8/5/2009 6:00:00 PM VICKERS/The disappearing study hall
By OVID VICKERS
When most states required only sixteen units in order to complete the requirements for a high school diploma one period during each school day was designed as a study hall. The study hall was supposed to be a time when students could work on the next day's assignments, read a book or newspaper, and seek help with any academic problems they might have.
The teacher (or librarian) who supervised study hall seldom enjoyed the assignment. It is very difficult to keep order with 25 or 30 energetic teenagers sitting next to each other around library tables. Why library tables? Well, most study halls were scheduled in the school's library.
I well remember Mrs. Stanley who supervised the study hall when I was in the ninth grade. Mrs. Stanley was a large formidable woman who wore half-glasses, sometimes called reading glasses. If a pencil was dropped, if a student coughed, whispered or sighed, Mrs. Stanley looked over her glasses and directed a withering look which swept the entire study hall. I still associate that look with a lighthouse directing its light across a choppy sea.
Study hall was a great place for aspiring artists to draw pictures in their notebooks. My friend Vernon McCranie was pretty good at drawing nude human figures. His artistic talent suffered greatly as a result of Mrs. Stanley's sharp eye. One day she left her desk and walked around the room. Vernon was so intent on drawing a curvaceous female figure that he did not notice Mrs. Stanley peering over his shoulder. You guessed it. The picture was confiscated as evidence; Vernon was sent to the principal's office.
By the time we were in the ninth grade, we had crossed the bridge from childhood. We were in our teen years, and girls had suddenly become important in our lives. Students were not supposed to "court" in study hall, but notes were passed; hands were held under the table; and "smitten" boys stared across the room beyond the encyclopedias, the globe suspended from the ceiling, and the library catalogue. They stared at the girl across the room with the hope that she might look back and smile.
There are couples all across the land who discovered each other in study hall. It is a pity that many of their children will never have the opportunity to meet a future wife or husband in a study hall.
Now that states require more than sixteen credits (Carnegie Units) for graduation and also because high schools now offer greatly expanded curriculums and extra-curricular programs, study halls (although they do still exist on a limited basis) continue to be attended by a limited number of students.
When study halls were required of all students, it became a great challenge for students to find a way to "get out of study hall." If the senior play, a traditional activity in most small schools, was in rehearsal, the teacher direting the play would often schedule a rehearsal during study hall, a delight to the students of course.
Those students who helped publish the school paper or helped out with the yearbook could always avoid study hall by claiming they had work to do for one of these publications. Athletes seldom went to study hall. It seemed that ball practice went on every hour of the school day, especially during study hall.
Pranks were often played and were expected by those who found themselves stuck in study hall. Anything which made girls scream was considered great sport. Some boy who was not afraid to pick up a lizard might catch one on the school grounds during recess. If study hall followed recess, he would release the lizard on top of one of the study hall tables and smile innocently as the lizard darted around and the girls screamed. Of course, no one knew where the lizard came from. It apparently found its way into the room through an open window.
Food was not allowed in the study hall, but those who sat in a study hall in the past will remember the sound of a Baby Ruth bar or a Coconut Plank being surreptitiously unwrapped. One of my classmates was very fond of licorice. Just before he went into study hall, he would cram a long black twist of licorice into his mount. He chewed very slowly and quietly to keep from being noticed. The only problem was the odor of licorice permeated the air at the table where he sat. When students asked permission to move to another table, you knew his enjoyment of licorice was about to end.
Schools have changed in the past fifty years. Rural schools, because of consolidation, have almost completely disappeared. School curriculums and activities have undergone great changes. Study halls are not longer required as students have other options.
I do not regret the time I spent in study hall. I am sure I did not utilize my time wisely, but I have some fond memories of the teachers and fellow students who were a part of my study hall experience more than 50 years ago. I am sure those of us who are still around remember Mrs. Stanley making a concerted effort to keep us in line and encourage us to use our time wisely.
