by Donna Swagerty Shreve
1956
In 1955, I was entering fifth grade. That year had several changes for me from my usual elementary experience. First of all, I had to change school sites. Lincoln District was growing as more families moved into Lincoln Village, Swain Oaks, Colonial Heights and Park Woods neighborhoods. My fourth grade had been spent at Village Oaks School. The family had moved from Escalon to the big town of Stockton. I had had one year to establish friends and get used to the new school district. The Village Oaks students had been kept together as we started the school year at Lincoln Elementary. Village Oaks was under construction as another entire wing of classrooms was being added and it would take about a year to complete.
I no longer walked to school but had to ride my balloon tire bicycle all two miles from my home to school. On rainy days I accepted a ride from our neighbor who drove her son every day. I did not enjoy the kid and tried to distance myself from him as much as possible.
I also felt on top of my tomboy form. I thought I was a fast runner and the Lincoln School back playground provided a large running area that was perfect for establishing the fastest runner. I remember several races with Peter Pace. His mother had gone to school in fifth grade with my mother. We were thrown together a bit and I had a crush on him. The best way I could get his attention was to challenge him to a running race. I tried three times and the best I could do was to run a tie race. As adults Peter and I happened to drive along the back of that playground and I recalled our running races from fifth grade. He replied that he had been a slow runner. Ha! I still enjoyed playing baseball with the boys and having running races. Fortunately I had a best friend who had similar interests.
Waiting to destroy my childhood innocence was Mr. Buechler, my fifth grade teacher. He introduced a new playground game where the girls, in their required dresses, would line up to be twirled around feet first by their fifth grade teacher. I had no desire to play that game and spent my time with my friend Laurie playing baseball with the boys. This presented a challenge to Mr. Buechler and he kept asking me to participate with his game. I kept refusing. One morning the bell rang and the playground started to empty into the classrooms. Laurie and I were heading back when I heard pounding footsteps approaching behind me. I turned around to look and saw my teacher rapidly gaining on me and yelling, “I am going to get you.” I screamed and started running, hoping my legs would not fail me. I was losing the race when the principal of the school came around the corridor of our classroom wing. I do not know to this day if he heard my scream and was investigating or if fate had just stepped in and rescued me. Mr. Buechler stopped in his tracks and said he was just kidding. Looking back on the incident and several others of questionable choices, I was amazed at his gall. My father was the high school principal and not someone to mess with, especially concerning his daughter.
The next events furthered the list of unusual activities from this man. He encouraged ten years olds to start dating. He worked it out where we could go to the movies and have our parents drive. Somehow our parents went along with new activity that their children wanted to experience. Our dates were quite chaste but it got us thinking about the opposite sex. I remember three separate movie dates and thought I was quite grown up. By sixth grade we returned to age appropriate activities.
Later after more unusual activities, several of us classmates started discussing our teacher. Rick mentioned an incident when he was asked to stay in the room during recess. Mr. Buechler showed Rick a picture of himself sitting on a chair fully clothed with a naked woman sitting on his lap. Rick did not know how to react. Several girls were asked separately to stay after school to help him. This would involve correcting papers and putting up bulletin boards. When he asked me, I explained that my mother was at home waiting for me and she would be upset if I did not arrive home at my usual time. I remember alarm bells going off in my head when he suggested I stay after and had the good sense to refuse. One girl did not refuse the offer and she corrected papers and helped with bulletin boards. When she went to put up bulletin boards, Mr. Buechler would help her up to the counter. He got some good feels in as he helped her up and Diane finally told her mother. Diane’s mother was quite alarmed and made an appointment with the superintendent and the high school principal, my father. Dad sat me down soon after that meeting and asked me a bunch of questions about my experiences in my fifth grade classroom.
I mentioned Mr. Buechler’s playground games, his asking me to stay after school but I left one incident out. I had been discovered to be quite near sighted in fourth grade. I now was suppose to wear glasses. I hated my glasses and only wore them in the classroom if I absolutely had to. It was obvious I would do better in the front of the classroom to compensate for my reluctance to wear my glasses. Even at age ten I was quite aware that Mr. Buechler was not wearing underwear. He wore loose slacks and would lean up against the front of my desk. If I looked straight forward I could see the bottom of his penis through his slacks resting on my desk. I sat sideways and looked elsewhere as much as I could sit made me quite uncomfortable..
Mr. Buechler was called into the superintendent’s office and had to answer questions from my father and Mrs. Barren, the superintendent. After the meeting Mr. Buechler was given two options. He could take his chances in court and poor Diane would have to testify. If the trial was successful he would be fired and lose his California license. Diane’s mother did not want her daughter going through that ordeal. The other option was for Mr. Buechler to move out of the state. Mr. Buechler chose the second option and moved his wife and two daughters to Pennsylvania to be someone else’s problem. The second option was a common solution for the times but I remember thinking that solution was wrong even as a ten year old.
Many parents felt that school year had been a waste academically and were worried about their children succeeding the next year. Mother was approached by two parents to set up a summer school in her house and catch their boys up to grade level and beyond. Therefore Peter and Mike came each morning to our house and I had to join them at the kitchen table while Mother drilled us on mathematics, grammar and spelling. I could not believe the torture. I was mortified that two cute guys from my class had to suffer with me at the hands of my mother. At a fiftieth reunion years later, I brought up our special summer school to Mike and Pete and they did not feel it was such torture. I could have saved myself a lot of worry if I had known at the time.
Ironically, I trained and became an elementary school teacher and my favorite grade level was fifth grade. I enjoyed the curriculum and age level. Maybe in a subconscious way I was making up for my unfortunate fifth grade experience all of those years ago.
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