Off To School

        Our mom worked as a school secretary in Mendham Twp Elementary school (K-8th), where we kids went to school too. It was a great job for her. She really enjoyed it and it allowed her to get to know lots of children and their families in the community of Brookside.  Then, in the Fall of 1972 the community opened a Middle School (6 - 8th grades) and she started working there, and left what then became the elementary school  (K - 5th).  

A photo of our mom (Mrs. Hinch) when she worked at the schools

My parents, Dot and Roscoe, moved to Mendham Township with my brothers Jim and Bob (Roger came along a little later) on July 3, 1957, per my brother Jim. I would have been 11 at the time. So all the years we were in school there, she was there too. That definitely had its good and bad points. You sure didn’t want to get into trouble and have to go to the principal’s office, that’s for sure. 

Our mom had a career as a secretary long before she started working at the school. Even though her first course of study in high school was college prep, she had to change that to business. The Great Depression was the main cause of this course change. Here is an excerpt from a book of memories she wrote years ago.

In her words, explaining her high school studies

During WWII, she was secretary to an Army general, who was assigned to work in Atlantic City (where she grew up). She received her Civil Service Appointment when the war started. And that is where she met her future husband, our dad Roscoe. He was in the Army, and stationed in Atlantic City. So that’s a little history of her work life prior to working in the school. 

As a school secretary, she started her job each year about two weeks prior to the actual start of school. And then she worked two weeks after school was over. So she was home with us most of the summer.  And the hours were good, because they coincided with the school day. 

The Mendham Twp Elementary School

I remember how much she loved working at both these schools. The people she worked with became great friends. They had a lot of laughs and good times together. She loved all the students as well, at both the older Elementary school and the new Middle school. And from some of the recent connections I have made on social media with some of those students who are now senior citizens, they all remember her very fondly too. I love that!! And believe me, she would love it too!!

Dot (Mrs Hinch) at her desk at the Middle School in 1975

If there was one part of her job that she was not crazy about, it was designing the school bus routes. I can’t imagine doing that without today’s technology, can you? I don’t know how she did it. There were quite a few people that had issues from time to time about pick up and drop off times, and which bus their kids would ride. But somehow to pulled it off and things went pretty well. 

Finally, in May 1976, Mom (Dot, Mrs Hinch) retired, and she, her husband Roscoe, and their youngest son Roger relocated to Hendersonville, NC, just south of Asheville. The school gave her a fabulous going away party, part of which I am sharing here. She talked about that “send-off” for many years to come. I am so glad I saved one or two things of memorabilia from that day. I actually have an 8-track cassette of the school staff singing the lyrics to these songs!! You can't believe how much laughter there was at some of these lines. They had to stop many times for the laughter to die down. I can't get the audio recording into this blog, but I'll send it to anyone interested.