What goes around comes around

Miss Ohs fifth grade class from Thomas Jefferson School, 1960-1961.

I’m talking about Roger Guggenheimer, who, when he saw Dennis Gray‘s photos of the fourth grade at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, had lots of happy memories to share. You see, Roger is himself an elementary school teacher in a small mountain community near Mount Shasta, CA. He teaches a 3rd/4th grade combination class and believes “learning should be fun, and humor keeps the students on their toes.”

Here are some memories Roger shared about Thomas Jefferson School: In kindergarten he was in Mrs. Ford’s class and he remembers the huge vegetable gardens they grew, loved nap time (who wouldn’t?!) and can still smell the Jergen’s hand lotion they used. Say, wasn’t Jergen’s factory in Burbank?

Roger Guggenheimer

In third grade, Roger had his favorite and cutest teacher ever: Miss Hagen, who took the class to the Los Angeles Harbor on a field trip. Afterwards, they actually built boats. Each child was loaned a toolbox with saw, drill, bits, and hammer and they spent weeks building elaborate boats from real lumber, all carefully painted.

In Mrs. Joyce’s fourth grade class, Roger seems to recall that she left midyear and was replaced by Mrs. Adams. He used to secretly eat sunflower seeds during class, and spread the empty shells around the perimeter of the classroom. He also had a squirt gun disguised as a transistor radio and used to squirt girls across the room, looking in the other direction. You guessed it, eventually he got caught and the “gun” was confiscated.

In fifth grade, Roger had Mrs. Ohs whom he said could breathe smoke and fire if necessary, but was actually a very kind soul with a great sense of humor. He remembers working on elaborate social studies projects in her class. In the picture above, see if you can identify BHS ’68 grads Steve Raine, Rich Upstill, Jeff Helquist, Randy Rodman, Sue DenHammer, Laurie Eisenberg, Mark Beck, Floyd Moos, Roger Guggenheimer and Rich Bedigan.

Roger had his first male teacher in the sixth grade, Mr. Brodowy, who also had a great sense of humor. He remembers him driving a green 1960 Volkswagen, with surf racks on the top. Roger even remembers the class pooling their money together to buy him a birthday cake decorated with a wave and surfer.

Roger at Sierra Ski Ranch.

Roger, I can’t believe what an incredible memory you have! Like Dennis Gray, Roger is a world traveler and loves adventure. On his Facebook page he says “From bicycling San Juan Islands, Sunshine coast and Vancouver island, to 6 months of vagabonding in Europe and North Africa, it’s been a gas! Moving through my life, I discovered Scuba and the Carribean–especially Cozumel, MX. I loved the healthy reefs and the wondefully warm people of Cozumel. After 5 trips, I can’t wait to go back again, soon! Flash: Returning to dive Cozumel summer 2012!”