Chapter 7
‘TIS ALLEGANY
1933-1939
“Dear old high school, our hearts go out to thee."
i - Grade 7, 1933-34
At the end of Chapter 4, I had completed the sixth grade - as far as I could go
at Saints Peter and Paul’s - and was looking forward to entering the seventh grade in
public school, the beginning of “my beloved years at Allegany." To be accurate, my
new school was called Greene Street Junior High School, but because it had burned
down the year before, March 1932 to be exact (despite being located next to a fire
station where my uncle, fireman Bud Wallace, was on duty!), it was housed in the
building that also housed Allegany (senior) High School. The senior school would
use the building from 8 to 12:30, the junior school from 1 to 5. Not having to get up
early would be a luxury, but on the other hand the later dismissal time would shorten,
if not eliminate, my after-school playtime, especially in the shorter winter days. This
unconventional schedule would continue until 1936.
It did not take long to deal with having a different teacher for each subject.
Nor was getting used to teachers who were laymen instead of nuns a problem. I
didn’t once slip and say “yes, Sister" (pronounced “yes’ter"). Since I did not start
school until l:00, it did not seem strange not to attend Mass first. However, for a
while I was aware of the absence of prayer at the beginning and end of each school
day. Now, the only prayer to be heard was the Lord’s Prayer in assemblies. We did
recite the Pledge of Allegiance but in those days, “under God" had not yet been
inserted.. By and large the transition was unremarkable.
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