Recalling 'dear old golden rule' days

Back when Anna Schauf went to school, children wrote with pencils, carried books by hand and not on their backs, and counted on their fingers.

That was 1929, and she didn't exactly look forward to going back to school, either. But once the school year began, she seemed to enjoy just about every class except for one. "The only thing I couldn't get was math. I don't know why," she said.

Then and now

Born and raised in Albany, Anna was the youngest of three children and the only girl. After attending first and second grade at Holy Cross School on Philip Street, Anna transferred to St. Ann's Academy at Franklin and Plum Streets. Since she lived on Clinton Street, she had only a five-minute walk to school.

The end of summer was a bummer for Anna, who enjoyed her break from school and would spend a few weeks at the Catholic Children's Vacation Villa in Albany, a camp for boys and girls. She recalled how a Native American who lived in a stagecoach made crafts with the children each summer.

Off to school

"Mom always made sure we had our supplies the first day of school," Anna said.

Every kid seemed to have a pencil box and, of course, pencils; some kids even could afford pencil boxes with an extra compartment that could hold more supplies.

Once she was in third grade, Anna also needed pens with nibs that were inserted for writing. She described them as "Palmer Method pens" because that's what students used as they worked toward their certificates in writing proficiency.

As a rule

The St. Ann's Academy uniform is a look that Anna will never forget: blue top and pleated skirt, with a white collar and a black tie. Boys didn't have such a strict dress code, but they had to have a neat appearance.

"You wouldn't go into school without your hair combed," she said.

A patch with the letters "SAA" for St. Ann's Academy was sewn on the left sleeve. The Sisters of St. Joseph who taught Anna wore a white veil and habit, but everything else was black.

God in school

Anna still has a card with that prayer, which reads: "O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer thee my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day for all the intentions of Thy Sacred Heart, in union with the holy sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, for the intentions of all our associates, and in particular for the general intentions recommended this month."

After Mass and morning prayer, religion remained the focus: The first class was catechism. Next came arithmetic, the subject Anna dreaded most, and even some early morning tutoring with her fifth grade teacher, Marie Schmitt, didn't seem to do the trick.

"She talked to my father and asked him to send me to school 15 minutes early to help me with math, but it didn't do any good," Anna said.

Learning

"I love history, and I still watch The History Channel like nobody's business," she said.

Classes had as many as 60 students, and St. Ann's went all the way up to high school. Anna didn't make it that far, however; she left after seventh grade to care for her ill grandfather at home.

Even though the before-school help with math didn't help Anna's grades, she still considers that teacher, Mrs. Schmitt, one of her favorites. Sister Paschal, her second grade teacher at Holy Cross, was another favorite.

"I took to her from the very beginning, and she was always so nice," she said. She also liked Sister Frances John, an attractive woman who was her sixth grade teacher.

Changing times

And don't get her started on the clothes kids wear today, not so much in Catholic schools with uniforms, but in society in general. Baggy pants especially get her riled up.

Anna is glad that her days at St. Ann's Academy are long behind her; but if it weren't for that one pesky subject in school, she might feel a little different.

"I wouldn't want to go back and be a little kid and start all over," she said. "But if I could've gotten the math, I would've gone to school all summer."

(09-02-99) [[In-content Ad]]