but my elementary school was gone…
The place where I spent so many years of my young life is now a building with its future up in the air. Elementary students in the North Central School District (now Norwayne Local School District) are now attending classes in Creston.
My old elementary school now sits vacant but there are more than enough memories from that place.
I remember sitting on the steps in Mrs. Weldy’s classroom and playing Star Wars with my friend, Stephen in first grade. I remember our teacher’s mother coming in to help with the holiday parties. I remember standing in the lunch line and telling a girl I thought she was cute, an embarrassing moment.
I remember having one of the best teachers ever, Mrs. Elzroth, in second grade. I made not have liked going to school but she always made me seem to forget about that feeling. I spent a good deal of time on the sick cot. Was I really sick or sick of school? Probably both.
In third grade, I remember when the entire class got talked to because we all wouldn’t play with one of our classmates. Mrs. Glessner made sure we all knew that wasn’t okay. I remember it being one of the most scariest moments of my young life. Who could forget the carpet lined bathtub for reading. A brilliant idea! We got to be some of the first students in the new room at the school.
In fourth grade, Mrs. Renninger read to us after recess to calm us down. She read The Great Brain series to us. Another brilliant idea. By the way, I have all of The Great Brain series which I can’t wait to share. We made a ridiculous robot out of cardboard that never quite got finished.
In fifth grade, I had the pleasure of having Mrs. Elzroth as my teacher again. We also traded classrooms and got the wake-up stick from Mr. Ocepek if we weren’t paying attention. Mrs. Elzroth saw red when someone brought some pictures of nude girls into the room. Everyone knew who did it but luckily they didn’t in trouble for it.
In sixth grade, I had Mrs. Carpenter. She taught us words I still don’t use in everyday conversation, like abecedarian. Words were her game. I recall getting writer’s cramp from taking down all of the notes Mrs. Smith put on the chalkboard. I remember us being allowed to run out and watch the blimp as it went over the school. I had Mrs. Allen for math. I remember always being excited to go to her classroom. She was strict but always fun.
Of course, I wouldn’t want to leave out Miss Lea, our gym teacher. Who thought a parachute could be so much fun? Mrs. Chapman taught us art and always had a pharmacist’s coat on to keep the mess off her good clothes. Mrs. Chapman’s mother-in-law was once our music teacher. You’d know when she was coming to the room because you’d hear all of her instruments clanging around in her bag. It was a magical moment for us kids.
We had two great janitors, Mr. Gordon & Mr. Russell, while I was there. Anyone who went to the school remembers cleaning the erasers. So fun!
You can’t forget Mrs. Schaffter and Mrs. Hostettler. I still love the smell of Mrs. Hostettler’s copying machine. Mrs. Schaffter was always there to help when you got a cut or a scratch.
Lastly, Mr Bowers was the man who ran the school. He came up with the Book Worm Club and used it throughout his time as principal. I still have a segment somewhere.
Those memories and so many more will always be a part of me whether the building stays or goes. Sometimes I’d love to replay some of those times again but they’re probably best stored in my mind and now on this post.
