Masson Memories Part 4

Courtesy www.oldohioschools.com

Thinking about my Masson School days brings back lots of memories; it's impossible to talk about all of them in just a couple of blog posts.

But some really stick out in my mind. Such as the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills – remember those things? Ugh.

We seemed to take them at Masson in the 4th, 5th and 6th grade. Remember how important it was to use a No. 2 pencil and to color in the oval shapes in their entirety? I remember how nerve-wracking it was to take it in the gymnasium which was full of other nervous kids. I also recall getting confused during the map reading portion, which wouldn't surprise my spouse in the least.

I still have my 6th Grade test results (below).

French class is a nice memory from Masson days. Miss Nelson was our teacher, and many of us had a crush on her, as she was young, pretty and funny. She made French class really fun, and it encouraged me to keep on taking it in high school and even a course or two in college.

One of the best things about my Masson days, though, was the introduction to organized musical groups, such as band and orchestra. I probably derived more enjoyment in school from playing a musical instrument than anything else. Mr. Radke was our band director at Masson, and he was quite a character; very talented, extremely knowledgeable, and he could play all the instruments too. The band director in Funky Winkerbean always reminded me of him.

What I really looked forward to music-wise each year was the All-City Instrumental Music Festival. Imagine bands and orchestras made up of kids from all of the local schools. It made quite a sound – but not always good though.

It's amazing seeing just how many elementary and junior high schools Lorain had back then.

It was interesting to meet kids from the other schools who played the same instrument. Later, I saw some of them again at Admiral King High School a few years later.

In conclusion, I have to say that I really enjoyed my days at Masson. I had mostly great teachers that I liked and respected – and never forgot.

This past summer I even ran into a student teacher I had at Masson in Mrs. Jones' english class. Sadly, it was at a funeral, but it was great to see her and strangely enough, she looked the same – forty years later!

Here's a terrific photo of the Masson School faculty, circa 1970 that was posted on the popular You Know You're From Lorain When... Facebook page. It has a lot of my old elementary school teachers, including Mrs. Radlow, Mrs. Gleason, and Mrs. Grego, as well as many of my junior high teachers, such as Mrs. Jones, Mr. Gay, Mr. Kalo and Mr. Chawansky.

I guess it doesn't matter if Masson School gets torn down or not, I'll always have my fond memories of the place.