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St. Norbert School
An Alumni Website

Sharon's Class Collection & Recollection

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Class Pictures
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Sharon's Pics
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School Life

Sharon (Totzke) Gawthrop rummaged through archives of mind and closet and extracted remembrances and pictures from her grade school days at St. Norbert School. Now we can call her Sharon the patron saint of class pictures. Most excellent! The links above will usher you into the glorious past of photos where near perfect days of education existed. No??? Well, then tell us how you remember it. These are Sharon's memories:

  • Getting the only "D" I ever received in grade school in Handwriting and working and working until I got better (I admired Carolyn Courneya's penmanship!) until I got an "A"
  • Chasing the boys on the playground (parking lot)
  • David Falzon's accident with the tar barrel when they were re-blacktopping the parking lot
  • Going to mass EVERY morning and girls having to cover their heads
  • Eating cold toast at school after attending mass and receiving Holy Communion
  • Rolling up the waistbands on our skirts to be more fashionable
  • Wearing scapulars around our necks
  • Feeling like a princess wearing my 1st Holy Communion veil
  • Fainting at the altar and sister taking me to the convent for me to lie down. I was so impressed by the convent life, I wanted to be a nun for a whole week!
  • Gold "honor" report cards
  • Being subjected to weekly desk inspections -- I'm still a clean nut to this day!
  • Having hotdog & cupcake days
  • Being on our best behavior when "father" came to the classroom for a visit
  • Donut days
  • Being able to go home for lunch
  • Meeting Cissy Walker and becoming "friends for life"
  • Realizing that there was no St. Sharon in my prayer book and being disappointed
  • Appreciating the sister's kindness and sympathy to me when I was in the 8th grade and trying to cope when my mother was in the hospital once again after delivering a baby boy, who died soon after birth
  • Being told by the teachers that us parochial school kids were much smarter than those "public school" kids
  • Buying pagan baby certificates and being able to name them
  • Spelling bees
Sponsored by the St. Norbert's Alumni Group