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"Memories ... like the shadows of my mind
... misty water-colored memories of the way we were."
We were happy. We loved school. We cared
about each other. We were a family away from home. It was fun.
We were safe.
Our kindergarten room at Margaret Park
had a fresh shellac aroma over the squeaky tan cork floor tiles.
It was so shiny I felt sad when the sand would spill out from
the built-in sandbox onto the floor.
We made wooden match stick huts with real
straw roofs in eighth grade. My parents let me light and blow
out all the wooden matches at home. I felt so grown-up and
trustworthy.
In art class we gathered together on the
rooftop overlooking the water and shoreline of Summit Lake with
our drawing boards, pencils and papers. What a magnificent view
to learn perspective and a deep respect for nature.
Every day we would walk and talk together
to and from school, rain or shine. Only a few students stayed at
school during lunchtime. When I walked alone, my best friend was
my shadow. We would jump high into the air to land on each crack
between the cement sidewalk blocks.
When it was really cold outside, we were
given extra recess to skate in the flooded baseball field bowl
or race our sleds down the ramp onto the ice. How exciting it
was to watch the fire trucks come with their huge water-filled
hoses to fill the bowl for us. We learned about patience waiting
for the water to freeze so we could enjoy the ice.
At Thornton Junior High, Mr. Martin O.
Chapman would chant, "Forward Ever ... Backward Never," as he
glided through the crowded hallways. Standing beside him was
like being under a mighty oak tree. He knew us. He cared. He
encouraged me to be in the Talent Show, which was a step in the
direction of me becoming a majorette. Once, my art teacher, Miss
Allrutz, gave me money and told me to go to the 5 and 10 cent
store to buy our supplies. Boy, did I feel important!
Our saddest day at Kenmore High School
was when our teacher, Mr. Rice, sunk to the roller rink floor at
our Senior Roller Skating Party. We all gathered together at a
friend's home to mourn his passing. We felt he loved us so much
that he wouldn't stay home even when he was really sick. We
experienced a bonding that has lasted throughout the years.
Marching in the Soap Box Derby parade and having my little
sister, Monica, ride the band bus to the Rubber Bowl to perform
with a hula hoop was very special to me. Twirling fire batons
really didn't keep us warm on the football field, but it was
thrilling.
Many special people and events fill my
memories of my school days in the Akron Public Schools system.
Today, I am most happy to be a part of making memories with
children in Akron Public Schools as a teacher.
– by Illona Aleman
I remember when we went home for lunch
every day from Heminger School. In first grade in 1966-67, the
PTA would have a sloppy joe luncheon once a quarter. We thought
that was a real
big deal because no one ate at school back then.
I grew up in Akron schools, and I'm proud
to still be a part of this fine system as a teacher.
– by Sharon Frounfelker
Wasn't it yesterday that I walked home
from Pfeiffer Elementary School all bundled with leggings and
boots, anticipating what my mother would be cooking me for
lunch? Wasn't it yesterday she'd greet me, ever so eager to hear
how my morning had gone and ever so lovingly resnap my coat,
belly full of French toast or hot soup or homemade pie, and send
me off for my afternoon at Pfeiffer?
In those days school would start at 9
a.m. We would leave at 11:30 a.m. to return to our homes where
mothers would greet us, feed us and reassure us daily. Again, we
would walk to school by 1 p.m. Dismissal was at 3:15 p.m.
You see, neighborhood schools were the
magical havens of learning, totally supported by prideful
communities and loving parents who knew education was the key to
the future, its children the window to tomorrow. Surrounded in
love we made our daily treks from one loving, respectful, safe
place to another.
Mrs. Bey, my first-grade teacher, also my
older brother's (of six years) and my younger sister's (of five
years) first-grade teacher, knew Mr. and Mrs. Moore and their
children. We spanned 12 years of carnivals and cake walks and
sloppy joes and Little Bo Peep costumes. She loved us.
Those elementary years began with Mrs.
