I actually had a teacher in the 6th grade, Miss Jensen, who would let us chew gum on Fridays. It was called Gum Day and you had to be on your best behavior and sitting in the book reading area of the classroom. This section had a couple of old comfy chairs and was screened off from the windows so passer-bys wouldn't see this limited bit of anarchy which was going on in our classroom.
This truly was an anomaly I believe for any classroom in Ridgewood. I can't think of any other teacher in my thirteen years spent in the Ridgewood Public Schools who condoned the chewing of gum during school hours.
Gum chewing was confined to after school where some of us learned to blow bubbles to various degrees of dexterity. I never learned to blow a bubble because I didn't like the taste of Bazooka Bubble Gum which was the standard by which all bubbles were judged. I liked the gum which came in the nickel packs of baseball cards ( 5 cards and a stick of gum). Though it was inferior bubble blowing gum so I would either chew it or throw it away.
Some of you may even remember the introduction of sugarless gum and one preposterous commercial produced by Dentyne. In the ad they stated, that if you chewed Dentyne after a meal you didn't need to brush your teeth. It went to show how brazen a fraud some companies were willing to try on a gullible public. This commercial lasted for months before being pulled from the airwaves after protests from dentists and parents alike.
Friday, April 29, 2011
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When I was in 5th grade, a yo-yo craze struck. There were yo-yo's everywhere, mostly Duncan brand, with the "Butterfly" model the most coveted. Drapkin's was the cool place to buy.
ReplyDeleteMy 5th grade teacher became so sick of yo-yo's, she promised to hold a contest if we would just put them away during class time. We agreed, and the yo-yo's were banished until 3 PM.
Kurt,
ReplyDeleteI remember the yo-yo craze that year but never learned to use one. They were banned during school hours but filled people with endless hours of entertainment after the final bell rang.
At Ridge School, Mr. Tashian (6th grader teacher) let us chew gum if we brought in a permission slip from home! Much later, my mother told me that parents were outraged (as they were with many of Mr. Tashian's techniques), but many signed the slips. Bubble blowing, however, was NOT permitted.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth (Liz) Elvidge '77