Glenda Sue Thibodeaux Thomas – Hamilton Lab 1963; Elementary Education, 1971; M. Ed., 1975

Glenda Sue Thibodeaux Thomas

Recollections of a Hamilton Lab School Student (1955 – 1963) and USL  – 1971 and 1975

                The following essay is a collection of memories of my family and their relation to USL. My name is Glenda Sue Thibodeaux Thomas (1971, 1975).  All of my siblings graduated from USL.  They are Debora Jane Thibodeaux Wilkerson (1978), Keith Joseph Thibodeaux (1987), and Ginger Maria Thibodeaux Guillory (1981, 1987).  My mother, Mary L. Borel Thibodeaux (1975, 1979), graduated from USL, and my father, Waldo Joseph Thibodeaux took courses at USL. Unlike most USL graduates who attended USL straight out of high school,  we started our education at USL’s Hamilton Lab School. So USL has been a major part of our lives since we were very young.  My husband, Glenn Michael Thomas (1971, 1975), like many members of his family, attended USL only as a college student.

                My parents are originally from small rural communities near Lafayette.  Their families moved to Lafayette in the early 40’s seeking employment.  After my parents married, my father was employed by the Lafayette Utility System.

                Soon after my birth in 1951, my parents purchased a lot three blocks from the lab school.  My parents purchased property near the lab school because they had heard of the excellent education provided there.  Both my mother and father had only attended school up to the eighth grade, like many young couples at that time, they placed a high value on a good education and felt that advanced education was the key to happiness and success.  During the summer before I entered first grade, my parents built their home on the corner of Auburn Avenue and Coolidge; they still reside there.

I started at the Hamilton Lab School in September 1955 and attended through eighth grade.  I remember walking by the kindergarten class located downstairs near the stairs and closest to the front foyer.  I would walk home at the end of the day, sometimes taking the route down Tulane Street.  I would walk by the nursery school, located where the girls dorms are now, and would see the small children playing in the tree house near the school.  Once, I questioned my mother about why we had not attended nursery school or kindergarten at Hamilton.  She responded that my father thought that we were too young to be away from home at that age and that age six years was a good time to begin one’s education.

There was only one section each of nursery and kindergarten.  It was not compulsory and these classes were made up mostly by the children of the SLI faculty.  It was during my eight years at the Lab School that SLI became a university and was renamed USL.  Grades one through seven had two sections each and eighth grade had only one section.  The students remained together from first through seventh grade.  In eighth-grade half of the students had to go to Lafayette Elementary School which was located on University (then College) Avenue.  Some students would voluntarily choose to go to Lafayette Elementary, for it was considered to have more of a high school atmosphere.  My father left no choice for my siblings and me.  We would remain at the Lab School, for that was where one could get the best education.  The only obstacle was the first day in eighth grade when, if enough students did not volunteer to go to Lafayette Elementary, names were drawn to see who would get to stay at Hamilton.  The eighth grade class was located in an old military wooden frame building behind the main school building.

I attended the Hamilton Lab School for eight years.  I was a quiet child and took school  seriously.  Upon finishing my eighth year, we graduated in a small ceremony in the auditorium.  At that ceremony, I remember well Mr. Carson, our principal, asking me to stand up and be recognized for never missing a day of school in eight years.  I held my perfect attendance record throughout grade school, plus first through twelfth grade.  There was no perfect attendance recognition upon graduating from high school.

My brother and two sisters also attended the Hamilton Lab School.  We cherish the memories of our years there.  We walked to school every morning down one of two streets that led directly to Hamilton, Tulane and Auburn Avenue.  In the morning and afternoon recesses we walked out to the young oak trees skirting the block of property on which Hamilton sits.   During my school years, Hamilton School shared the block of property with no other building except the small frame building used as a nursery school and the even smaller frame building known as “the Brownie Hut.”  At lunch time, we walked home to a hot meal with our family and returned to school at the end of the thirty minute period.  Sometimes, usually once a month, mom would let us eat in the cafeteria as a treat.  The cafeteria was located in the basement of the school.  I remember putting our heads down on our desks after lunch and listening to the hum of the small black oscillating fans attached to the walls of our classroom.

