We always started our school day with the Pledge of Allegiance. That was in the 50’s, and we may have said a prayer, but I’m so old I can’t remember. I do remember one classroom from grammar school that had a sign under the clock that said: “Time will pass...will you?”
We recited the Pledge every morning, too, standing at attention.
Our school clocks had the second hand that jerked from second to second and then the minute had jerked to the next minute. I remember staring at that clock during class and thinking “It’s never going to move.”