4. One winter

The school house was two stories with four big class rooms. It was wood heated with no running water. ‘While I was there they installed fluorescent lights. One room was for kindergarten and first grade, another room for grades 2, 5, and Q, another for grades 5, and 6, and one for grades 7, and 8.

Sister Mary Joann taught kindergarten and first grade. She was a very sweet person who always had a smile and encouragement for all of us. When I first started I wondered exactly why we were there, what we were supposed to learn in that closed in room. It was while we were learning ABC's that I caught on. It ' occurred to me that Sister Mary Joann was going to try to teach us how to write, that we were going to communicate by making marks. Suddenly, overwhelmed by the task ahead of us, I stood up next to my desk and shouted, "It can't be done!"

Gladys Stockman, and later Winnie Rarks, taught grades 2, 3, and 4. They were Alaska Native and very pretty. I had boyish crushes on both of them.

Sister Mary Rose taught grades 5 and 6. She was strict. I learned the meaning of school discipline and did my home work even with a flourish. When I made mistakes, Sister Mary Rose was harder on me than anyone else. Years later I met Sister Mary Rose in Juneau.

As the grades got higher, discipline got harder. Sister Mary Angela taught grades 7 and 6. She knew how to shout in righteous anger over the mistakes of her pupils. Her voice was shrill and her eyes piercing. She was feared but I left Holy Cross before I had the chance to challenge or experience her method. I had actually looked forward to her. My love of learning was healthy.

In the boys residence were monkey bars that hung from the ceiling and a pool table. On the monkey bars we would curl our elbows around a bar and, using our legs, try to force the other to the floor. As I look back I wonder why there wasn't any serious injuries on those bars. Nobody really ever got good playing on the pool table and it was largely ignored.

Fighting was frequent among the boys but it never amounted to anything. Occasionally, we had fight nights. A ring was set up and all the girls came over to watch us box with 16 ounce gloves. Once I was involved in a blindfolded match but I could see through a tiny slit. I pummeled my opponent and for good measure hit Peggy Allain flush in the face to prove that I loved her. She smiled after I hit her.

From the earliest I accepted Catholic Dogma without question. I had no reason to challenge it. I was baptized when I was about seven years old and was confirmed a year later. All the Holy Days of Obligation were holidays. We even had a holiday when the Mother General of the nuns came for a visit.

Growing up under such strict discipline got to everybody. We all wondered when we were going back home. Henry and I finally got our chance to leave the Mission after Stanley had worked a season in the cannery. Henry and I never felt so happy.