Patty, Reading Readiness, and Mrs. Ann Ballinger

My sister Patty - Patricia Joanne Frazier - was born approximately 11 months after me (September 13, 1967).

Patty Jo - well - we were (and are) two totally different beings. Her - with her blond hair and blue eyes - me with my reddish-brown hair and brown eyes. She was petite. I was tall. She was artistic. I was "bookish". We shared a room for many years and let me tell you - that was both a curse and a blessing (but more on that later).

For her half-day of Kindergarten, Patty had Miss Crouse (soon to be Mrs. Ludwig). I made the assumption that when Patty moved to first grade, she would have Mrs. Lawson too (like I had). But when we went to pick up our information packets from school, I learned that she was going to be in Ms. Ballinger's class.

As a seven year old, I knew three things about Mrs. Ballinger. First, she was a tall, thin lady with dark dark hair. Second, her classroom was all the way over there and she didn't have as many students as some of the other teachers. Third, the woman was obsessed with bears. As in the stuffed kind.

When I scanned the information directory (a black, felt board, encased in class, located right inside the front entrance), it said that Mrs. Ballinger was a "Reading Readiness" teacher.

Huh? Reading Readiness?! Yep. It was explained to me that this was a grade which was between Kindergarten and First Grade where kids who had difficulty with some of the basics - phonics, reading, etc...were placed so that they could have an extra year of intensive attention dedicated to bringing them up to snuff.

My sister thrived in Reading Readiness. Mrs. Ballinger was just what she needed.

Through the extra and intensive 1:1 time with her teacher, we learned that she had dyslexia (although I'm not sure if in the early 70's - they called it that).

In addition, Mrs. Ballinger figured out that my sister was an artist and she somehow facilitated an opportunity for my sister to gain additional instruction through the Fort Wayne Arts School. It must have been free because there would have been no way that my family could have afforded to pay for it.

Two days a week, my mother would drive my sister over to the school (I think it was Wednesday after school and Saturday mornings). The building pictured here was a familiar site for me as I always had to ride along.

Truth be told, I was a little jealous that my sister was getting all of this attention. I couldn't even color within the lines and here she was, whipping out these masterpieces which were oooooed and awwwweeeedddd by adults everywhere.

Even today, I am still completely envious of how she can hand sketch a mural on the bedroom wall of one of her kid's room's. The results are always beautiful and I curse the heavens for not blessing me with the same talent. And just to be clear - I can now color within the lines...I just choose NOT TO :).

When I went back to Indian Village in May 2008 to visit, I learned that Mrs. Ballinger had passed away in 2003. When the school underwent remodeling, they created a mural to honor her.

As I looked at it, I smiled. And then I thought about my sister. She was incredibly lucky to be in a school system which recongized that she needed extra assistance before entering first grade. And then, to have a special teacher like Ann Ballinger - that was the icing on the cake. That woman was far ahead of her time. Her individualized approach to solving the challenge of - why is this child having difficulty reading was just so rare. The impact she made on students like my sister - that's a legacy we'd be all lucky to leave behind.

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ANN D. BALLINGER, 74, of Fort Wayne, died Monday, Dec. 1, 2003, at Lutheran Hospital. Born Aug. 22, 1929, in Logansport, she was a 1951 graduate of Ball State with a Masters degree from St. Francis University. Mrs. Ballinger was a Fort Wayne Community Schools teacher, who taught for 40 years, retiring in 2000. She began teaching in New Castle, in 1951, and moved to Fort Wayne, in 1952. She taught at Old Lakeside Elementary, Ward Elementary, Lafayette Center Elementary, Waynedale Elementary and Indian Village Elementary . She was Secretary for the American Association of University Women, Secretary of the Fort Wayne Womens Club, a member of the Local, State and National Reading Associations, Local, State and National Retired Teachers Associations, Coordinator of Project Read at Indian Village School, and a member of Phi Delta Kappa Educational Fraternity. She is survived by her husband, Norman H. Ballinger of Fort Wayne; sons, John S. Ballinger of Fort Wayne, Steven K. Ballinger of San Francisco, Calif.; granddaughter, Lauren Ballinger, of San Francisco; and brother, William Reutebuch of Chicago. Private service is Friday at Klaehn, Fahl & Melton Winchester Road Chapel, 6424 Winchester Road, with visitation from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday. Memorials to Project Read at Indian Village School.

