About the diary writer
- Barbara McDowell Whitt
- Kansas City, Missouri, Alexandria, Virginia, United States
- ~ About: A 1961-65 Park College Diary ~ As a high school girl and then a college coed in the first half of the 1960s, I wrote nightly entries on the pages of one-year diaries. In January 2010 I began transcribing the entries into a blog and gave each one a title. I grew up on three farms within 30 miles of Iowa City and the University of Iowa with its Iowa Writers' Workshop. As the oldest of four daughters, in my diaries I sometimes referred to my sisters as "the kids" or "the girls." We helped our parents, but we also had good, wholesome fun - a characteristic I took with me to Park. Park is 300 miles southwest of West Chester, Iowa, in Parkville, Missouri, on the Missouri River 10 miles northwest of Kansas City, Missouri, and across the river from Kansas City, Kansas. In 2000 Park College became Park University. Today Park's flagship campus is in Parkville and there are an additional 41 campus centers across the nation. Park was one of the first educational institutions in the United States to offer online learning. My last post was on May 22, 2018. I may be followed on Twitter @BarbaraMcDWhitt.
Starting Yearly Salary Next Year Will be $5000 - Thursday, November 19, 1964
It was neat going to school in the snow. We've gone in all kinds of weather now. Beauvais' tomahawk mended perfectly and the handle even covers up the crack. I won't know what to do with myself after tomorrow. The feeling is bad enough now, the fact that tomorrow is the last day. We went back out for a faculty meeting at 4:00. That school is really on the ball. Mr. Fincher said their starting [yearly] salary next year will be $5000! Pre-registration for my last trimester at Park was today. I played LLC basketball tonight and made 4 of our 10 points.
Dr. Pai Came to Observe Again - Wednesday, November 18, 1964
It's snowing. I hope we can make it to school in the morning. We've been lucky as far as weather has been. I don't know why it took me so long to do one set of lesson plans and grade language papers tonight. Miss Dyer didn't seem very concerned about the broken tomahawk. Dr. Pai came to observe again. They weren't at the best by any means, but I'm not too concerned. I don't think he's too keen on it being "unreal" either. It will be interesting to know if he has any criticisms.
Beauvais' Indian Tomahawk Was in Two Pieces - Tuesday, November 17, 1964
My first day of "teaching" was a wonderful experience. Nothing out of the ordinary happened until after the first buses had gone. Then some of the kids were up by the Indian table - others were helping me with the bulletin board - when I heard a terrible crash. Beauvais' Indian tomahawk had been dropped and was in two pieces! I hope that the cement that Judy and I went to the Red-X to get tonight holds it. And my day was so nearly over! Well, tomorrow is another day and Dr. Pai is coming to observe. I've been working on my Northwest Indian worksheets.
Am Ready to Teach the Class All Day Tomorrow - Monday, November 16, 1964
We had a student council meeting tonight. Then I took Evelyn home so she could get the cupcakes for Kay's birthday and we had the party tonight. Even though I'm going to teach all day tomorrow I've done all there is to do and have finished sooner than usual. I won't have time for a lot of the Indian unit tomorrow, so since we'll just finish what we had for today, I didn't have any worksheets to make. Then my reading plans were done sooner than usual, too. I didn't get my bulletin board up since the rain kept the class in for recess and phys ed.
Will Try a Different Approach With Worksheets - Sunday, November 15, 1964
I worked on Tuesday's reading lessons this afternoon and this evening. I made five worksheets, four of them original. I'm going to try a little different approach with the Indian unit tomorrow and not have so much detailed information on ditto copies. I'll try "telling it" to them as they do worksheets with less detail. I worked on a new bulletin board - questions and pictures for five groups of Indians. I treated Evelyn at the ACC Hamburg Castle.
Hearing Messiah Choir for the Second Time - Saturday, November 14, 1964
Tonight I went with Evelyn, Mrs. Gatton, Kathy and Elizabeth to hear the Independence Messiah Choir again. It didn't seem to take as long this year. I didn't think it was quite as good as last year, but then I probably wasn't so critical in my first impression. Evelyn went with me to the Kwiki Car Wash in Riverside from 1:00 - 2:00 this afternoon while I washed my car. Mom wrote that Daddy had washed the two at home, so I decided to do likewise.
Philosophy Class Had Coffee at Dr. Myers' House - Friday, November 13, 1964
I finally got a chance to write a birthday thank you letter to Grandma Kay and Schwartzes and Grandma and Grandpa. Jean, Flo and I went to Dr. Myers' house tonight for coffee along with others in the philosophy class. It was a very enjoyable evening. What a week of student teaching! Things went wrong again when Carol had an accident because I didn't let her go to the restroom. I'm glad I inquired of Miss Dyer as to why she was crying so that I was able to explain that Carol was the fourth in a row to ask to go to the restroom and I only let the first one go.
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