Fond Memories Of Going 'Back To School'
Growing up and at one time being of school age, the thought of going back to school was met with both excitement and later resentment. Having just joined the 'League Of Extraordinary Bloggers' this is my first topic to tackle for the league. 'Back To School' is simply the topic, so I have decided to talk about some fond memories associated with my geeky side of going back to school.
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Grade 1: Way back in 1986 I was huge into 'He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe'. Every Saturday morning our local station would air episodes at 7am. So I never slept in on Saturdays like most other kids, I had to get my He-Man fix. I also had 3 He-Man lunch kits for school.
Played T-Ball after school. Was also in Ice Skating after school in Winter. I believe our group was 'The Flintstones', because I remember wearing a Fred Flintstone shirt.
First Grade Teacher: Mrs Pickard
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Grade 2: I had that year a 'Transformers' lunch kit for school. Also 'Captain Power And The Soldiers Of The Future' took the place of He-Man on Saturday mornings and it was must watch viewing for me. I had almost every action figure and play set from that line. Although I had no station where I could watch it I did get some 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' stickers as part of some cereal promotion, not sure which cereal it was. Also my parents pulled myself, my sister and my cousin Lenny out of school early on special day to attend the 'He-Man & She-Ra Power Tour', a live on stage show featuring actors playing the iconic characters from that series. It was an amazing show and I still remember that special trip into the city. It was also the only time in my life when I actually ate a Fish Fillet sandwich from McDonalds.
Played T-Ball again after school. Again was also in Ice Skating after school in Winter, don't remember the theme that year.
Second Grade Teacher: Mrs Vobeyda
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Grade 3: A year too late since the series was cancelled but that year I had a silver 'Captain Power' lunch box for school. This was the year I really got into watching the original Star Trek series. Every Saturday morning at 11 am on CBC I was catching up on Star Trek. Still had not seen an episode of TNG. This year for Halloween my Mom created the greatest costumes for me and my sister. I was 'Batman' and Brianna was 'Robin'. The costumes were based on the Adam West 'Batman' and were amazing, she really out did herself that year, it is still the best costume I have ever worn. That summer before going into grade 4 I remember going to see the Tim Burton 'Batman' film at the old Barrhead Drive-In. What an awesome film watching experience that was.
Played Mite softball after school with my Mom as our teams Coach.
Third Grade Teacher: Mrs Norton.
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Grade 4: Finally started watching 'Star Trek: the Next Generation' as it had just started it's 3rd season, and I became a life long fan. At this point I was too cool for lunch kits so this year I started taking my lunch to school in a cloth bag. I was also too cool for Halloween costumes so that year I sat out going door to door for candies. Watched TMNT Sunday Mornings at 7am! That school year I remember going to the drive-in for the last time and watching the original 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' live action film, which I still love to this day. That summer was also my first time going to Summer camp.
Played Mite softball after school with my Mom as our teams Coach. I was also in Tae Kwon Do that year after school, every Monday and Wednesday night.
Fourth Grade Teacher: Mrs Furmstin Brennon
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Grade 5: Still too cool for lunch kits and Halloween. Still watching TNG every Friday night at 7pm on Channel 13 ITV, watching TMNT on Saturdays now at 8am (I think...). Joined the Scouts that year and went to Scout Camp in Jasper in May. This was also the school year when I kissed my first girl, Shawna. My friends and I had our own 'Air Band' that year, but I cannot remember what songs we rocked out to. I think 'California Girls' by the Beach Boys. This was the year that my Comic Book collecting really took off. I went back to Summer Camp and had a great time. Went to see the TMNT 2 live action film at the Roxy Theatre in Barrhead.
Played Softball with Mom as our Coach again.
Fifth Grade Teacher: Mr Lee
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Grade 6: Still watching TNG and TMNT cartoon.
Played Softball with Mom as our Coach again. We did very well that year, we won the league and if I remember correctly I had the most home runs in our final tournament. I remember that year in school going to 'Outdoor Ed' camp for 1 week. It rained almost the whole time we were there, it was cold and all us kids were soaked but we made the most of it and had a great time there. My parents came out to visit on the Wednesday and they brought me some comic books to read which I really appreciated.
Sixth Grade Teacher: Mrs Dievert
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Grade 7: Puberty hit me like a ton of bricks. I hit the 6 foot tall mark, gained 60 pounds over the summer before school. The summer between grades 6 and 7 involved a lot of sleeping, eating and tripping over my feet. I attended my first Star Trek convention that year in October and met Marina Sirtis (TNG's Troi) for the first time. I also attended my second Trek Convention in March where I met Nana Visitor (DS9's Kira). Still watching TNG and DS9 kicked off their First Season in January. Also checked out the 'Babylon 5' TV movie, which really sucked.
Again played Softball with my Mom again as our Coach. Tried the Basketball team but I quit after one practise because all that running sucked!
Seventh Grade Home Room Teacher: Mr Luciuk
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Grade 8: TNG ended, DS9 continued to grow and 'Babylon 5' launched into it's own TV series which I actually liked. Also 'Seaquest: DSV' launched and I too liked that show. 'The X-Files' launched too and I became a instant fan. March I attended another Trek Convention where I met Michael Dorn (TNG's Worf) for the first time. My family and I took a trip into the USA for the first time, driving to Vegas then to LA. We went to Disneyland and Universal Studios, and then we took a bus tour into Tijuana Mexico.
Again played Softball with my Mom again as our Coach.
Eighth Grade Home Room Teacher: Ms Matheson
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Grade 9: Attended my last Trek exclusive convention where I got the chance to meet the great James Doohan (TOS's Scotty).
Again played Softball with my Mom again as our Coach.
Ninth Grade Home Room Teacher: Ms Philips
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And that is about it for me, going into High School the 'Back To School' craze pretty much died. But looking back on those days I wished I had taken school more seriously and tried to enjoy myself more. When your a kid growing up your in such a rush to grow up you don't stop to realize just how good and easy things really can be as a kid. This year my Step-son is in Grade 7, my Step-daughter is in Grade 5 and our youngest is in Grade 1. all the kids are in school full time, hope they enjoy their time in school because they too will grow up too fast.
For other 'Back To School' blogging goodness may I suggest you check out these blogs who are all members of the League Of Extraordinary Bloggers:
