I will report all of the schooling and education I have had in this one section of my story.
I started school in Coalville, Utah at the age of 6 and spent the first two grades there. Don’t remember much that went on there only that I learned at an early age that I am no artist. I tried to draw a horse’s head and thought I had done a pretty good job, but was told by one of my school chums who had worked with horses all of his life that I sure didn’t know what a head looked like.
On moving to Ogden I attended Lorin Farr Elementary School beginning with the 3rd grade and going to the 7th grade there. Here again I found out I wasn’t an artist. We were painting with water colors and in painting a tree, I didn’t want colors to run together so I left a small space between the trunk and the leaves. So much for art. Interestingly enough the teacher’s name was Miss Violet. We used to move from room to room depending on the subject we were studying so had more than 1 teacher for each grade. And I don’t remember all of the teachers I had.
I loved music and had the great opportunity to learn much about it. We were taught to know the keys and tempos of the numbers of songs that we used to sing. We were taught to sight read which has been very helpful in all of the music classes I have had, along with all of the other singing that I have done.
I remember in an arithmetic class once we were asked to make the proper change from a supposed purchase, using the proper coins. Because I had worked in Dad’s store this was very easy for me and I was the first to come up with the correct answer. Figures and math have always been one of my best liked courses and I have excelled in that subject.
We were taught to dance in grade school and this has been a most enjoyable activity. I reported in another place that Lois Belnap and I were the winners of a waltz in this kind of an activity.
We were taught all kinds of sports which I also enjoyed very much and was looking forward to being able to play football when I got to Junior High.
Because of the problem I had with my leg I only attended the seventh grade until the first of December, 1932, when I was put in the hospital. I remember one time that some of the teachers came up to see me and I had a hard time recognizing them as they had put on make-up which was not quite the way they looked in school. I missed going to school the rest of that school year, but it was decided that because I seemed to be smart enough that I could go on to the 8th grade.
So, in the fall of 1933 I started at Central Junior High School. This only lasted until the end of 1933 when the Doctor put me back in bed with the hot-pack treatment. As a result I felt that it would not be wise to try to go on to the 9th grade so took the 8th grade over again. This was a very wise decision as now I had a real school chum in the same grade with me–my brother Frank.
Again my math performance was outstanding. I remember that in my algebra class I used to write the tests on the board and the rest of the class could start immediately to work on the problems, but I was able to finish writing the work on the board and then complete the test before anyone else in the class finished. I had straight A’s including A+’s in this class. Because of being pretty good in algebra I was told that geometry would really be a challenge to me. But I had watched both Louise and Edna work geometry problems and that had fascinated me and so I was looking forward to the challenge. This proved to be almost an easier class than algebra. In fact when the teacher had a difficult problem he used to ask me to work it out before the class. With a little cheating going on I am sure that I helped about half the students pass the class. If you want to know more about this cheating I refer you to Frank who was in the class with me.
I have stated that I love music and it was here in one of the music classes that my voice changed. We were singing a number one day when Mr. Hinchcliff, the teacher, stopped us and said that something was wrong. We started again and he again stopped us with the same problem. So, I decided that I wouldn’t sing and the song went along great. I raised my hand and told him what had happened, and as soon as I talked he knew what the problem was.
I took French, History, Biology and all the classes that were required, but didn’t do as well as in music and math. I also took woodworking and enjoyed that very much. I made a turtle footstool that was used by all of the nephews and nieces until it was broken. In fact, one year I was able to take two sessions of that class. This was because I couldn’t take gym as the Doctor felt it wasn’t worth it to take a chance on getting my leg broken.
We, Frank & I, wouldn’t have made it through French without the help of Arlene Jensen. Our History teacher was something else, as she would ask a question and as Louis Austad would raise his hand she would call on him and then she would look out of the window and really be out of touch with what was going on. Louis would ask anyone in the class to help him and the answers he got were anything but correct. The class would laugh and the teacher would return and thank him for his answer. In fact because of a joke Frank & I lost our history book and went almost the entire year without one. We both passed.
I remember trying to run for a position as a student body officer, but I couldn’t get Frank to nominate me, even though I said I would do his dishes for a couple of months. I guess he knew me better than I knew myself.
On to the New Ogden High School in the year of 1937. This school consisted of the 11th and 12th grades, and it was a brand new building. Here I began my education for the business world. I took two years of bookkeeping and the second year I was lucky to be chosen to represent the school at the BYU annual business competition. I didn’t win anything, but it was a great privilege. I also studied typing (the teacher told me he would pass me that year if I promised not to take the next year from him) and shorthand (this was for only a half year) and took a class in commercial law. As usual I also took music classes the second year, but not the first. Just my luck, the first year the music department was privileged to go to St. Louis for a special concert and I didn’t make it. Here I took a course in auto mechanics, but was not very good at it. I do believe that the low grade I got was because the teacher found me asleep under one of the cars I was supposed to be working on.
I served as the President of the Stagecraft Guild my senior year. Our job was to help with the stage productions, usher at various events held at the school, and show the films that teachers were using in various classes. I certainly was glad to do this as at sometimes it got me out of classes that I wasn’t too prepared for. This also allowed me to be present at various functions of ballet, symphonies, and stage presentations. I gained a great respect of the arts as I watched and listened to various performers.
I was next privileged to go to Weber College 1939 through 1941. This was made possible because I received a scholarship the first year and was helped the second year in getting a job at Boyle Furniture. Because of not knowing how much schooling I would be able to get either at Weber or elsewhere I took all of the business courses they offered. In fact, a group of us petitioned for a special accounting class that was given to us. Again I enjoyed all of my classes even though I got the lowest grade (D) I have ever received, in a class of Salesmanship. I had the feeling that the instructor was unhappy with me and I never knew the reason, but that accounted for the low grade.
After working for some time and not being able to fulfill my hopes to go to the Brigham Young University, I again attended Weber College for the fall quarter of 1945. Here I followed my desires for a better education in music. I took 10 hours of nothing but music courses. I had vocal lessons, music instructions including harmony and solfeggio with the hopes that maybe I could learn how to write music. I also took organ instruction and got to play on the organ every day for my studies, although my professor, Mr. Clair Anderson was not to all of my required classes. He was usually playing at a mortuary for a funeral. But I did enjoy very much the music classes I had. I remember that at the fall concert for the college one of the groups I was singing with were performing. It was the Dorian Singers. A group of men students and they were singing the school hymn “Purple and White”. I thought I saw the conductor, Mr. Roland Perry, give us the signal to sing the last words “Purple and White” and I blurted out “Purp” and realized that I was alone and stopped. The fellow next to me, Keith Midgely, blushed and let everyone in the audience believe that he had made the mistake. Even my mother who was in attendance thought so also but my brother Frank knew it was me. In fact the next day as I was talking to Mr. Perry he also believed it was Keith, and I had to admit that I had made the mistake. We both had a good laugh.
I have had other opportunities for education. I have taken classes at Brigham Young University, while I worked there. I have taken correspondence courses with International Correspondence School and the Alexander Hamilton Institute. I have taken classes with the American Institute of Banking while working in banks and also taught some of their courses.
I have enjoyed the opportunities for education that have been mine and also the many friends I have made while in this field.