grants were still in the future.

Female students had few options other than homemaker – in fact there was an organization called Future Homemakers of America in which girls learned about that career. Other choices were teaching, clerical or becoming a nurse. I had no desire to get married and becoming a nurse or teacher required college, so in the freshman year I signed up for what was called the Commercial Course. There were two other “courses” – college and general. The College Course included foreign languages, I remember. My best friend went to a two-year secretarial school in Boston and a couple of others studied to become nurses or teachers, but most of them got married within a year of graduation.

Boys were expecting to go to work, either on the family farm or at a nearby mill or driving a truck. Some did go on to college or technical school; many went into the military. Clubs encouraged a future in agriculture: Future Farmers of America, the Agriculture Club, etc.

We paid to ride on the school bus; there was no law that said transportation had to be provided for high school. High school and the lower grades all used the same bus…all ages. Older kids sat in back, the little ones down front. A very few students had cars or trucks, but we weren’t allowed to bring them to school. So, to get to school, you walked or paid five cents per trip. “Late” buses were non-existent; extra-curricular activities were held after the school day. There was no cafeteria. Everyone brought their lunch or waited to get home.

I never knew anyone who received an allowance. Girls earned spending money by babysitting and in the summer, working on a local farm. In most families it was expected that money earned by these chores would be spent toward school clothes.

Once out of high school we were on our own. Most of us couldn’t wait to get away from home and, exactly as it is today, we had no idea of what that really meant. My father had rules and since I was the oldest, I was the first to understand that I was to go to work and once I turned 18, would be expected to pay board, as did the rest of my siblings. This rule also encouraged us to become independent although at the time, I thought it was “mean” and didn’t appreciate what it meant for dozens of years.

What a different scene today: Hundreds of young people graduating in a venue away from town, junior prom held at a hotel, graduation night marked by “Project Graduation” events; blue jeans the “uniform” of the day (we weren’t allowed to wear either jeans or slacks to school); parking lots built specifically for students’ vehicles; most of the graduates planning for college; a kaleidoscope of career choices; free transportation to and from school; field trips that make an adult jealous; dozens of classes to choose from, some at other places and transportation provided!

Part of many elementary school curriculums includes a trip to a living history center and a visit to a one-room schoolhouse of the past. Perhaps a high school class (including teachers and parents) should be transported to a high school of the past in order to fully understand what we oldsters mean when we say, “Today’s kids have it so much better than we did!”

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