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(View some other historical schools in Friendship)

Oral history project 2002-2003 of the

Friendship Village School and the Friendship Museum

Friendship, Maine

Project participants include the sixth grade social studies class of the Friendship Village School, aided by their teacher, Mrs. Gaylea Hynd, and Mrs. Sally Merrick, for the museum, as well as many other community volunteers.
Finding Friendship seeks to preserve the history of Friendship, a traditional seafaring community on the coast of Maine, by recording and preserving the voices of the past and present as they recall everyday life and the traditions that have shaped and nourished the community.

Interviews:
Click on a name to read the interview

Interviewers:

Click on a name to read the essay

How Small The School Really Is          
by Emma

Friendship Village School has a gym that we use for lots of different things- sometimes it is used as a gym, sometimes as a cafeteria, an art room, or a music room. When we have inside recess on Tuesday we also play dodgeball in the gym. For lunch the tables are in the walls, and before we eat, the janitor puts down the tables. Then we eat. We only have one classroom per grade. Sixth grade has 15 kids in the class. Fifth also has 15 kids. Fourth grade has 12 kids. Third grade has 15 kids in the class, and second grade has 14 kids. First grade has 8 kids in the class. And kindergarten has only 7 kids. This makes a total of 40 boys and 46 girls, which is 86 students in the school. Elementary schools around us have many more students. For instance, Miller School has about three classes of each grade, and Warren School has about two classes per grade.
Since we have so few students in a class, we can go on more field trips and afterschool activities, like Ski Club every Friday. It is so small that I know everybody but the kindergarteners. At lunch, each grade sits at a table, so everybody gets to eat together. Grades 1, 2 and 3 have two recesses, or if they are good they get more. Grades 4, 5 and 6 have one recess together after lunch. Sometimes I like having a small school.

SHOES
by Catherine

Everybody has shoes, but have you ever looked at their shoes? Different people have different kinds of shoes like black, brown, gray, blue and white. Maybe they'll have a stripe, words, symbols or even shapes on them. People wear boots in winter. Boots come in colors like black, dark green and gray. Some shoes light up with little lights on the bottom. Some shoes don't have lights, but everyone has his or her own special style. Teachers mostly wear different shoes then we do, but my teachers wear sneakers, boots or something like that. Some shoes have laces, velcro or zippers. Some people even have slip on shoes. Boots usually have zippers or slip on too. Shoe sizes vary from little kids to adults. But everyone likes to pick out their own shoes.

Interviews
by Molly

Being interviewed was extremely exciting because you were telling the history of today. Someday someone from the future could listen to your story and say , "Wow ! It was a lot different back then ." And you could compare even farther back in time. The fun thing is you know you are doing something to preserve the history of your town and school .

Recess
by Kenny

Welcome to my essay. It is about recess. At recess when there's no snow, we all play soccer or baseball. These sports are really fun, and sometimes we play dodge ball. That is really fun. You have people with dodge balls and they throw the ball at someone, and if they hit you, you go to jail. Then someone throws the ball to you,
and if you catch the ball, you get out of jail and start again.

Dodgeball
by Chris

One of my favorite activities is dodgeball in the gym. On Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday there are activities that are going on during recess. The upper grades (fourth , fifth, and sixth) go out to recess after lunch while the lower grades (first, second, and third) go back to their classrooms to have recess at a different time. On Tuesday since there is no activity, the smaller grades have to do work during upper recess time. If it is snowing out or it is too cold, or something like that, it will be an inside recess. If we have inside recess on Tuesdays, we play dodgeball. Dodgeball is one of my favorite activities.
To play dodgeball, split the court. Then you put soft kickballs on the center line. Then the two teams go behind lines at each end of the court. Then when the teacher yells “Go,” you can run to get the ball or stay behind.
The object of the game is to get all your opponents in jail or sitting down. When you get hit by a ball an opponent threw, you have two options: you can sit down or go to jail. When you sit down, you have to wait for somebody on your team to catche a ball. Then you can go back and play. Jail is behind the line where the other team started from. You can get freed in jail when a teammate throws you a ball, and you catch it. Then you can go back to your side with the ball you caught. If you throw a ball to someone, if the opponents catches the ball you threw, then you're out. Actually, if an opponent catches any ball you threw, you're out. When you throw the ball, you should aim for the waist down. But if you get hit in the chest or back, you’re still out. If you get hit in the head, then you’re not out, unless you ducked; then you’re out.

Clothing
by Missy

The way kids dress today is very different from long ago. The kids today dress how they want to. The girls don't have to wear dresses. And the boys don't have to wear kakis. We wear anything.