"No amount of thought can ever reveal what comes unexpectedly..."

After we walked out of the library, we turned right, making our way down to my old Kindergarten classroom.

The last time I had seen this beautiful room was - gosh - at least 20 years ago.

Me: I have so many fond memories of my Kindergarten teacher Miss Crouse.

Mrs. Ross: My daughter had her too, but after she had married...

Me: I remember that - then she became Mrs. Ludwig.

Mrs. Ross: Yes, that's right.

Me: I loved my Kindergarden room. It was so well-designed. Big. Airy. Homey. I loved the fireplace/mantle area. At least I think that's what it was. I know it had a lot of brick and Miss Crouse used to sit there with Mr. Peabody. Did you know about Mr. Peabody?

Mrs. Ross: The fireplace area - wow - yes. That was a long time ago. I'm not sure who Mr. Peabody was.

Me: Oh. He was the hand puppet that Miss Crouse used to tell us stories.

As soon as I finished that last sentence - I went to catch my breath and instead - I gasped.

OHMYGOSH! MY KINDERGARTEN ROOM IS GONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the area where it used to be. Now, it was an entrance for the food service personnel.

Me: What?! Where's Room 1? Where's my Kindergarten class at???!!!!

Mrs. Ross: Well, it's not there anymore.

Me: I can see that. Wondering if I was going to hyperventilate...

Before she could go on, a teacher (who was well on her way to giving birth anyday), approached us.

Pregnant Teacher: You remember the Kindergarten class?

Me: Yes! You too? Side note: Who would ever think that I would be so emotional over my Kindergarten class.

Pregnant Teacher: I remember it. The door was over here (she pointed to a specific area). It all went away when we remodeled the building and added on the wing.

Me: Oh. (My mouth was turned upside down in a frown - fer real).

Mrs. Ross: Remember how you used to eat your lunch in the gym?

Me: Oh yeah. We used to have to unload those ungodly tables and then fold them back up again. Ugh.

Mrs. Ross: Now, we have a cafeteria and this area backs up to it.

Me: Okay. (breathing. thinking.) So that place behind the library - the new area established in memory of that little boy...that's where my Kindergarten playground was, wasn't it?

Mrs. Ross: Why yes!

Me: Oh man! I remember the sliding doors in the classroom which led out to that playground. I can't believe it's gone - it's all gone.

As we walked away from the place that used to be, I continued telling her about what I remembered about Room 1.

Me: Miss Crouse assigned us all to a group and each group had their own table. I was at table number 6 (the last one of the bunch). In the middle of the table was a center piece with a white number six pushed into a green styrofoam-like mound, with six bumble bees sticking out, all around. Like they were flying. And there were cubbies. Wooden cubbies where we would store our gym shoes. They were stacked, two on top of each other, like a file cabinet. My cubbie mate was Eugene. I was so in love with Eugene (sigh).

I paused. Boy, I was a raving lunatic.

Me: I'm sorry to just be rambling. That filter I usually have in place - you know the one - where there's at least a six second delay between what I'm thinking and what my mouth says? Yeah...it's just not there today. It's the smell of this school. It has this affect of waking up every single memory I ever had of the place.

She smiled.

Mrs. Ross: Oh, I don't mind. It's nice to hear that you have such fond memories of this place. I've worked here for thirty some years and it means a lot to me too.

I smiled. That Mrs. Ross. She was like so many of the wonderful teachers that I had at Indian Village. sigh.

The tour wasn't over. Oh no. We continued down the hall. We were on our way to Miss McDougall's room.

