I graduated from John Marshall High School in 1970. Yep, 40 years ago. Both of my daughters graduated from John Marshall as well, the youngest in 1996. I have spent a lot of time in that building.
Here is a photo of the crest that is in the foyer floor that was presented by the Class of 70.
The building is getting ready to be put up for sale and I was among a group invited to tour the old building with the purpose of trying to determine if there was anything that might prove useful in the new building. I must admit, I thought it was a big waste of time, but I did want to see the school one last time. I was unprepared for the range of emotions that I experienced. From nostalgia to disbelief to downright anger.
The group consisted of school district employees, a former principal, a former parent, and little old me; the only person with true ties to the school...a Proud John Marshall Alumni. This afforded me the opportunity to share memories and insights with the rest of the group.
Nostalgia from 40 years ago.
Walking into the building as a new student was a terrifying experience. I still remember it vividly. Would I get lost? Would I fit in? Would I make friends? Memories came flooding back. The Latin teacher who each year made her students dress up in bed sheets for a day and speak Latin over the intercom. The Home Ec. teacher who told my mom I would never be able to not burn a meal, (boy, was she right). Homecoming floats and parades. The Spanish teacher who took great pleasure in having kids describe the color of your clothes to the whole class. The cosmetology students who always seemed to have strange hair colors. Being a pep club member and having to go to football games in the snow. I will never forget when the students staged a walk our and dorky me called my mom for permission to walk out. Not granted, so I was stuck in school with all of the other losers. For the life of me, I can not remember why we walked out though. Prom. Graduation at the State Fair Grounds with a class of 1000, but only receiving tickets for mom and dad. Graduation was so crowded and so long.
Nostalgia as a parent.
Having my babies go to High School was pretty traumatic. Would they get lost? Would they fit in? Would they make friends? Yearbook editors. Deadlines. Science Fair projects. Homecoming floats and parades. Cheerleader. State Championship games. Going to Football games in the snow. Prom. The crazy art teacher who delighted in telling kids that they did not know their colors. The science teacher who was intent on blowing up her part of the building. The civil rights leader who taught my daughter more in a semester than most teachers taught her in a year. The German teacher who demanded German, and only German, be spoken in her classroom.
Disbelief.
I knew the building was old and had been vacant for 3 years, but I could not believe what I saw. It looked like renters had jumped rent and just left stuff everywhere. Anything you can name had been left in the building. I am talking about items that, while old, are in usable shape. I had assumed that the last school in residence had taken all of the stuff with them. I can't come up with a reasonable excuse as to why so much was left. There is broken glass in the hallways, puddles of water and black creepy stuff in places.
Anger.
Schools are in such desperate need of supplies and money is so short, that it infuriates me to think about he amount of usable stuff that has been sitting in an empty building for over 3 years. Someone should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this to happen.
Salvage trip.
New John Marshall staff was asked to come back to the old school and prowl through the items to see what could be used a the new school. Five hearty souls showed up. I was excited, as we have always been short of things such as tables. Here is a listing of some of the very usable items we found: boxes upon boxes of brand new blank envelopes, boxes of copy paper, brand new headphones that were still in the plastic wrap, unopened boxes of Voyager materials, a cabinet full of NCR forms that are still used by the district, shelves of multi-cultural workbooks, band instruments, pianos, music stands, filing cabinets, rolling carts, science equipment (including beakers, dropper bottles, scales and weights), tables, chairs, desks, trays that go on teachers desks, book shelves, sheet music, band uniforms, athletic clothing, crutches and clinic cots. There were shelves of textbooks that are no longer under adoption. The school vault and one closet were full of old financial and attendance records. There is a filing cabinet full of old personnel files (including SSN's, letters of reprimand and plan for improvement letters).
Here is a room of band instruments and a piano.
View from the main office towards the library.
I certainly hope that the items that we don't take to the new school will be offered to the other school in the district.
Two very interesting things happened on our salvage trip.
1--While we had permission to be in the building, we assumed that the district would clear it with the security people. WRONG!!! While we were prowling through the science lab upstairs, who should appear at the door? Two armed security guards. The silent alarm had been triggered and they were at the school to ascertain who the culprits were. Needless to say, I panicked. I could just hear my dad. My principal handled it like a pro and we did not wind up in jail.
2--I was pushing carts of stuff to the front door and was hot. I stepped out to cool off and decided to step back and look up and down the front of the school. The pavement is cracked and uneven in places. Next thing I know, I am on all fours on the concrete. My first thought was "Please don't let anyone see me." I picked myself up and continued working. When I arrived home and undressed to get into the shower, I looked at my knees. Both are bruised, skinned and swollen. Needless to say, I spent the rest of the day on the sofa with ice bags.
All in all, it was a pretty interesting experience.
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