Back to School - Ancestors in 52 Weeks

This year's challenge is 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks and is run by Amy Johnson Crow.

Information on the Topic

Week 37's theme is "Back to School." Any stories of schools days in your family? (I'm thankful for the collection of my dad's grade cards through 8th grade.) What about teachers or principals in the family?

I think this is going to be a short and sweet post. 

I know when I started school at Walden Elementary, my mother asked the teacher standing there where she dropped me off. The teacher pointed, after my mother was rude, towards the stairs. My was told to get up there and then whispered to me to be a good girl or else. Then she turned and walked off to work. No pictures, no nothing. 

These are the stairs we used to have to wait on before and after school at Walden Elementary school. 

This is a more updated picture of Walden Elementary School as it never had bushes or a sign out the front of the place. 

In later years, she bought me "school" clothes for about 3 to 4 days including a new pair of sneakers. Then when I started to bring books home I got different bags shoved at me not of my choosing. 

I never had anyone celebrate it, no pictures taken, and nothing much done. 

As for my nieces, we tried to make it more of a celebration thing by getting them more clothes and school things they liked rather than have them shoved at them. My sister and I, when the girls were young, always took them to the teachers and wished them a good day. In later years, I was on the bus with them and I made sure they looked good, had everything, and wished them a good day. When we had money for film, we always tried to take pictures of them too, but usually they never came out. We were bad photographers then. 

Like I said, nothing much to write home about starting school or even ending it. For my graduations (I had a high school one, a trade school one and a college one) and none of them were really made special. The college one, I went and picked up 2 of my nieces and tried to make it special, but it really was a flop after my friends and nieces left. If anything, my mother was mad at me, and wouldn't speak to me because she wanted to know why I didn't tell her I went to school with people from certain places. Confused me, but I told her I needed an education and they just happened to be around, but she was still really mad at me. 

One of only 3 pictures I have from High School graduation my sister took. 

I told you we were bad at taking pictures. 

I'm where the first told is. This was taken and in the local newspaper. This is the only photo I have of me getting my high school diploma. 

This only 1 of 2 pictures I have of my trade school or BOCES graduation for a trade. My sister took this. Yep, another bad one!

My friends and I at OCCC graduation. 

A professional picture of me at OCCC graduation.

Two of my nieces and me at my OCCC graduation. I only have a handful of pictures from this too but at least they are better!

It wasn't until years later, I found and put a reason to her being mad and that was because her family lived in other areas and I think she was mad that I might have ran into them or something. 

Teachers

To put an upswing on things, I did have a few teachers within the family. The ones I knew most about were my paternal aunt and uncle. 

Uncle John taught all levels of math in a high school. Credit: Marlboro High School

Aunt Jenny taught business classes at the same high school.  Credit: Marlboro High School

They had offices just down the hallway from each other until my uncle retired. They always had kids over to their house and were very well loved. 

It was very sad to see adults come to my uncle's funeral when he passed but he had a HUGE amount of people there. 

Ancestor School Days - Ancestors in 52 Weeks

This year's challenge is 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks and is run by Amy Johnson Crow.

Topic Info:
It's back to school time here in the U.S. Many school districts in my area have been back for 2 or 3 weeks already! This week's theme is "School Days." Have you used school records or yearbooks to find out more about your ancestors? Do you have photos or memorabilia from their time in school? How about any teachers or school staff in the family tree. Write about it this week!

I have used the yearbooks to find pictures more than anything of my ancestors, not that I've always found them. Or if they were in pictures of classes, and published in the newspapers, you couldn't see them very well.

Yearbooks
Father's side
On my paternal side, it was only my father and uncle who were the first to be in them. They were also the first generations on both mother and father's side of the family in the United States. As my uncle was a teacher for Marlboro High School, he had quite a few entries for the years he taught, like his wife.

Matthew G Schmitz NFA Yearbook entry Credit

John S. Schmitz NFA Yearbook entry Credit

1991 as a teacher. Credit

1975 as a teacher. Credit

1982 as a teacher. Credit

1988 as a teacher. Credit

I do know my grandmother was in school in Poland for a bit before the Russians closed them. I believe she was then homeschooled until she emigrated to the US in 1920.