Bey and ended magnificently with our sixth-grade teacher, Mrs.
Friarson. Her daily Bible stories proved to be a strong and
lasting and significant cornerstone of all of our lives. Maybe
she was the one who taught me to " ... do unto others as you
would have others do unto you. ... " It has served me well as a
single rule I used as an Akron Public Schools teacher for almost
eight years where I wrote the high school speech curriculum
which mandated speech as a graduation requirement. Everything
fits within that guideline she taught so well, so long ago. She
captivated us with her stories.
Those walks to and from school, whether
alone through new-fallen snow, or coupled with friends and
laughter, were always a journey to the magical, safe, wondrous
time of childhood. Sometimes during recess, I recall feeling as
if I were on top of a mountain on that Pfeiffer playground; and
the world was mine.
Akron Public Schools maintained such
continuity. As a class, we journeyed to Innes and joined others
who would one day graduate from Kenmore High School where my
parents and grandparents before me had gone. Bob Moore, my
brother, would be valedictorian and go on to graduate from
Harvard. How proud my parents were. Dad, then principal of
Central High School, as it was then, surely must have thought of
his own son as Dad so eloquently addressed his seniors.
There were other times, treasured times,
when Dad would address students. I recall one basketball
championship game, when Dad went down to the locker room
offering words of encouragement to those players and the promise
that, if they won, they would be invited to our home in Kenmore
where his wife, Mrs. Moore, would make homemade pizza for all of
them. They won! Mother fed an entire basketball team, coaches
and all. We had pizzas rising all over all of our beds and
tables and couches. Mother borrowed pizza pans from everyone.
That day, that magnificent team, that spirit, my parents, that
pizza, all live on in the minds of all who entered there. Joe
Siegferth, basketball coach extraordinaire, led Central High
School to a state championship that year. The wide-eyed
daughters and son of the principal welcomed those fine young
men, including Nate Thurmond, into our home for that incredible
pizza and fellowship.
It would be 30-plus years later when Nate
Thurmond would return to what is now Central-Hower High School
for Nate Thurmond Day, where my mother would address the student
body and recall the magic of yesterday, the hope of today.
Students were spellbound. Alas, Nate and his wife would return
to San Francisco, but not until Nate gave due credit to Donald
Leach, dear educator and friend and driving teacher of Nate.
Only last summer, upon visiting Nate's
restaurant in San Francisco, did the entire life cycle come to
closure as Nate Thurmond held Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Moore's first
great-grandchild. Dad would have been so proud to know that
Nate, young basketball star, now held Dylan Moore – all two
months of him.
There were Wildcat Feasts where J. Ray
Stine would prepare sauerkraut for the male faculty. In those
Martin Essex days "wannabe" principals would paint houses
together during the summer; and, as fate would have it, Fred
Weber would be named as principal with Dad shortly thereafter
and Mardis Williams, too. Mr. Williams was principal at Kenmore,
and Joseph Friedman was assistant principal.
I remember my senior year, Mr. Friedman
called me to his office and asked me to "intone" the words of
our alma mater for commencement to be held at the Akron Baptist
Temple. Wasn't it yesterday Krispy Kreme donuts were the size of
saucers, and every parent and teacher belonged to the PTA?
Time passes so quietly and quickly that
it is only those moments that catch us off guard that truly
enlighten us, and we know we touched a life. Exhausted after a
12-hour day at Disney World in Orlando, I knew someone was
watching me. "Mrs. Messner," he courteously called across the
Mickey gift shop. "Yes," I responded. "Iggy Castrasano!" "Yes,
remember you were my teacher at Hyre Junior High School."
Language arts was a double period in those days. Now, block
scheduling is the '90s term. There Iggy stood 1100 miles from
Akron, children in his arms, my hair hanging ... what a gift!
