Norma Elizabeth Collier Melder

Married right out of college. Taught high school for 30 plus years, earned my BS. M.S, and Ed. Sp. from NSU. Taught at NSU also. Have been busy raising children and teaching. At one point I retired, but was so bored I had to return to teaching. When it is no longer fun, I will retire for good. I have authored a cookbook entitled COOKIN' ON THE CANE WITH NORMA. I currently am working on a children's cookbook. At the present time I am teaching at Red River High School. I just added a few new pictures to show a little more of my family. I plan to teach this year and retire for sure, unless something convinces me to do otherwise. Chris, my youngest, got married since I posted last, and are now making me a grandmother again. That's happening the end of January.

I lived right across the street from the high school as everyone knows, so there are many incidents at school I remember. Many times I would look out of the American History class and see my dad working in the front yard. Mr. Simpson lived across the street from me and he was such a sweet man. The whole high school experience was special. I could tell a story about all of my good friends. And Bev is right-- kids in high school today will never be able to experience the fun times we had in school when things were simple. One particular incident that sticks out in my mind is when I had my mother's car and had driven a lot that night, I had put a lot of miles on it. I was at Bernard's Dairy and backed around the block there to deduct the miles I had put on it. It took forever! How crazy was that? Also, when I was in the 7th grade (Mr. Parks was my teacher) Nancy Clayton and I participated in a most unlikely incident. Bruce Guilliams's desk was between me and Nancy. I would move up and push his desk, and Nancy would say "Mr. Parks, Bruce is bumping my desk." Then she would push him back and cause his desk to bump mine, and I woulld say, "Mr. Parks, Bruce is bumping my desk." We got him in so much trouble. Can you imagine two "sweet girls" doing something like that? And then there was the time in the same class that Mr. Parks got so mad at Reuben that he threatened to throw him out of our classroom window. (We were on the 3rd floor!!
Some of my fondest memories were the days we received our yearbooks. We would sit up and down the stairs, in the classrooms and write sweet, and silly things in each other's yearbooks. Reading those signings now certainly gives way to memories of bittersweet, simpler days that kids today will never know.
Other memories include the Friday night football games and walking our favorite beau off of the field after the game -- then to the dance. Of course my parents (mainly my mother)were so strict that I could usually stay out only about 30 minutes. Being home at 10:30 was the limit. I never really understood that early curfew!
One more incident in school (I think it was the eighth grade---not really high school). I had always wanted to wear glasses, why I don't know. I took my mother's one day and wore them to school. Couldn't see anything!!. When I came home that day my mother confronted me by saying she had seen me walking across the street to Sibley's Store wearing her glasses. Needless to say, I never did that again!.