IN January of 1928 an elderly member of our church congregation came to me saying she was physically unable to continue teaching the Kindergarten-primary class in Sunday School and wished me to take over. I said I would consider it.

I already knew there were only three pupils in her class. I thought of several youngsters living within a mile of Breakabeen and talked the matter over with my mother and younger sister. We decided on a Valentine’s Day party with an invitation going to all those children. I would send to David C. Cook Publishing Co.¹ for supplies and make cookies and a freezer of ice cream to serve at the party.

Saturday afternoon brought nine children to the church hall – eight girls and one boy. The janitor had built the fire in the old iron stove. Two of the children were beginners and the rest were primaries. I gave the beginners the lesson cards and the other children lesson leaflets and an activities sheet.

I could play simple songs on the old organ, so we sang “Jesus Loves Me” and “My Country ’Tis of Thee.” We played a couple games, then did a marching song and then had refreshments. All the children seemed to have a good time and all were in Sunday School the following Sunday.

We enjoyed Sunday School and I well remember a couple of interesting things that happened. One day I heard one of the girls squeal – the boy had her bent over kissing her. I wrote a note to his mother and sent him home. He came back with a note from her to me (they lived next door to the church) and with tears running down his face said, “Mildred, I love you just the same!”

Another time after our regular lesson we talked about how we might be helpful in our homes and one little girl said “I help – I empty the pots each morning!” We need to remember this was in the 1920s and those children would now be about eighty years old.

Gradually this became an all-girls class and we organized, calling ourselves “The Builders.” I purchased a little gold pin made like a mason’s trowel for each one. We chose a class song and a Bible verse from Jeremiah. We met once a month at the girls’ homes and at mine and chose different activities.

One year we made banners. One member of the class took pictures of them and I sent them to David C. Cook Publishing Co. where they earned third prize in the nation. Another year, with a lot of help from a local teacher, we made a crèche – cleaning and painting the green ware before it was fired. The crèche is still displayed in the church at Christmas time.

We also enjoyed going on picnics in summer and attending other churches like the Catholic shrine at Auriesville. I loved all those children through the years and taught in Sunday School for 50 years. Kindergarten and primary classes grew into junior high school classes and one of my students said “I’ve never had a Sunday School teacher but Mildred.”

1. A publisher of Sunday School materials.