Backpacks
by Rachel

Everybody has a backpack. Some have L. L. Bean backpacks and some don’t. All my life I have had the same type of backpack. It is L. L. Bean style. It has four big zippers. The first zipper is the smallest and it is diagonal. It doesn’t have any pockets in it. Inside the second zipper there are many different pockets. It has a hook-like thing that I put my hair elastics on (I don’t know what it is suppposed to be for). Then there is a mesh pocket that I put my lunch money in. I always carry pencils for my homework in this pocket since it has two pencils holders. There is also a big pocket that I put candy in. Then there is another zipper that only has a big pocket. The last zipper it is the biggest pocket of all.
To decorate their backpacks, students can put key chains on them. Some key chains have beads, Sponge Bob (a popular kid’s cartoon character), stuffed animals and lights. Mine has a stuffed monkey.
The most popular colors for backpacks at our school are dark blue, light blue, black, yellow, orange, red, lime green, tie dye, dark green, and gray. You also can have your initials, name, or nickname embroidered on your backpack.
Not all people have backpacks. Some students carry duffle bags.
Usually backpacks weigh between two to five pounds.

Discipline
by Kelly

How do teachers discipline now? Well they don`t hit you or slap you! They can take privileges away from you. You can get suspended from school,which means you couldn`t go back! Also you can get in-school suspension,which is when you go into a different classroom and do your work.
Teachers used to not be able to marry but now they can.They used to go home with a student and eat supper there and sleep there. Now they get paid more. A teacher has her room all to herself, besides the kids. Teachers have lots more materials now. Teachers teach more now!!!!!!!!!!!

Sports
by Jennica

Hi, welcome to my page! My name is Jennica, and I did an essay on sports.
A lot of kids in Friendship play sports, even at recess. A lot of people like to play soccer at recess, and some people are on a team. A lot of people play softball and baseball, too. A lot of fifth and sixth graders play softball and baseball. Also some of the little kids play farm and travel team (baseball for little kids). At recess we also like to play kickball a lot. And some people play knockout, which is basketball. Not that many people play on basketball teams, but a lot of the sixth graders like to play Knockout or Around the World.
Well, now you know about a lot of sports in FVS and about what we do at recess.

Recess and Teachers
by April

When I leave this school I'm going to miss not having recess, not having a break from school for fresh air, not getting to talk to your friends as much and all that.
I'm also going to miss some teachers like Mrs. Carter, Mrs. Hynd, and Mrs. Robinson.
I'm going to miss Mrs. Carter because we would play games and we won't be able to laugh at her when she's doing the Limbo.
I'm going to miss Mrs. Robinson because we won't be able to hear her yell at people and we won't be able to get in trouble with her. I like to get in trouble with her because after I get in trouble I start to laugh and get in more trouble and it is funny.
I'll miss Mrs. Hynd because when I don't know how to do something in her class I won't have anyone to ask except the teachers at A.D. Gray, but I don't know them as well as Mrs. Hynd. We also won't have her to help us with interviewing projects if we do any up there.
Well, those are the teachers I'm going to miss and I'm going to miss not having a recess.

Walking To School
by David

Winter: During the winter it is windy. There is usually a lot of snow on the ground.
Spring: During the spring it is warmer, but there's usually a lot of mud. It makes you get quite muddy.
Fall: During the fall walking to school is a little bit colder. The trees are very colorful.
A memorable moment when I was walking to school was when I got to the fence by the pond on Bradford Point Road, and there was a big mallard duck sitting there, staring at me. When I walked by, he took off.

Survey
by Kyle

I went around and asked 10 people how they got to school and two said that they walked, three were driven by their parents. The rest of them (five) said that they take the bus to school. Now compare this to people you know! What is the difference?

Games at Recess
by Thomas

One game we play at recess is basketball. The team Kyle and I are on always wins. The score is never close. Kyle and I are undefeated. Our record is 30-0. We play outside. the people that usually play are me, Kyle, David, Josh, Dillon, and Kenny. No one can beat Kyle and me beczause we are the champions. Kyle passes to me and I shoot and make it every time.

Gym Games
by Josh

Some gym games are fun, like dodge ball and ship wreck. We get the balls and throw them at the people on the other team, and if you hit them with the ball, they are out. In ship wreck you get dodge balls and two scooters, and there are bowling pins set up on the floor. If you get a dodge ball, you throw it at the bowling pins that are set up. If you hit one, it can't be set up again in the game, but it can be set up in the next game you play. You sit on the scooters and the people behind you push you to the mat. When you all get to the big mat the game is over.