[NYer]

Like both of you, I too was educated by the nuns back in the 50's. As RC2 notes, "they were tough". My schools were in Queens, NY during the swelling "baby boom" years. Our classes were large. IIRC, there were five 8th grade classes at graduation and each class had 50+ students. As adults, we can now look back with 'adult eyes' and only imagine the situation these nuns had to cope with each and every day. They were given a curriculum to be completed within the span of 9 months. Among their students, there was usually the class clown, the angry and insolent student and others on the fringe who used the classroom setting to draw attention to themselves. The good sisters were there to educate the children, while also forming them in the faith.

It wasn't until my own daughter brought home a Social Studies paper "worthy of review" that I truly grasped the gift I had received by those sisters of yesteryear. While my daughter received a fabulous grade on her report, I was startled to see the teacher had not corrected her poor grammar. I still have some of my workbooks from catholic elementary school. Not only did Sister correct the content material for accuracy in History (or Social Studies), she also corrected and graded me on grammar! And, she did this for each of the 50+ students on ALL topics, not just History ... each and every night.

If anything, we were spoiled into learning by a team of well oiled educators who sacrificed what little personal time they had to ensure we learned AND mastered the material provided. How blessed are we! We learned mental math, the times tables, algebra, calculus ... all without the benefit of an electronic calculator, much less a computer. Today's youth immediately flounder when confronted with a malfunctioning computer or the absence of a color coded chart of vegetables. Yet we, as American citizens, pay far more in taxes today to educate our youth, than anyone else in the history of this nation.

I have added all those nuns to my daily prayers. May God richly reward and bless them for enduring the battle to serve Him ... with or without a ruler.

[RC2]

I went to St. Catherines Military Academy from the 4th grade through the 6th grade. The school was divided up into 5 companies. 80 kids in each company. The dorms were controlled by one nun in each. Trust me, sister had total and complete control over 80 kids. I’m not saying we didn’t get into some mischief, but we regretted it later. In school, the nuns ran the classes. If you ever saw the old movie “The trials of Major Benson”.....that was our school. The school still exists as far as I know. I need to stop by some time. I took my kids there when they were young. The nun in the lobby wanted to know who I was and I told sister that I went to school there. She pulled these huge books out and looked up my name. Then sister looked at me and said “You did get into a little trouble didn’t you.” They still had all the records.