Grandma Liza sits at the left. Aunt Sara is standing in the middle, and Aunt Edith, the aunt I never met, was at the right. Aunt Ada is standing at the right at the rear, and an older brother, the oldest in the family, is in the middle at the back. He died very young of problems with his lungs. Grandma Liza had severe allergies. 
I will always remember Grandma Liza repeating continually, it's not good to be too smart. Aunt Edith graduated from college when she was 19.
She was extremely bright, but some problems appeared that explained why I never met her. She refused to be around small children, because she was germophobic when it came to being around little ones.
Each time we were in Boise, my father would call, and she would say, "Oh, bless your heart, but that's OK."
I never met her, not even once. I'll always regret that, because I would love to have known what she was like.
Lewis Ambrey Thomas, who was the superintentendent of Malad City Schools from 1924-1927, signed grandma's yearbook and added "add more honors to the name of 'Thomas.'"
I found it interesting to read a bit about him. He graduated from Albion, which was what eventually became ISU, the University of Idaho and the University of Chicago.
Teachers at Malad High studied from various schools, the College of Idaho, the University of Washington, the University of Nebraska, the University of Colorado, the University of Minnesota and Northwestern. Besides civics, history and English, the curriculum offered band and orchestra, Drama, Farm Shop and Agriculture and Home Economics Physics, Chemistry and Latin. One teacher had certification in Spanish and French.
I remember my grandmother telling me she took Latin.
The certificate at the left is an elementary graduation certificate. During those times, many students did not continue their education past the eighth grade. Education was a luxury in the Ward line. Great Grandpa Jesse N. Ward purchased the largest land buy in Idaho's history in the 20's. They bought it before the Great Depression, and they worked the land like it needed to be done.
His sons did not have the chance to finish high school. His partner and brother, however, not only sent his sons to college on "company" money, but they also served missions as well from the same account.
That fact was a situation that festered and finally severed the partnership, and feelings existed between the families for generations. I still feel some of the animosity that existed, especially since that family would tend to drop a gate and let their cattle enter our grain fields. They maintained it was purely accidental, but it happened too frequently.
I also remember my Grandma Liza reminding me about this fact: she never missed school, and this certificate was an award she received after graduating from the fifth grade.
The award, signed on May 23, 1919, represented grandma's ability to be in school a year without a tardy or absence.
As a teacher during my past few years, schools suffered because of students who, with parental support, missed school regularly for hair appointments, lunch dates with friends or skiing or hunting. My senior year found my doing things during the noon hour break that were objectionable, and we were often late. Since I exhibited a lack of seriousness about school, dad had me take a few days and help him on the farm with spring work. He worked me very hard.
At the end of those days, he looked at me and said, "Now if you feel that you don't need to be in school or be on time, you let me know, because I can use the help." His point was not about work, because that would come soon enough on Saturdays or as soon as school ended in the spring, but he wanted me to know that I was to be punctual and in school. Anything less was unacceptable to him.
The last certificate was one Grandma Liza earned at the end of the sixth grade. Things were very pragmatic in my hometown. The person signing the certificate crossed out 191__ and replaced the second one with a two, so it could then read 1920. I guess they saved a bit on certificates, and at that time, there was no using a xerox machine or anything else to create them. You purchased them special for students, so if you had a bunch left over, you improvised and used old ones before ordering a new batch.
The only time I felt out of patience with Malad School District was when my wife and I taught school there. It was the 80's, and my wife's elementary science book made a statement that talked about a future time: "Someday when man reaches the moon. . ."
It was unacceptable. Students are important, and outdated books are not acceptable, especially when it comes to a science book that obviously is obsolete for 20 years or more.
The final picture shows Aunt Edith and Aunt Ada standing at the rear. Grandma Liza's older brother stands at the center. Aunt Sara and Grandma Liza sit left and right of Great Grandpa Thomas and Great Grandma Thomas. Uncle Dave stands at the bottom.
My great grandfather had a severe drinking problem that obviously embarrassed my grandmother, but she always told a family story about his sense of humor and about the cruelty that sometimes existed in a small town. Once he sat on a step in town at a business, and a group of men were laughing and looking at him. One approached.
"Dave," he said to my Great Grandpa Thomas, "where did you get such a big nose?"
"I keep it out of other people's business and give it a chance to grow," he said without hesitating.
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