February 17, 2012

 I began attending P.S.156 in the Spring of 1939 in Grade 1A. The next Spring we had to start going to the annual Arbor Day ritual, which had a rather extensive morning program at the school garden,a fenced in area near the large playground area on the school block. I can still sing the opening lines of the song we sang, "Again we come this day to greet, Arbor Day dear Arbor Day,with willing hands and nimble feet,Arbor Day dear Arbor Day...." Tradionally I started wearing short pants around this time of year. One cold and blustery day, I recall squirming during the celebration as the wind reached parts of my body where it was very unwelcome. But, I have a rather fond memory of that particular ceremony.

Like other American secular devotional days, Arbor Day has not only survived ( for almost a century and a half), it has been adopted in scores of other nations and has spun off Earth Day. Maybe it has roots in Medieval May Day, where the tree was symbolized by a beribboned pole.
By the way, the above song was written by Seymour S. Short, but I have been unable to google his bio other than to pick up that someone with that name was a member of the Union Army. Can anyone help me out with that?

ALAN SAKS   Email Address:  ajsaks24@hotmail.com

Hello,

I haven't visited the site in quite a while and was surprised to see how it has changed for the better. I am really interested in seeing an area that specifically talks about memories from elementary school, especially P.S. 156. I attended from kindergarten through 6th grade (1971 - 1978) and would love to hear people discuss those times. Would it be possible for you to make a P.S. 156 section and break it down into separate areas for people who attended in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. I would love to reminisce with people who remember the school when I attended. I didn't attend high school in New York so I can't really connect with people by high school graduation date.

I was thrilled to see a picture of P.S. 156 teacher, Mrs. Freeman, submitted to you by a SGHS grad of 1971. Mrs. Freeman was still there in 1976-1977, teaching me in the 5th grade. I would love to connect with people from that era. About a year ago, the grandson of my 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Kerman, contacted me because he read my entry on your site that mentioned her. He wanted to know more about her and I shared with him everything I could remember in an email. I later heard from his mother also. Skip, thanks so much for this website. Anything you could do regarding hearing more specifics about P.S. 156 would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Janice Jackson Payton    Email Address:  jajack2000@yahoo.com

Hi Janice,

It is my great pleasure to add a section for PS 156 or any other school.  As soon as I receive some
specific PS 156 memories I will post them at the following locations:

PS 156 in the 40's        PS 156 in the 50's        PS 156 in the 60's        PS 156 in the 70's

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