My School -- growing up in Indian Territory

I grew up in the small town of Lehighton, PA, home of the Indians!!

After reading, "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum", I would say the school system was built of the middle class theory.  Sitting here reminiscing about my school years, I believe the author, Jean Anyon is right, in the idea that it was all about the right answer.  Every grade received good or bad, was reflectant upon the number of right answers. The was no points for thinking outside the box. I, personally, don't remember ever being encouraged to think outside the box and very little discussion was ever made to the current events that were happening at that time.

I went to Catholic School during my elementary years.  The setting was definitely that off memorization.  We didn't switch classes, we had two grades in one classroom and had the same teacher for two years in a row.  I remember sitting writing notes from the blackboard day after day.  Information we were given was exactly what we were tested on.  Memorization was definitely the key back then.   The one thing I remember being different was that English was like those is the Executive Elite School.  We did a lot of diagraming sentences, especially in 7th and 8th grade. Class times, lunches and recess were definitely adhered to, per the schedule of the day.  We had limited projects, but what we were given we had explicit instructions of what was being looked for, however we had a Science Fair Project once a year that allowed us to be somewhat creative.

Upon entering high school, I crammed everything I could, in the first three years.  My senior year was  a matter of going in for two classes.  I was never pushed to do more nor did I.  I graduated, went to work, got married and had a baby.  I guess that is  what most people did back then.  Few classmates went on to higher education but i would think the majority did not.  Maybe it was the small town mentality, born and raised, never to leave. 

Fast forward 26 years,  for me the saying, "hindsight is 20/20", is so true.  I have often found myself wondering if had i gone to a  private school, would I have applied myself more?  Would I have gone onto a higher education?  With age comes insight and if one could turn back time and redo a period of one's life, mine would be to do those high school years all over.  To take it upon myself to find inner motivation to try harder, work harder and push myself to limits unknown.