First Day of School

Off to Bender Academy!

Me, Steven?, and Heidi Lenartowicz on the first day of school
at Bender Academy in Elizabeth.
Collection of E. Ackermann, 2017.

And don't we look just thrilled? That's me on the left, with the up-flip. I remember my mother making me sleep in rollers for this "special" day. Torture! The curls may have lasted until I got to school. Not much longer than that though. My hair never would hold a curl. The boy in the middle is, I think, named Steven. I don't remember if he was in my class or not. He lived at the end of the block next to Warinanco Park. The other girl is Heidi Lenartowicz. She was a year younger than me.

This was the first day of either first or second grade for me. There were at least four or five kids on the block who went to Bender Academy in Elizabeth. Our parents took turns driving us.