Elementary School Teachers: Kelli’s perspective

Going to school in Blackstone, as probably with every other school in the world, there were teachers that every kid wanted and teachers that every kid dreaded. Having two older brothers, I always had the inside scoop on which teachers were “nice” and which ones were “mean” and it started as early as kindergarten.

There were only two teachers for kindergarten at John F. Kennedy Elementary School in the 1970s.

Mrs. Dubois was the nice one, the one every kid wanted.

Unfortunately I got Mrs. Roberge. Mrs. Roberge a short, angry woman. She wasn't nurturing like a kindergarten teacher should be. Halfway through the day, selected kids would put their things in a shoe box and go to the other class to be taught by that teacher for a while.

I wasn't one of those children either. I spent the whole school year in Mrs. Roberge's class.

On graduation day, during the family party after the ceremony, I spilled my milk. Mrs. Roberge yelled at me. I was very happy to leave the class that day.

Another teacher that none of the children wanted was Mrs. McGann. She taught second grade. She yelled a lot and gave way too much homework. There was a rumor about a fourth grade teacher named Miss Chaukins. Kids said she scratched a student one day for forgetting his homework and made him bleed. No one could ever say who the kid was or how long ago it happened, but it was a rumor that spread through my entire career at JFK.

Mrs. Callahan had a reputation of being a nice teacher. I was lucky enough to have her. She didn't yell too often and made learning fun.

Mrs. Daignault was a fourth grade teacher who every kid wanted. In the middle of my fourth grade year, she went on maternity leave and left us with Miss McMichael for the remainder of the year. She was nice but she was no Mrs Daignault.

In elementary school there were two gym teachers. Mrs Bergeron was the teacher everyone wanted. She was easy on the kids and didn't yell very often. Mr. Bourgery wasn't as nice and definitely made gym class a lot less fun.

After elementary was done, my brothers gave the good and bad list for middle school and then elementary school. For me, being the youngest, it was nice starting a new grade knowing what I was getting into. There were some upsides to being the youngest.