Those Innes days, an almost two-mile walk
from home brought a whole new meaning to leggings. You see, in
1960 girls were certainly not permitted to wear slacks to school
– ever! So we would wear slacks or leggings to walk in and then
take them off over boots upon arrival. Some days my feet never
did become warm. My heart did, though, as we journeyed through
junior high school, obtaining a real locker and changing classes
nine periods a day, having Mrs. Tenney as my cheerleading
advisor and building the anticipation of going to Kenmore High
School.
As a class, many of us still neighbors,
we stood on the threshold of those incredible high school years.
We continued to have nine periods which allowed for a period for
Student Council and one for yearbook and one for cheerleading.
Those magnificent classes taught lessons of leadership no other
class could do. As president of Student Council, editor-in-chief
of the yearbook and captain of the cheerleaders, Akron Public
Schools touched my life as significantly as anything or anyone
ever has.
In those days school spirit reigned
supreme; and most all students thought school was a good idea,
and Akron Public Schools was the best.
I recall as a child that Dad, then
principal of West Junior High School which was located
strategically across from Krispy Kreme Donuts, was able to be
home summers. Principals, like teachers, were off summers.
Elementary schools did not provide lunches. There were no
cafeterias, although in junior and senior high school we could
actually eat at school – what a thrill. Still, there was no such
thing as a free and/or reduced lunch. You could brown-bag it.
Buy your own. Study. Talk with friends. Visit the trophy case.
Think. Dream.
Akron Public Schools ... they have been a
true core of my entire existence. As a child, Dr. Martin Essex,
superintendent, hired my dad who became principal and served the
system magnificently his entire career until his untimely death
in 1974 while still being principal. Conrad Ott, then
superintendent, closed schools that afternoon so that hundreds
might pay their respects. Harold Hanna from Central High School
was my marvelous supervising teacher and gave me the tools to
teach. Everyone I ever knew or ever loved was somehow linked to
Akron Public Schools.
On game days, I can still hear the
thunder of the band and the roar of the crowd at our
neighborhood stadiums. Only a few high schools had lights, so
Saturday afternoon games were packed. Homecoming floats and
great times reigned supreme.
Akron Public Schools miraculously linked
the past, present and future. Rivalries, good-natured and
spirit-driven, lasted lifetimes. My husband of 27 years, a
Buchtel graduate, still loves to remind me " ... a fighting
Cardinal ... is that a bird? ... " I'd respond, " ... a fighting
Griffin ... is THAT a bird? ... " Dad did not allow me to say
"cake-eater." It was a simpler time.
When graduation day came, students knew
we were prepared for the future because we were linked to a
past, a heritage, a caring, a community. Students always knew
and sang their alma maters with pride and loyalty and love – so
did every teacher.
I see my wonderful sister, Jan Bier, and
dear brother-in-law, Bob Bier, dedicate their careers to the
Akron Public Schools system and their classrooms to the purpose
of educating precious young minds. The tradition lives on.
I see the young people of Central-Hower
High School ever so respectful, pay honor to Nate Thurmond on
Nate Thurmond Day which my cousin, Betty Zager, helped
orchestrate. The past links to the future and the traditions
live on.
One hundred and fifty years and millions
of lives touched by a school system steeped in tradition,
respectful of its past and eager for the future truly is a
monument to its leadership, its commitment and its promise.
Serving as a guidance counselor here in
Tampa for the Hillsborough County Public School System, I am
reminded daily of my past; and I treasure the gift of memories
the Akron Public Schools system provides.
As Guidance Department head, I try to
instill so many ideas and thoughts, ideals and values from the
Akron system into my daily work with education.
Loving, caring teachers at sporting
events and plays and car washes and bake sales ... returning to
the system as a teacher after being taught, relatives
student-teaching now ... cherished Turkey Days ... game bus
rides ... assemblies ... yearbooks published and principals who
called you by name ... Christmas vacations and
day-after-Christmas sales downtown at Polsky's and O'Neil's ...
Dad mowing the yard in old suits because he believed principals
should always look a certain way even after school hours ...
