Antioch Elementary School
Antioch, Illinois
1962
Looking very ‘Don Draper’.
I’m pretty sure the tie was a clip-on.
Miss Derr’s First Grade class. The big joke at the school was;
“Who’s your teacher?”
“Miss Derr”
“Mr. Who?”
Hahahahaha….first grade humor.
She seated her students in alphabetical order (anal much?) so I was in the back row.
She made me stay after school once for talking.
She also forced me to learn to print with my right hand. I had been left-handed to that point. It was school board policy, not her own idea, but still seemed mean to me. Whenever she caught be with a pencil in my left hand she made me switch hands. Then she gave me bad grades because my letters slanted the wrong way.
She was evil.
Harper's Valley 
Did you also have a left-handed desk? You are just a sinister (Latin: left) person. If you had used your right (Latin: dexter; also correct) hand like the rest of us, you would have been more accepted.
I remember being taken from my first grade class, and being deposited into another room with a wide aisle separating the two sets of desks. Guess that was my first foray into TAG, as it turned out the other side of the aisle was a bunch of second graders!
Peace ❤
Jay
Gee those photos of First Grade all seem standard shots for that time period. I had a similar one.
If you lived in Canada you could probably sue her now for some kind of slight and get compensation.
you are such a cutie! hope you are feeling better!
What witches those old time teachers were. And victimless crime it was not! No one would have believed the horror of out days in class .. No emphasis on self-esteem!
Did you revert to left-handedness later? Are you still forcing yourself to print right-handed?
Nope. Still right handed. Actually everything I learned to do before 1st grade I do left-handed. Everything I learned to do after first grade I do right handed.
Even…oh, never mind…
Perhaps I should send Miss Derr a ‘Thank you’ note for those few things at which I am ambidextrous.
I’m a fellow leftie, but I don’t ever remember anyone trying to force me to change. I think I’m a bit older than you are, so it surprises me that you were forced. I used to recite a little verse when someone remarked about my left-handedness: All great people write left-handed, all the rest are left right-handed.
Harper’s Other Dad is a ‘south paw’ as well. I’ve heard of others who were forced to change but not sure how wide-spread the practice was or how long it was in vogue.
As my own school years pre-dated yours it’s no surprise that the anti-L.H. attitude was at least as strong in my day. It was regarded as an HORROR! (Luckily for me at that time, I’m not). I’m assuming that nowadays there’s no stigma attached to being so. I don’t think it’s regarded as a disadvantage to be overcome in this country any more. Maybe it still lasts in your country in pockets of the ‘Bible Belt’? Or maybe no longer.
I can believe there are some communities of faith that still have issues but I am not aware of any public schools in the States that still mandate right-handedness. I think it was pretty common in the 50’s and early 60’s however.
In my case, it was a nun … 🙂
I don’t know whether I’d have been left-handed, or ambidextrous had it not been for religious intervention. But my mother who definitely was left-handed didn’t stop the re-training; ahe found it so difficult to live in a right handed world that she thought I’d be better off if I learned to accept it early in life. So, I’ve ended up with “mixed dominance” Yes, you may chuckle 🙂
Like you, if I learned to do it left handed, I still do it left handed
I use my left hand more than my right hand in art and in crafts … and other stuff
I suppose I benefitted from being converted in time to avoid many inconveniences that befall left handers. My baseball glove is for a left-hander but the golf clubs are for right. The only time I recall it being even a minor issue was in college when we played Frisbee often. When thrown by a lefty, the Frisbee spins the opposite direction and some people find it more difficult to catch; hardly much of a cross to bear.
Yeah – mechanically my left hand is dominant. For writing my right hand. A lot of the evil view of left handedness seems to pop up more in religious schools than public schools.
I should post my 1st grade picture. But alas, I’m not that cute little kid anymore.
Well closest is when I was 20:
Great picture. Thanks for sharing it
yikes i was born in 1962
I have sweatshirts older than you
That photo is wonderful. It’s incredible how instantly recognizable you are in all your early photos. My first-grade teacher was Mrs. Wiener! But she was a sweetheart. As for Miss Derr… I’ll bet you haven’t missed ‘er!
Thanks! I’m glad your 1st grade teacher was a more positive experience. That is how I felt about Mrs. Knox; my kindergarten teacher.
What is it with sitting the kids alphabetically? I had the same situation when I was in first grade. In the back! I truly think it affects a young child’s self confidence to be always plead “in the back.” Plus I had a double whammy because I was tall for my age. Another “You! In the back!” And I remember being questioned about my real age. In actuality I was a year younger than most of my first grade classmates because my Mother didn’t know to enroll me in kindergarten. Yes, it’s true. I never went to kindergarten. Can you tell? Now you know why I’m a bit off kilter at times. I didn’t have that grounding that one only gets at nap time in kindergarten. 😦 I love the “throwback” posts. 🙂