Allen Elementary was a fun school to attend. I had great teachers, memorable experiences, and it was the place where I had my first crush and won my first championship. They may have been the victories of a second and third grader, but they were milestones nonetheless.
Our P.E. teacher was incredibly organized and put together a kickball tournament during lunch. Each grade had teams made up of students from different classrooms, and the tournament stretched over a few weeks. Every team played the same number of games, but the standings determined who would be crowned champion.
My team wasn’t made up of the most popular kids. Since I was new, I wasn’t picked right away. We started off okay, but then we caught fire, dominating the competition. For weeks, we were on a hot streak, earning respect and even a little reverence. Of course, it was third-grade kickball, so it’s not like there was any news coverage! But for one of the first times in my young life, I felt special—I was part of something bigger.
We won the third-grade championship and basked in our glory for a couple of weeks until the next big thing came along. A quick postscript: we played an exhibition game against the fourth-grade champions and got humbled pretty quickly.
Around that time, I also started noticing girls. This kicked off a long streak of unrequited crushes. I was an introvert at heart, too shy to talk to them. I don’t remember her name, but I do remember “our song” — Dizzy by Tommy Roe. It was catchy, popular, and I couldn’t wait to hear it on my transistor radio. I’d sing it at the top of my lungs, imagining that somehow, wherever she was, she could hear me.
In some ways, I wish I could remember her name—just like I wish I could recall the name of my fourth-grade crush at Harrington Elementary. By fifth grade, I finally remembered the names of my crushes, though that did nothing to improve my success rate or ease my shyness.
Still, I’ll always be grateful to Allen Elementary for the great memories I made in the short time I was there.
Edited for clarity using AI – Randy