Optimist speech contests and football games ... dances ... proms
...and graduations and the promise of bright futures ... study
halls and bands playing ...
"I will study and get ready and perhaps
someday my chance will come," said Abraham Lincoln. Those words
remain etched above the stage at Central-Hower High School. The
Akron Public Schools system then, now and always gives that hope
to each of its students. What a gift, what a system, what a
lifetime of memories that touch us daily. Thank you, Akron
Public Schools, for your tradition of excellence!
– by Linda K. (Moore)
Messner
I remember when my mother was a
teacher and the schools of Akron played a major role in all of
our lives. It is with joy in remembrance that Mrs. Paul
G. Adams (Nancy Waybright) steps back in time to tell of my
mother, Adella Waybright, her past association with Akron Public
Schools and the legacy she passed on to daughter and
granddaughter. If living, she would be 100 this year, 1997; but
she passed away at age 86.
Four years before I was born, the legacy
began. In the school year 1931-32, my mother was president of
Rimer School Parent Teacher Association when my brother, Dennis
C. Waybright Jr., was a student there. When I was six and
starting first grade at Rimer, he was 18 and graduating from
Kenmore High School as president of his class of January 1941.
Yes, we were 13 years apart; and we had some of the same
teachers.
I can't pass over my Rimer School years
without recalling a few wonderful teachers – Mary Spicer, Betty
Heepe, Florence Crano, Miss Elliott, Miss Irwin, Grace Connally,
Agnes Hannig and Mrs. (Blasco) Tarr. Jenny Adams was principal
when I attended.
The fondest grade school memories and my
love of music were nurtured by our school music teacher, Mary
Hough. The highest point of each year was singing in the May
Festival of Music held at the Akron Armory. The combined choirs
and orchestra were under the baton of Guest
Philharmonic/Symphony Orchestra Conductor Guy Frasier Harrison.
Awesome experience! I'll never forget, though, how terrified I
was playing a piano solo, Chopin's "Polonaise ('Military') in A,
Op. 40, No. 1," at my grade school graduation! I got through it.
On to Kenmore High School, where R. L.
Fouse was principal for both my brother and me. In my sophomore
year, my father had the first of three strokes. Mother had
graduated from the Normal School for Teachers/Madison College in
Virginia. The old brass school hand bell she used to call her
students to class rests today on the mantel above my fireplace.
She began to substitute teach in the Akron public grade schools.
My mother's ability was greatly respected
and much sought after in the Kenmore schools. Many principals,
teachers and students from Rimer, Highland Park, Smith,
Colonial, Heminger, Margaret Park, Lawndale, Pfeiffer and also
many other grade schools in the Firestone Park district would
remember her. In many instances she was a long- or extended-term
substitute. She did this for 17 years, stopping in her early
70s.
Of all my school years, high school was
my favorite – in music ... choirs, singing with a group of 13
girls called the "Cardettes" with Miriam Haynes our terrific
director; in physical education ... a four-year member of K-Club
(girls' athletic club) with Ruth Hickox, teacher and leader.
Today I still sing and play the piano; but I'd rather not see me
try a back flip into a split or swing to any position on the
parallel bars!
A few other teachers I fondly remember
are Miss Sprenger with whom I took four years of Spanish. Harry
Daitch taught Senior Problems and Career Planning and was in
guidance. He and his wife, Hilda, remained our friends until
they passed on. Mr. Bauman, a very kind Christian man and
history teacher, taught both my brother and me. If you were
fortunate enough to have Olive Davis for math, you had the best.
It would take too long to mention so many others.
I remember also being terrified at my
high school graduation. Being one of the top four scholastically
in the class of 1953, I was asked to write and give a speech on
the topic "Youth Today in Politics." I got through it! You'd
think, after 12 years, I wouldn't get so uptight.
On to the University of Akron, Alpha
Delta Pi Sorority and marriage to Paul Adams, who also graduated
from Smith School, Kenmore High School and the University of
Akron. After moving around, we settled in Bath Township to raise
our three children.
