But the most important lesson she taught us
occurred the first two weeks of school and I have never forgotten it.

After introductions on that first day of school, Mrs. Wilkenson pulled a whistle out of her desk drawer. She told us that when she blew the whistle we were to all rush to the kitchen area and take everything off the counters. Take everything out of the cupboards. Take everything out of the drawers. Take everything from every nook and cranny that we could find, except from the refrigerator. We were to pile all that stuff in the middle of the floor on top of clean white bed sheets. We were supposed to have this task done before she blew her whistle again. We thought it was a strange request but we were happy to oblige and completed the task in record time. Mrs. Wilkenson just beamed at how well we had done! Then she told us that she was going to blow her whistle again and this time we were to mix all that stuff up so that nothing was organized at all! She didn't want so much as a single spoon lying next to another spoon! We had a great time with this activity. When we were done, Mrs. Wilkenson invited us to sit down and we had cold milk and chewy "toll house chocolate chip" cookies. Right before the end of class bell rang Mrs. Wilkenson told us that the next time we came to class, we would eat "snicker doodle" cookies, drink milk and have more fun! Hooray! Home Economics was a great class!

The next day of class was Wednesday. The original fourteen boys and girls arrived breathless for class. This time they brought with them the six boys from the shop class next door. Home Economics class was more fun than shop! Mrs. Wilkenson just beamed and said she had plenty of cookies.
That day all we had to do before cookies and chocolate milk was to put all that stuff away that we had put on the floor the day before. And wonder of wonders, Mrs. Wilkenson said she didn't care where we put it! Just put it "some place!" What fun!
(I must comment that the boys were especially talented at this activity.)
We finished quickly with only a few mishaps of things falling out of cupboards onto heads and toes, but no blood was shed. We enjoyed our "snicker doodles" and milk while we listened to stories about "France" for the rest of the hour. Mrs. Wilkenson told us that the next day we would divide into two groups and we would make the cookies! Hooray!

The third day of class, which was Friday, the original fourteen kids showed up, plus the six from shop, plus five more girls from the short hand class. Home Economics was certainly fun!
This time Mrs. Wilkenson was standing in the kitchen with a beautiful blue paisley apron tied around her slim waist. It was just the perfect color to accent her silky, golden blond hair and blue eyes.
We assembled in the kitchen. Mrs. Wilkenson divided us into four groups and passed out cookie recipes. She said everything we needed was in the kitchen, but we would have to find it. The first group to have their cookies finished would be waited on by the losers when we had our afternoon snack. There were plenty of measuring spoons, measuring cups, cookie sheets, hot pads, etc., for everybody. She told us that she wouldn't help locate those items, but she would be available for cooking instructions and advice. It was amazing how long it took to find all the ingredients and utensils that we needed and how many arguments occurred while we looked! That had to be the shortest hour in history because the bell rang before either group had cracked an egg. Mrs. Wilkenson just beamed and said that she'd see us next week. That day we left class hungry!

Monday arrived and everyone showed up for class. The first thing we noticed were those big white bed sheets in the middle of the kitchen floor again. Next we noticed that Mrs. Wilkenson had a big plate of "gingerbread men" waiting for us, so we all had an idea of what was in store for us...and it wasn't baking! Before we got to eat those delicious gingerbread men, Mrs. Wilkenson had us take everything out of the cabinets and sit it on those clean white bed sheets in the middle of the floor.
That day while we ate our cookies and drank our milk, Mrs. Wilkenson asked us what went wrong when we tried to bake our cookies during the previous class? Everyone knew the correct answer; we couldn't find anything and we were in each other's way. Mrs. Wilkenson just beamed that secret smile of hers and began talking to us about organization of our workspace and while she was drawing little diagrams on the chalkboard. She talked to us about storing similar items together to save us steps. About storing them closest to where they were used to keep us from walking back and forth. She talked about assembling our utensils and ingredients before we started cooking, not as we cooked. She talked to us about what a recipe was and how it listed what was needed to assemble and then told us what to do with it. She talked to us about using the right ingredients and about substituting ingredients. She talked to us about assigning tasks and everyone doing what they were supposed to do. She talked to us about cleaning up our mess after we were finished and putting everything back where it belonged so we could find it next time. She told us that she was going to give each of us a task list and over the next week we would work in groups to decide where the best place to store things would be and then we were going to put them there. We were also going to make a diagram of where things were and post it on the front of the refrigerator. It seemed like a simple enough task, but it took us all week to figure out how to work together and agree where everything should be stored and then to put it there neatly and indicate it on the required diagram.

Monday morning of our third week of Home Economics class we walked quietly into the room and sat down at our seats. No big white bed sheets on the kitchen floor. No cookies and milk waiting for us. Instead there was Mrs. Wilkenson wearing her pretty apron with her whistle in hand.
This time we located our utensils and ingredients without fighting. We made our cookies and we had time to eat them before class was over. We were all very proud of our accomplishment.

Twenty-five years later, each and everyone in that classroom is a success in whatever field he or she has chosen. I am certain that each of us can contribute a large portion of our success to that exercise in organization from Mrs. Wilkenson's Freshman Home Economics class.