When I was in elementary our community had three separate elementary schools. However, a new Intermediate School was completed right before I began fifth grade. Even though the new cafeteria wasn’t quite finished, the new building made room in the district for all elementaries to merge into one. This meant a new school building, new teachers, and new classmates a whole year early than the transition to middle school.
The butterflies of nerves and excitement at the beginning of that year were nothing compared to the memories that remain from that year.
Somehow in that transition a staff of educators who were also being merged managed to seamlessly merge a three separate families into one family. Fifth grade is probably the last year I remember not knowing who was cool or popular, but instead remember that the kids I played with and hung out with were amazingly awesome!
We had nicknames. The most bizarre, and in some cases, like mine, disturbing nicknames that we will never be able to explain to anyone.
My nickname was Killer Kid. Because of my long fingernails that cut anyone I grabbed a hold of. I even made my own shirt with fabric pens. Red ink, I believe. Obviously a name like Killer Kid needs a white men’s t-shirt covered in red ink that resembles blood to wear to school in fifth grade.
I told you it was disturbing.
We sang country music as a group in front of our class. “Oh play me some mountain music like grandma and grandpa used to play. Then I’ll float on down the river to my Cajun hideaway.”
They had to bring our lunches to us in brown paper bags in our classrooms until the lunchroom was completed. It was like a picnic everyday.
We performed weddings on the playground that year. I had my first boy friend. He actually called me at home. Weird.
Someone got pushed in the creek one day at recess. We usually just played tether ball, though.
I got sent to the office for the first time ever for accidentally slamming my fist down on a mustard bottle and squirting Oxfrog’s new white shirt with mustard.
We were graded in electives for the first time ever, and as a result I received my first non-A. I still can’t find it in me to say I enjoy anything related to art.
We collected pencil shavings, eraser dust, rubber bands, tinfoil, and Lord knows what else that year. We had fun with our teacher; I’m not as confident she’d say she had fun with us. We REALLY liked each other. Our annual test books fell out of the cabinet on her head.
Yeah, fifth grade was amazing year. I really missed the innocence from that year after we transitioned to middle school. It seemed like all the family we had grown into in fifth grade become victims of divorce in middle school. One group claimed one person and a different group another until we reached high school and various parts of the family barely even recognized one another anymore.
Those truly were the days.
Inspiration for this post was taken from 30 Days of Your Stories . Please hop over to her blog and check out her awesome idea!!!
1. Saturday mornings
2. Neighbors
3. Vacation
4. Music
5. Accents
6. Cars
7. Books
8. Purse
9. Your favorite grade
10. Your Go-To Story
11. Holidays
12. Letter to yourself as a teenager
13. Lying
14. Pets
15. Sports
16. Your Room
17. One time you weren’t cool
18. Weather
19. Recipe
20. What you want to remember
21. Traveling
22. Shoes
23. Favorite Bible verse
24. Your bravest moment
25. Garden
26. Your favorite color
27. The breathings of your heart
28. Comfort
29. The book inside you
30. Your worst fear
Carrie Ann Tripp 