Have you noticed that the older you get, the sharper your long-term memory becomes? (We won’t talk about the short-term memory!) A few of my classmates and I have been together since the 6th grade at Kingsbury Elementary School. That is a very long time. All the way through graduation at Kingsbury High School.
Memories are amazing when you think about it. I can remember my sixth grade teacher, Miss Glorioso, like it was yesterday. She was beautiful. Italian with coal black hair and big, dark brown eyes. I believe we were her first class to teach after graduating from a university in Mississippi.
Miss Glorioso actually made learning fun and I think that is about the highest compliment one could bestow upon a teacher. She smiled a lot and loved teaching. If she couldn’t get a point across, she’d act it out in front of the class – like action verbs. I think she is the one to thank for my strong grasp of grammar. I remember once, much like the American Girl movie, Molly – An American Girl on the Home Front, her handsome fiance came for a visit to the classroom. The rest of the girls and I were in love with the romance of it all!
My classmates and I have been wondering what happened to Miss Glorioso. Using our sleuthing skills, a few online sites and the help of a classmate’s 6th grade report card, we determined that her given names were Jennie Marie. Through Ancestry.com, I found that she grew up in Mississippi. We just don’t know her married name. We don’t know if she’s still alive. I’m guessing she was about 11-12 years older than we were at the time, so she would be 79-80 now. I have no idea how long she taught or if she would remember her class from 1956-57…but the class remembers her quite fondly. It would be wonderful to know if she is still alive and how she is doing. We would love to tell her how much she meant to each of us all these years later.
If you know Miss Glorioso, would you email me at the contact link above? There are a bunch of us “sixth-graders” who would like to say Hello and Thank You!
Speaking of long-term memory, I believe the dress I was wearing in the photo above was lavender. I was wearing the “crinolines” beneath to make the dress stand out! Such was the style way back then…
GREAT NEWS: I found Miss Glorioso!!!
We just had a nice telephone conversation,
and she was so happy to learn that we remembered her!
6 Comments
Tim Perkins
I did a zabasearch on Jennie Marie Glorioso and got nothing…knowing her fiance’s last name would probably help a lot, but that option is probably long since gone. It is amazing how much impact our early teachers had on us!
Dianne
Thanks for the search, Tim. For the longest time, I thought I wanted to be a teacher and that was thanks to Miss Glorioso. Of course, years passed and I became a RN. I did not find her in the SSDI death database but I don’t have her married name. I contacted the Memphis board of education but they were no help!
Carole Perkins
I was just reading your profile. You say your are grandmother to eight, 2 grandsons and 7 granddaughters……that’s nine. 😉 I know there must be an explanation, because I know grammar is not your only strong suit……just saying……
Dianne
Evidently, you found a spot I had not updated 10 months ago when my youngest grandchild was born – sharp eyes there! I will definitely take care of that! 😉
quilt32
So happy that you found your teacher after all these years. Beautiful picture – I can just imagine the dress being lavender.
Lillian
Dianne
Thank you, Lillian. My mother was a wonderful seamstress and made most of my clothes…including this dress.