In the school year 1968-69, 37 years
after my mother, the legacy was passed on to her daughter when I
was president of Bath School Parent Teacher Association.
In this school year 1996-97, 65 years
later, the legacy is passed once again from grandmother to
granddaughter and mother to daughter as Jodi Adams Tucker (Mrs.
Peter J.) is now president of Firestone Park Elementary School
Parent Teacher Association. Jodi, with her three children all in
school, plans to return to the University of Akron for
re-certification to once again teach music in the public
schools.
We noticed that the PTA pin/pendant given
to each president has changed very little over the years. Each
of us has been proud to have served our children and their
schools in this way. I plan to put the three pins on a bracelet
for Jodi. Someday, she just possibly might pass it on to one of
her daughters to add a fourth pin to the bracelet, carrying on
mother's legacy to a great-granddaughter.
Thank you, Mom, for giving us a desire
for knowledge and teaching us the importance of a good
education! This we have achieved through the schools of Akron!
– by Nancy F.
(Waybright) Adams
I remember when we put magnesium chips in
the drinking fountains at Kenmore High School. Between classes
when everyone got a drink, the water and magnesium reacted with
noise and vapors emptying the school. Pop Callahan (physics) and
Jerry Brown (chemistry) were very upset.
I remember when, at Smith School in fifth
or sixth grade, R.D. jumped onto the window frame inside on the
"third" floor (really the second floor) and threatened to jump.
Mrs. White (mathematics) called his bluff. He jumped with an
agonizing scream. Mrs. White almost had heart failure. What she
did not know was a high delivery truck was just below. R.D.
jumped down 3-4 feet to the truck top, to the truck hood, to the
ground. His "dying" yell was perfect. The class laughed. Mrs.
White fumed.
I remember at Smith School, we all
decided to climb the steep retaining stone wall for a spring
suntan. We must have had 50 kids on the wall. The principal had
to get the police to get us all off.
– by Paul G. Adams
I remember when I was almost 10, I went
to my first school in Akron Public Schools – Heminger. I met my
first-grade teacher, Mrs. VanPelt. She was the best teacher I'd
ever had because she had red hair like me; and she used to have
to tie me in my seat because I would run around the room after
my girlfriend, Kathy Kroski (I still love to!). The other reason
I love Mrs. VanPelt is that she was the only one to show me why
I love my Lord, my God, today! Thank God for all schools in
Akron; and thank you, God, for Mrs. VanPelt.
– by Bryan Douglas
Schall
I remember in the fifth grade having Mr.
Stroll as my teacher at Pfeiffer. He was also one of the
football coaches at Kenmore High School, and he would reward us
for good behavior with tickets to the games. He also brought
other prizes for our Friday rewards. He was a wonderful teacher.
Today I am working as a Chapter One tutor
in Akron Public Schools and am very proud that I attended Akron
Public Schools for 13 years.
– by Becky Taylor
I remember when, in 1938, I was going to
start school! First grade at Lawndale School (kindergarten –
what was that?). I had to know my "letters," colors and numbers
(1-10). We had registered in May, so I had
all summer to learn what I did not know.
We were taught phonics – sounds to the
letters now – "Dick saw Jane," etc. At the end of first grade, I
was reading the comics and most of the newspaper – I was so
proud. In math I learned to add in first grade. Once a week, we
had music and art.
In winter it was so cold to walk to
school. We were lucky – Dad had a car, but he drove it to work.
Children walked to school – all (boys and girls) wore boots with
metal fasteners, snow pants, coats, hats, gloves and scarves.
There were no antibiotics yet. We had to "bundle up" to keep
warm and well. My first-grade teacher was Miss Cope who became
Mrs. Louis Bauman that year (1938-39). Mr. Bauman was my history
teacher at Kenmore High School in 1948. Both were at our 40th
class reunion, and both were retired from APS.
– by Joyce Eden Wagner,
R.N.
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