"I only see clearly what I remember"

Kristina Michele Frazier
1972-73

Kindergarten Picture

Taken at Indian Village Elementary School
Afternoon Kindergarten Group

Teacher: Miss Crouse
Principal: Dr. Schroeder

Quote Courtesy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

As soon as I stepped through the next set of doors, the smell of the school re-awakened decades of stored memories.

To the right, there is a door. That used to be where the nurse's office was. Not anymore - something else was there. To the left, there used to be a school administration directory. That's where you'd see that Miss Crouse was Room 1 and Mrs. Lawson was Room 19. It was a black, felt, square punctuated with white letters and framed with a glass case.

As I walked forward, to the right was the "Principal's" Office. Before I entered, I noticed that to the left was the school gymnasium and straight ahead - HEY WAIT! It was gone. Yes, straight ahead, there used to be two restrooms - one for girls and one for boys. It wasn't there anymore!

In the office, I introduced myself to the woman in charge. No - not the "new" Principal (well - new to me - but Ms. Stephany Bourne has been there for awhile). The real heart and soul of this school - Mrs. Ross. You see, I don't specifically remember Mrs. Ross, but she's been at Indian Village almost since the beginning of time. Her wildly successful daughter - was just two years behind me - so she was the perfect person to give me a tour of the facilities.

I should mention that I picked the absolute worse day to do this. It was the afternoon of the fifth grade convocation. There were tons of kids and parents everywhere (never a bad thing generally) however, I wasn't able to get all of the pictures that I wanted to get because I had to be careful, making sure that no kids ended up in my shots.

Alright - let's start the tour.

Mrs. Ross and I stood in the middle of the office area. We acknowledged that not much had changed (in this area) since the place was built. The long, light oak counter where I would stand in line to purchase my bus pass ($1.50 per week I think) or the place I would stand to turn something in to the school secretary - it was still there.

Oh my! This was the spot where my mom and Dr. Schroeder had a throw down over the buses.

Mom: I don't understand why we have to pay for our kids to be transported back and forth to school.

Dr. Schroeder: The way the rule is set up, if it's under a mile, then we have to charge you.

Mom: It's more than a mile!

Dr. Schroeder: Not as a crow flies.

Mom: Pardon?

Dr. Schroeder: The rule is, mileage is based upon the flight of a crow. He points to a map. From here to here is just under a mile.

Mom: Points to the map too. My children have two legs and no wings therefore, you should be measuring based upon the route that they would have to walk she points to Kyle Road, Sandhill Drive, Tielker, Engle Road. THAT is over a mile.

Dr. Schroeder: I'm sorry Mrs. Frazier. I can only go by the rules set forth by the school board.

When I told this story to Mrs. Ross - she immediately knew where I lived. It was a humorous moment :).

When we walked out of the office, I pointed out things (the school directory, the restrooms) to Mrs. Ross - mostly - out of a need for some validation i.e. was I crazy?! She was pretty amazed at my memory and she acknowledged that yes, I was right. And throughout our tour, she was a fantastic validator for me.

I asked her about Dr. Schroeder. Apparently, he had retired a few years back and during a celebration for the school (fifty years), there was a big to-do thrown for him and his lovely wife in honor of the school and his retirement. How sad that I had missed this (but of course - I didn't know about it).

As we started to walk down the hall - I saw a door on the right - right before the first hallway. Hey - that used to be the teacher's lounge - where they all went to smoke.

Yep.

And what happened to the restrooms? They weren't there anymore. Instead, the library had been built out from this area.

Mrs. Ross: When the school added on the wing (2001), we also did some rearranging. That included changing the set-up of the library.

And stepping into the library, it was a beautiful site to see. Well maintained. Lots of books. And now, a great view to the outside - to this grassy, gazebo-like, special place that was just established in the name of a student who had died a few years back (I'm sorry that I cannot recall the name of the student). On that particular day, they were planning on holding a dedication ceremony.

When we stepped outside and looked at the area, I was having some major cognitive dissonance. It looked familiar. But this was new. I didn't spend a lot of time in that girls restroom (that used to exist in this place). And surely, there was no window to look outside to this area. Hmmmm.....I said nothing - I was going crazy.

Or was I?!