Growing up in Ohio
Education: 1970-1978 Elementary 1st-8th, Gustavus Township, OH.
1979-1982 High School, Joseph Badger, Kinsman, OH.
Mom says I was named after her gospel singing quartet "The Melodyairs" with her sister and girlfriends. They even performed on "WHOT" radio. Dad has always called me "Mel" and my sister says "You don't have a lazy bone in you."
In 1969, when Dad and Mom bought their own dairy farm, it was quite busy and they had to go milk the cows with hay left to bale in the field. I could drive tractor but couldn't reach the clutch, so dad just showed me how to turn the tractor off in case something went wrong. Our neighboring farmer couldn't see anyone driving the tractor but the hay was still being baled. Dad told him "my six year old daughter was finishing the baling for us, not to worry."
My freshman year of high school, I missed 42 days of school farming and hunting. School said that only excused doctor notes would be accepted, in which case I wasn't sick and my parents just kept me home to work or hunt. I was a good student with good grades, didn't drink, smoke or do drugs (my parents didn't either). I was in 4-H, FFA, and track. Report cards came in the mail after school was out for the summer and the school failed me, changing three passing class grades and marking them "F" and "retained in grade 9". Dad said "throw it in the trash-you don't need to go back to school". Fall came and Mom said "Your're going to school." I showed up for 10th grade and the school had me scheduled to take the three freshman classes over. I went to the principal's office and said " I won't take them over, I passed them and worked hard without taking books home as we didn't have time on the farm." The school called my parents and Mom came in dirty barn clothes and boots and said "Either put Melody in her 10th grade classes or her Dad is taking her out of school." They put me into all my 10th grade classes that day and I graduated in the top 1/3rd of my class missing over the limit every year of high school to help run the family farm and hunt.
Education: 1970-1978 Elementary 1st-8th, Gustavus Township, OH.
1979-1982 High School, Joseph Badger, Kinsman, OH.
Mom says I was named after her gospel singing quartet "The Melodyairs" with her sister and girlfriends. They even performed on "WHOT" radio. Dad has always called me "Mel" and my sister says "You don't have a lazy bone in you."
In 1969, when Dad and Mom bought their own dairy farm, it was quite busy and they had to go milk the cows with hay left to bale in the field. I could drive tractor but couldn't reach the clutch, so dad just showed me how to turn the tractor off in case something went wrong. Our neighboring farmer couldn't see anyone driving the tractor but the hay was still being baled. Dad told him "my six year old daughter was finishing the baling for us, not to worry."
My freshman year of high school, I missed 42 days of school farming and hunting. School said that only excused doctor notes would be accepted, in which case I wasn't sick and my parents just kept me home to work or hunt. I was a good student with good grades, didn't drink, smoke or do drugs (my parents didn't either). I was in 4-H, FFA, and track. Report cards came in the mail after school was out for the summer and the school failed me, changing three passing class grades and marking them "F" and "retained in grade 9". Dad said "throw it in the trash-you don't need to go back to school". Fall came and Mom said "Your're going to school." I showed up for 10th grade and the school had me scheduled to take the three freshman classes over. I went to the principal's office and said " I won't take them over, I passed them and worked hard without taking books home as we didn't have time on the farm." The school called my parents and Mom came in dirty barn clothes and boots and said "Either put Melody in her 10th grade classes or her Dad is taking her out of school." They put me into all my 10th grade classes that day and I graduated in the top 1/3rd of my class missing over the limit every year of high school to help run the family farm and hunt.