PS 196, Bushwick
Fifth and Sixth Grades
In 1973, I started attending PS 196 for the 5th and 6th grades. My brother, cousin and my friends would all walk the one mile to the school. I think about it now and I realize that this is a long walk for a ten-year-old in Williamsburg. It is about a 20-minute walk from Union Avenue. I don’t think that I would have allowed my children to walk one mile to school here in Charlotte. However, that is the norm in NYC. You just don’t think about it and it didn’t feel long to us at 10 and 11 years old. I mean, we didn’t own a car, dad was at work and mom was a babysitter. Mom would wake us up at 7:30 am and we would get dressed and eat breakfast. I do remember waking up every day at 7:30 am since school began at 9am in NYC through High School. In Charlotte, high school begins at 7:15, that’s just cray, cray. We headed north on Union Avenue to Grand Street where we walked about ½ mile and then took a left onto Bushwick Avenue.
I remember that there was a candy store right across the school and I was in heaven. Some of my favorite candies back then were, whoopers, sixlets, Swedish fish, chick-o-stick, smarties, chicklets, blow pops, spearmint gum, twinkies, yodels, pixy sticks, bazooka, etc. Denise remembers buying cherry cough drops. Now, I never bought cherry cough drops. I also developed many cavities, gee, I wonder why, haha?
I also remember several times when we all thought that the world was going to end. I believe that someone was handing out Watchtower pamphlets. It was very scary for a 10-11 year-old to read. Why would they use fear to get you to belong to their church? There was a lady in our building who was Jehovah’s Witness and I would go with her to a bible study group. I would read in Spanish and the ladies were impressed with the way I read. However, mom was like, “Mari, you know that they don’t believe in birthday presents and don’t celebrate Christmas.” That did it for me and I stopped attending. I love celebrating birthday’s and Christmas. They say the reason is because Jesus didn’t celebrate his birthday. When they would knock on my door here in Charlotte, I was like, “Well, Jesus didn’t drive a car, but you drive cars now” This makes no sense. I just recently learned that Jehovah’s Witness don’t vote and don’t get involved in politics. They remain politically neutral based on what Bible teachings. Therefore, they don’t lobby, vote for political parties or candidates, run for government office, or participate in any action to change governments. They believe that the bible gives many reasons in John, Mark, Luke, etc. I was shaking my head when I learned this. I mean to me, Jesus, would have taken a stand on many issues.
Our teachers were Mrs. Kelley and Mrs. Blumenthal. I behaved well in school and was a goody-two-shoes student. However, I remember when our teachers would take a day off and we had subs. Man, I misbehaved with the subs. We would lie and act ornery. One time we were hiding in the closet and I have no idea why we were doing that. I laugh now but that wasn’t okay. We were kids and pushing the boundaries and limits to see how far we would get. Our teachers would not be happy when they returned and gave us hell. I find myself thinking when it rained, and we had to walk that mile. When it snowed, did I have boots? I don’t remember owning boots. I do remember if the schools were closed due to snow that I would still walk to school to see if the schools were really closed. I didn’t believe my mother. Who does this? I did this, the geek!
Now my brother, just stayed home and had no part in walking to school like his obsessed and geeky sister. Luis had a learning disability that wasn’t diagnosed at that time. The teachers would always comment how he needed to pay attention. When I was in fourth grade and he was in fifth grade, he was retained. Mom sent him to Puerto Rico that summer since he was very sad and depressed. However, he was not happy staying with my grandmother although he had lived with her for two years while we were in Brooklyn. He says that she lied and said that he had used a blade to cut her couches and that she stole the money that mom sent him to buy his candies, limberes and coquitos, etc. He vowed that he would never return to visit her. It took him almost 40 years until he returned to visit his parents in Puerto Rico.
Therefore, from 5th grade until 12th grades, we were in the same grades. Luis is very smart, and he can take things apart, and rebuild them. However, when it came to school, he struggled big time and his little sister had to help him. He was not happy with this at all.
I thrived in PS 196 and I was a Library Monitor. I wanted to be in the Choir, but when I tried out, the teacher didn’t allow me to join. I was devastated and disappointed. I still can’t carry a tune but that doesn’t stop me from Karaoke. Therefore, I joined became a Library Monitor, where I helped with the card catalog and put books away. I was in heaven since I loved reading and books. I don’t remember how often and during what class period I did that but I do have a service certificate for it. Hmmmm….I began my serving in my community at an early age.
To be continued…….