Neither Fire, Fish Eyes Nor Snakes

This story is meaningful for older children or teenagers. In addition, First to Third Graders will enjoy the story when it is read to them. It is with a mixture of anxiety, embarrassment, and pride that I recall the few weeks between my sixth birthday and the first day I attended First Grade in the Perrysburg Union School in Perrysburg, Ohio. The year was 1936, right in the middle of the Great Depression. I could hardly contain my eagerness to start the first grade. As soon as my parents began to teach me to read they were always telling me, "Bobby, you must get a very good education, it's the only way you can be in control of your future." However, nothing they could have done would have prepared me for the challenges I was going to face, getting into the school door for the very first time.