School Lunches

[Sir Henry]

Another thread got me thinking about when I was in the second grade in Trout Creek, Montana. It was a two room school with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade in one room and the 4th, 5th and 6th in another. Each room had about 20(?) students

I can’t remember the school layout but meals were served family style. The tables were long and rectangular with the teacher sitting on the end. We sat down much like a family with the food already on the table and grace was said. Then we would pass the food around and after everyone was served we were given permission to eat.

We could talk but absolutely no horseplay. After everyone was finished we were all excused from the table.

Now that I think about it we gave our Pledge of Allegiance everyday and then we heard a short reading of the Bible.

Don’t go political I’m just saying the way it was. Feel free to tell your story but let’s not talk about today.

[Cofisher]

I attended Saint Francis Elementary school in Amarillo Texas. We had mass every day at the start. It was always a contest to see who could sit in the right front seat, that being the closest to the door to the cafeteria. Donuts!

[Headhog]

I was a city kid growing-up in New Jersey. In grammar school we didn't eat lunch in school, but were dismissed at lunchtime to walk home. Our school served about a 5-6 block radius so most only had about a 10 minute walk. There was only one high school in our town and that was my first experience with eating in the school cafeteria. We did start every day with the Pledge of Allegiance and a short prayer.

Paul

[cooperhawk]

My first school was a one room school house with one teacher, Mrs. Hart. We brought our own lunch and walked two miles to the school.
That's right, two miles,in the snow and there was of course a hill, which we had to descend and then climb, although we did have shoes.

When we finally moved closer to town and went to a regular school we found we were way ahead of the town kids. Mrs. Hart really did a
good job. There were only six children in grades one through eight. I had one class mate in my grade, but of course we listened to the lessons
of all the other grades.

I think it was an honor to attend there.

[brm4450]

My wife started teaching in a one room country school house. K-8, no running water, outhouses, she hauled water and lunches from town everyday. She heated up the lunches and served them. This was in the 1980’s.

[Sir Henry]

My first school was a one room school house with one teacher, Mrs. Hart. We brought our own lunch and walked two miles to the school.
That's right, two miles,in the snow and there was of course a hill, which we had to descend and then climb, although we did have shoes.

When we finally moved closer to town and went to a regular school we found we were way ahead of the town kids. Mrs. Hart really did a
good job. There were only six children in grades one through eight. I had one class mate in my grade, but of course we listened to the lessons
of all the other grades.

I think it was an honor to attend there.

I think that is an important part. When I was in the 2nd grade I also received a preview of the 3rd and a review of the 1st.

[RanchRoper]

Every morning the Lord's Prayer and the class would sing God Save the Queen, guess He listened cuz she's 150 yrs old now I think. Rode my bike home for lunch, cuz Badger wasn't born yet.

[Grunt67]

We ate lunch at the long tables like Gene said, meals were cooked by neighbor women & the food was the same as you ate at home.
Good stuff. I usually pigged out, LOL. After that, out for recess.
As they say, the good old days.

[RetiredSeabee]

When I went into the fifth grade in 1964 we were in what was the original town school building. It was built sometime in the late 1800’s. It had been divided into four classrooms. One on each corner that held about 20 students each. In the center of the building were the indoor bathrooms. The original was out back and long ago filled in and probably used as firewood. Modern heating had been installed sometime in the 50’s. But we didn’t have air conditioning. Just windows and fans. One of the coolest things was that the original steel hitching rails were still in place outside of the two doors. Definitely the coolest school building I attended. The sixth through eighth grade was right next to it and was built in the 1920’s. It originally was for fifth through twelfth grades. The new High school I attended was about a quarter mile from it and built in 1940’s.
I always brown bagged my lunch. The kids who got school lunch had to go next door.

[Ernie]

In grade school lunch was prepared in the school kitchen and loaded up on a long cart. Each class room lined up as the cart came to the class room door and you grabbed a plate and tray and walked down as the cooks filled your plate and grabbed some bread and desert them ate at your desk. Was ok. Each day started with the pledge but being public school no prayer. Bus was available but I liked to walk or ride my bike, it was maybe 2 miles without any hills and we took turns wearing the shoes.

[CT_Shooter]

In the early grades, I walked to school and carried a lunch box. I had one with a Zorro theme that I used for at least two years, maybe more. Usually lunch was a sandwich, a thermos of milk, and a cookie or other snack. Of course, we said the Pledge of Allegiance every morning, but I can't recall if there was prayer.

This is the school building in which there were eight grades of students. My father attended school there as a child and had one of the same teachers that I did. It was demolished in the late 50's.

My School House...Kindergarten through Second Grade

Plantsville Grammar School.jpg (36.08 KiB) Viewed 574 times

Starting in the sixth grade, I attended a Catholic school miles away from home in a distant city. Talk about a culture shock! There, again, we carried lunch to eat at our desks, but we carried it in a brief case which was required so that we could carry our textbooks to and from home safely. We had lots of homework.

Each day we started with several prayers and the Pledge of Allegiance. After lunch during the month of May, the entire school lined up by class outside to pray the rosary.

Boys and girls weren't permitted to mingle at recess. The boys were confined to one side of the recess area and the girls to the other and the nuns stood guard in between and no games were permitted.

[brm4450]

In grade school, pledge of allegiance, brought our lunch pail from home (Roy Rogers) sat on the gym floor (said Grace before eating) and went to playground when done. Jr. High and high school had a hot lunch program.