Mrs. Chandler

I was a member of the first kindergarten class taught at JISD in 1970.  Mrs. Chandler was my teacher and oh, how I loved her!  There were about fourteen children in my class and all of us were a little unsure of how to make friends at the ages of 5 and 6. Mrs. Chandler helped us get over that barrier in no time.

Mrs. Chandler was a very gifted teacher.  With each lesson came a group activity and we weren't aware we were learning lessons.  We acted out "Three Billy Goats" in which we got to walk across one of our activity tables and make goat noises.  I don't remember who the troll was but we would look under the table for several days to make sure a troll wasn't really under there. 

Mrs. Chandler guided us in making a T-Rex out of wire and paper mache during our lesson about the pre-historic era.  We painted our dinosaur green and all the kids got to have their picture taken with our bigger-than-life T-Rex.  And being original as kids will be, we named him "Rex". 

Movie Day was the best day of all!  We would sit Indian-style on the floor, wide-eyed and squirming with excitement while Mrs. Chandler would set up the movie projector.  You remember the one on rollers and huge screen?  She would put the film on the reel, open the doors to the screen, turn out the lights and we would be whisked away to a whatever place we were currently learning about.  Some kids would fall asleep during movie time.  Tsk-tsk.

Nap time was the worst for me.  We would take our towels out of our assigned cubby holes and find a place to rest on the floor.  I was not a nap person then and still don't take naps to this day.  I would get restless and scoot around on my towel trying to find someone to whisper to.  Our teacher would reward us after nap time.  I usually ended up with a red yarn bow to wear because of my restlessness and for disturbing my fellow classmates. 

And anybody who ever knew Mrs. Chandler knew she made the best  popcorn balls for Halloween!!  I am thankful I had the opportunity to begin my education with Mrs. Chandler as my first teacher.  Thank you, Mrs. Chandler, for setting the wheels in motion for so many children to pursue their goals no matter how many bumps are in the road.