When I was a child, the fall semester at school started the Tuesday after Labor Day and the spring semester ended the Friday before Memorial Day.

Back then, when I went to Burbank Elementary, Bell Junior High and Nathan Hale High School, we got two weeks of vacation at Christmas and we were off on Good Friday. There was no Spring Break and teachers didn’t get as many “professional days” as they do know.

We always bought new clothes in August, especially Levi jeans, Converse tennis shoes and nice T-Shirts. I never got dressed up for school unless there was an assembly or some other special event.

Girls dressed up more than boys in Junior high. That was nice. Some colleges, like ORU, had a strict dress code back then but not so much now. We usually bought our winter coat in August, or at least put it in layaway. Most of the time, the winter coat I had the year before did not fit anymore.

And August was the time to buy school supplies. Big Chief Tablets (wow – that is politically incorrect now), laddie pensils, Elmer’s Glue, erasers, book covers and the mandatory box of Kleenex tissues were common.

I was so excited about the start of school, I would lay out the new clothes I got so that I would not have to search for them on the first morning of classes.

We lived about eight blocks from Burbank and Bell, which had adjoining campuses at Admiral Blvd. and Sheridan Road. The buildings are still there but the schools have merged into one elementary, Bell Elementary.

So I walked to school and home from school almost every day. There was no bus service because we lived too close to the schools. When I was in elementary school, I walked to school accompanied by one of my older brothers, who really didn’t want to be seen walking with me but it was mandatory. In junior high, I walked by myself or rode my bike.

If the weather was bad, the mother one of my friends from our neighborhood would give me a ride. Sometimes I walked home in the rain but it wasn’t that bad.

When I got to high school, I got a part-time job and bought a used car, a 1965 Ford Falcon, and drove it to school every day.

My Mom had passed away when I was 5 and I always bought my lunch at Burbank. I couldn’t believe when other students complained about a hot plate lunch for 35 cents. I thought was great. We ate mostly hamburgers for dinner at our house.

At Hale, I ate in the cafeteria the first year but during I junior and senior years, I went out to eat lunch. I had a little bit of cash due to my part-time job and my buddies and I would drive to Braum’s on East 21st Street and get a burger and fries for $1.50. We had to hustle to back to class in time but it was worth it.

It wasn’t real smart. The Hale cafeteria had very good food and it was only about 50 cents for a plate lunch. I can’t recall ever bringing my lunch to school.

I enjoyed my time in public schools. My teachers were very nice to me, especially when they found out I was in a one-parent household. They encouraged me to read, to take part in school plays, to learn Spanish, to play baseball and basketball and to be a good citizen.

We were poor. My Dad was a barber and I think he made about $100 a week. But people at school – especially my teachers – never looked down on me. On the contrary, most of my teachers encouraged me to go to college and make something out of my life. They stressed academic achievement and gave some much-needed help for me at a crucial time for me.

Apart from my church family, the teachers at Burbank, Bell and Hale were instrumental in keeping me out of trouble and having a normal life.

These days, there are still many good teachers in public schools. The problem is, their hands are tied in terms of discipline many times and they don’t get the support from administrators that my teachers did.

Christianity has been erased from the school atmosphere. It still exists but it is more difficult for teachers to implant Biblical character in young people.

I hope the Christian teachers never decide to abandon public schools. But honestly, if I had young children today, I would not subject them to the secular climate in public education.

There are better options for children these days like home schooling, private schools, charter schools and Christian schools.