My first year of school was spent in a one room school house at Ramon, NM. I started to school when I was five as Ramon School needed one more student in attendance to meet NM country school quotas. On the morning of the opening day of school my father announced " We're going to school today." As we got in the pick-up and drove toward Ramon School my father explained what "school" was...."children to play with, books to read and I would have a desk of my own". My dad had a large roll top desk at home and he allowed me to use it. He parked the pick-up and we walked across the pasture to a white square looking building and met the Teacher and it was just as my dad had said, "children, books, my own desk....and at the back of the room was a sandbox on legs with little metal cars to play with. All this held my attention as dad slipped out and headed back to his pick-up; but, as he was opening the door to get in he almost stepped on me as I was right in his tracks ready to go back home.

When Ramon School closed we were all transferred to Lon School which was around twenty miles from Ramon. The unique thing about Lon School was it had a "hot lunch" program. I was used to my Mom's cooking so wasn't very enthused about eating at school. We had to "clean our plates".....including eating the "fat" of our meat. Girls wore dresses to school in those days and my dress usually had a big greasy spot in the pocket when I got home. Mom never questioned or complained about that. Eventually, when Lon School closed, each family had to make a decision to transfer to either Roswell, Vaughn, or Ft Sumner schools. Our parents chose Ft Sumner. Dad bought a furnished house which was about two blocks from school. Mom, my brother Terry, and I would leave the ranch very early on Monday mornings and as soon as school was over on Friday our mom would have the car packed and ready to head back to the ranch. My brother, Terry, started first grade in Ft Sumner in 1946. In the summer of 1947 our parents decided to move to Portales.
Thus ended my school days out on the prairie.

Adrienne Joyce