Call Me Kat

A continuing story.

Large windows lined an entire wall, flooding the classroom with morning light. Large black chalkboards covered the front wall, with a door near the windows leading to the adjoining classroom. A second blackboard and a cork bulletin board lined the wall facing the windows, interrupted only by the corridor doors at each end.

The wall at the back of the room was half filled with another blackboard; the other half opened to a small room with hooks along the wall facing the windows. This was where the children would hang their coats during the colder months.

From the back of the room, the children saw the new desks and chairs arranged in long rows facing the front. At the front, Mrs. T’s desk faced the room, with Mrs. T standing beside it, paper in hand, instructing the children on their seating assignments.

Each desk had a small sheet of writing paper, the kind with two solid lines separated by a dashed line. On each sheet, the child’s name was hand-written in large block letters. Each paper was secured with a piece of cellophane tape to protect it throughout the school year. These tags not only identified the child seated at the desk but also helped teach the children how to write their names.

Jeanne, the smallest girl, was assigned the first seat in the row nearest the corridor door. This first row, from front to back, was for the girls. The second row was for the boys, starting with Rene, the smallest boy, at the front desk to the left of Jeanne. The seating assignments continued until all the children were seated, busily exploring their new positions in class. There were so many desks that they filled the room from front to back and side to side, leaving very little space to walk. This was a brand-new class, in a brand-new classroom, in a brand-new school—and Lucy loved it!

Lucy sat and carefully examined her desk, sliding her hand over the lightly colored wood top, then peeking into the storage area beneath it where she would keep her art box, pencils, and notebook. The desk was painted a pretty blue, and the chair matched the desk with a wooden seat and back, and a metal frame in the same blue.

Laurent, the son of the Town Clerk, sat to her left. Richard sat to her right. Marie was behind her and seemed to always be kicking Lucy’s chair leg. Marie, who was the same height and size as Lucy, had brown hair—like many others. She was annoying. Susan sat in front of Lucy and would become her next best friend.

There was one boy who stood out: Paul, the tallest boy, who sat at the last desk in the first row of boys. Lucy learned that he had been held back in first grade and was repeating it. That, she reasoned, was why he was the tallest. Paul was quiet, with a brush cut like her brother’s—but unlike him, Paul wasn’t a bully. Years later, when Paul was a young soldier preparing to go to the Vietnam War, they would become close friends and would write to each other while he was away.

Once everyone was settled, the school day finally began. Inside each desk was paper and a pencil—it was time to get to work. Learning was Lucy’s favorite thing to do. With pencil in hand, the children watched as Mrs. T picked up a piece of chalk and began to write on the blackboard at the front of the room.

“A”