The twins arrive at school

_Elsa_

They arrive at school and begin walking towards the school entrance.  Jean-Luc suddenly notices that his brother is carrying a lollipop with him.

“What are you doing with that lollipop?” Jean-Luc asks. 

Philippe tells his brother that he was reading on Google about giving an apple to the teacher on the first day of class.  He takes out his phone and googles it so that Jean-Luc can read all about it. 

‘The tradition of giving an apple to a teacher started in the 1700s before governments around the world paid for the education of its people. Poor families in Denmark and Sweden gave teachers baskets of apples and potatoes as payment for teaching their children. Until the 1800s, American children were taught by hired tutors or were sent to private schools by their upper and middle class families. But for the lower classes, children were taught by apprentices or by church-funded schools. Then, in the 1800s, Americans started various social reforms such as food sanitation, improved treatment of the mentally ill, and educational reforms. Schools became publicly funded to ensure that every student was learning the same material. Unfortunately, in remote areas of the country such as the western frontier, communities were too poor to afford a teacher’s wages. Families worked out a deal with teachers to exchange lessons for produce from their farms. Students would haul bushels of fruits and vegetables to classrooms in order to pay for their lessons. The most popular produce given to teachers was apples as they grow commonly in a variety of climates. These apples were commonly used to make hard apple cider, regarded at the time as a safer beverage than water.’ (Info here)

As they walk into the school hallway, Philippe explains to his brother that they didn’t have any apples at home so he decided to bring a lollipop instead. Jean-Luc is flipping out a bit. Class hasn’t even started and already Philippe is doing his own thing! 

Let’s continue here - The twins meet their first teacher

Start at the beginning – School days, school days ……….

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