Beacon Heights Elementary School

While I was in 4th grade at Dilworth, building began on Beacon Heights. I went to 5th grade there. Then in 6th grade we lived with Nana & Pa, my grandparents, for a year while our new house in East Mill Creek was being built.
Years later, in about 2001, I helped remodel a house across the street from Beacon Heights. While I was working on that house, Beacon Heights was torn down so it could be rebuilt.
I had Mr. Kearns for 5th grade. He loved to tease the girls. More than once he had a girl in tears from going too far with his teasing. I started to do very well scholastically at that time. But Mr. Kearns tried to give at least one poor grade to almost everyone. One report card he gave me a 'D' in spelling. It was my worst subject. I think I had maybe missed 2 words during that report period. Anyway, Dad got all over me for getting a 'D', and wouldn't believe that I didn't deserve it. I didn't misspell any more words that year, and for most of the rest of my life.
Mr. Kearns was not well liked by the parents. In addition to the teasing, he was erratic in his discipline. Many kids were punished severely for minor infractions. One boy was dismissed from school for being late to class one time. Mrs. Cosgrove, the principal, was not much better and even backed him up on some of his extreme discipline. A year after I left, the parents became very angry at his actions and demanded his termination. He was fired. Mom told me about that.
I ran into many of my friends from Beacon Heights years later at the University of Utah. I had a crush on Kathy Erickson. She later became a professional model for ZCMI while she was in high school. Linda Brown and Suzanne Frisby were in the women's auxiliary, Angel Flight, while I was in Air Force ROTC. Linda was one of the girls that Mr. Kearns liked to tease. I didn't pay much attention to Suzanne in 5th grade. When Mom saw the class pictures, she told me Suzanne would be the prettiest girl in the class when she grew up. I thought Suzanne was kind of plain. But Mom was right.
Many of the boys in the neighborhood liked to gather on the lawn at Beacon Heights to play football after school. That was my first experience at being really good at a sport. At least I was good on defense. I could get to the quarterback very quickly and whoever was playing that position would yell at his teammates to block me, but I still got through most of the time. However, I did not remember these experiences, and had no confidence in my abilities when I got to high school, so I didn't even try out for the football team there.
I do remember getting a severe black eye during a snowball fight that year. Someone threw a chunk of ice that hit me in the eye. The eyelid was cut through. The teachers banned snowball fights after that.