So many things set the Hamilton Lab School apart from other public schools at the time.  The little brown wooden desks with unattached chairs are atypical of any school I have ever been in.  I have one of these little desks, and I cherish it.  Comparing school time schedules, the Hamilton Lab School started and ended later in the day than other public schools at the time.

Unlike students at other schools, we always had more than one teacher every year.  A student teacher was assigned to each class, sometimes one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  In one instance that I can remember, the university had an abundance of education students; therefore, we had two student teachers assigned to us in the morning and two in the afternoon.  Student teachers were always an advantage.  They planned wonderful lessons in their preparation for becoming future teachers.  In some instances, they tutored us when we had problems.  Many of these student teachers went on to positions of prominence in the Louisiana educational system.

Several aspects of our educational atmosphere made our school days unique.  Unlike other schools that recorded student progress with grades of F, we were given grades of S-satisfactory, U-unsatisfactory and N-needs improvement in first through seventh grade.  In eighth  grade we received grades that were similar to other schools.  While other students in other schools played the traditional sports, such as baseball, our units of study were supplemented with exposure to unique sports taught by foreign students.  South American students at USL instructed us in playing soccer long before it became the popular sport that it is today.  Once a year after school on Friday afternoon, after school, we had a “penny party.”  Booths were set up in the rectangular area between the eighth-grade and main building; we spent our pennies on a variety of games.  Adjacent to the eighth grade classroom was the industrial arts classroom.  Every year we had at least one unit of study in industrial arts where we created items of metal, wood, or leather.  I still have one of these items–a metal spoon rest with a flower design punched into it.

Fine arts was a special opportunity at the Hamilton Lab School.  During one period a day, students would go to violin classes with Ms. Pulley, a music teacher from the university.  Students could learn to play a band instrument.  For band class, students had to walk to Burke Hall on the campus near Cypress Lake.  I took choral lessons with a university professor; as a result I was able to act in a play at “The King and I”– put on by university students.  Once we performed with the New Orleans Symphony.  We acted in school plays and operas and caroled at Christmas.

So many wonderful teachers at Hamilton made the lab school the great place it was.  My first grade teacher, Ms. Sullivan, was a kind elderly lady who was a year away from retirement and whom everyone loved.  I remember the excitement I felt when chosen as juice helper along with another classmate.  Juice in the morning was an exciting part of first grade.  Another kind soft spoken elderly lady was my fourth grade teacher, Ms. Longenecker, who opened up the world of books for me.  Every day after lunch, she would read a chapter from a children’s novel.  To this day I remember the wonderful character Caddie Woodlawn and her adventures.  Mr. Joseph, my eighth grade teacher, stirred in me an interest in Louisiana and local history that I enjoy today.  Dr. Jane Ellen Carstens, our librarian, managed the wonderful library with tall dark wood shelves filled with the most wonderful books, such as the Childhood of Young American’s series, fairy tales, and the Nancy Drew mysteries.

As a result of Dr. Carstens and other teachers at the Hamilton Lab School, I went on to become a school librarian, a job I love.  Coming full circle, under Dr. Carstens’ guidance, I was asked to help train USL library science students.  The education we received at Hamilton motivated my siblings and me to continue our education through the university level.

In an expression of their value for education, both of my parents attended night classes and graduated from high school in 1967, just before I did.   My father attended USL night classes and his received certification in electrical engineering.  After I became an educator, my mother enrolled at USL and received her bachelors degree in education, received her masters degree in education, taught in the Lafayette Parish Public School System for twenty years, and retired in 1995.  I attended USL and met my husband there.  His parents were graduates of USL.  As a result of their training at SLI, his mother and her sisters were teachers in the Louisiana Education System.  Glenn and I graduated from USL with bachelors, masters and masters +30 degrees in education.  We have taught in the Louisiana Public School System for over 27 years.  My brother graduated from USL and went on to purseu a business career. My two sisters have education degrees from USL and are both teachers in the Lafayette Public School System.

The cycle repeats itself, for now our children are graduates and students at USL. Unlike most graduates who have fond memories of USL college life, USL has been part of our lives since childhood. As children we went to school there and played on the campus.  Our education was enriched by the advantages of a Hamilton Lab School education.  USL prepared us for our roles as parents and providers for our families.  For the remainder of our lives and for our children’s lives, we consider USL an integral factor for us all.

Submitted by Glenda Sue Thibodeaux Thomas