Credit

Credit

She started elementary school 6 weeks after arriving for a few years. She only knew Polish, Russian and German - no English. She had to stop her schooling when she reached her limit on how much she was able to get in the 1920s. She could read, write, and maths but simple stuff was ok. Anything more and it was a struggle for her I could see.

My grandmother's acknowledgement of schooling. Credit: Citizenship and Naturalization Department

Mother's side
On my maternal side, it gets complicated. My mother never finished school as she stopped at 16 and got married to my father. Her oldest brother left when he was young as well, and I don't believe finished school, but enlisted into the military.

My grandmother, I believe, only finished what she had to and then left to help with her family as she was the second oldest and her father, from what I've been able to gather, wasn't around to help out. I do know some of her siblings did get to finish as much schooling as they could.

On my mother's paternal side, the Gauquie's, my grandfather's generation was both farmers with some education for the males but the females either went into dancing/singing, into nursing, or were stay at home mothers it seems.  The previous generations to my great grandfather/great grandmother could read, write, and know numbers and math, but this was about it. This type of education was common until about 1817 where its noted my 5th great grandmother, Francisca Carolina Noppe, could not write. Her husband,Jacobus Josepha Gauquie, was an worker who went into innkeeper employment, must have known how to read, write and knew his numbers and math to keep the business going. I only have a few of the Gauquie cousin's yearbook photos and entries.

My mother's cousin Jimmy in his NFA Yearbook entry. Credit

My mother's cousin in her NFA Yearbook entry. Credit

My mother's cousin in her NFA Yearbook entry. Credit

I could go on forever because my mother has that many cousins!

On my mother's maternal side, her grandfather on the Jagodzinski/Barry side, worked in restaurants and ended up as a chef in a hotel in NYC. He was first generation American. I believe he probably knew enough reading, writing and math to get him through but it was just enough.

On my mother's maternal side, her grandmother on the Ostrzycki side, had various occupations. She immigrated from Poland in the early 1900s when she was very young. I believe she had the basic schooling which was only until about grade 5. They could all read and write according to the census. However, if you go back 2 more generations to 1887, my 2nd great grandmother's wedding certificate says her mother, Rozulu Michalslua, was present but could not write. This was common in Poland at the time.

Current/My Generation
Almost all of us (myself and my siblings) graduated from high school. The only one who didn't was my brother, Charlie, and he went back and got his GED. My mother had all of the graduation pictures, but I don't know what she's done with them before she went into the nursing home.

My oldest sister, Theresa.

1973 in a group picture, my sister Theresa in the yearbook. Credit

1974 yearbook. Credit

1975 yearbook. Credit

1976 yearbook. Credit

My 2nd oldest sister, Jean, graduated from BOCES Vocational, in hairstyling, where they can cut and color hair, or whatever they call it.

1974 yearbook. Credit

1975 yearbook. Credit

My 3rd oldest sister, Debbie, graduated from BOCES Vocational, in nursing.

1976 yearbook Credit

1979 yearbook. Credit

I graduated from BOCES Vocational, in Business Computer Technology, where you knew banking, business, and computers all rolled into one. Also, I went on to earn my Associates Degree in Computer Information Systems at Orange County Community College, but haven't been able to find any work in this area; however, I have used different parts of the degree in different areas of my life. My mother was always degrading me for trying to get further and get a better paying job. She did many things to try and get me to no complete things, but until I couldn't afford it, I went as far as I could no matter who stood in my way.

1989 yearbook picture of me. Credit: J. Fitzgerald

1991 yearbook picture of me. Credit J. Fitzgerald

My brother did go back to get retrained in Air conditioning when he was injured and I'm not sure if he ever completed it due to the injury and how hurt he was. He never did get his picture in the yearbook at all and I've looked.

Education is important. We've tried to pass this along to my nieces because this is the only way to get ahead in the world. Thankfully, they have taken this advise and plowed on with it - all 3 have a Bachelor's Degree in something. One of my nephew's is in his final semester right now for his Bachelor's Degree.

I couldn't be prouder of the future generation for getting a higher education.

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