FOUNTAIN SPRINGS — Members of the North Schuylkill Class of 2016 spent an enjoyable and introspective morning at the elementary school for the final time before their graduation.
Dressed in their caps and gowns, the seniors walked through the halls to remember their years of education and met with their younger counterparts, including those in the sixth grade who are preparing to move from elementary to the junior high school level, and many of their former teachers, who were thrilled to see how much their former students have grown academically and physically.
Most of the seniors attended their last year at the school in the 2009-10 school year. The elementary school was opened in 2007 when the Ashland and Frackville elementary centers closed and moved the students to the district campus in Fountain Springs. Ringtown area students came to the new school in 2009.
The seniors, led by the district mascot “Sparty,” marched from the football field, where they were practicing for commencement today. The long line of red- and blue-garbed students walked into the traffic circle in front of the school, eliciting cheers from elementary students and teachers in the playground until the seniors passed by. The march went around the building to the lower entrance.
As the seniors entered the hallway, they were greeted by third-grade students cheering them on while holding homemade signs with artwork and “happy graduation,” “good luck” and “congratulations, graduates.” As they walked along the hall, they were cheered on by more students and got to a stairwell to the next floor.
The seniors walked up to the top floor where the sixth-grade classrooms are. As they reached the end of the hallway, they received a special treat — letters that they wrote when they were in the sixth grade. The letters were personal messages to themselves about what they wanted to be and other thoughts they had at the time in 2010.
The writing of letters has been a long-standing tradition at North Schuylkill, but this was the first time the letters were distributed at the school. In previous years, the letters were picked up on graduation day from the high school guidance office.
One of the distributors of the letters was sixth-grade teacher Beverly Ney, who was all smiles as she handed out the letters, greeting her former charges and hugging some of them.
“This class that is graduating this year actually has seven sixth-grade classes, so they’ve come a long way,” Ney said. “When they were in sixth grade, they didn’t have recess, which made them the only sixth grade class that didn’t have recess, though that got them really ready for seventh grade. They had seven teachers. There was no down time and stuck together all day long.”
Ney is very impressed on how the seniors matured over the years.
“How they’ve grown and matured is so amazing,” Ney said. “They’ve matured so much. And I know a lot of them from sporting events.”
Ney spoke of the letter-writing tradition that she knows from her 18 years as a North Schuylkill teacher.
“We’ve done it every year since I’ve been here,” Ney said. “What they do is write a letter to themselves, because they are actually graduating sixth grade, and they’ll get the letter back when they graduate high school. They see how their friends change, their taste in music, how they’re handwriting change, what subjects they liked, and just how they’ve grown in general as a person. I like this tradition to give out the letters here at the school because now we get to see them.”
The visit to the elementary school is also a plus for the students.
“They get to look up them,” Ney said.
Senior Bryel Frasch, Ashland, read from her letter and found her predictions were fairly accurate and funny.
“It is so funny,” Frasch said. “I began, ‘You made it. You finished high school. There are some things that are happening now. I am in Mrs. Herring’s homeroom. It is June 2, 2010. We have three days left of school. My favorite color is purple. Hayden my brother is seven and Isabell is three. My favorite animal is a dolphin.’ ”
She continued, “ ‘My pinky toe is broken, and I’m wearing a walking shoe. Barack Obama is president, there’s a huge oil spill down in the Gulf of Mexico.’ I guess I was very interested in the news. I wrote, ‘I want to become a singer when I grow up. Right now, you should be thinking about what college to go to and how you will express your voice to the world. You will get a degree so that if your singing career doesn’t take off, you’ll have something to fall back on. Have a happy graduation. Love, Me. P.S., Drive safely.’ ”
Frasch was amused and surprised about the letter.
“I thought I was going to open it and be shocked at spelling errors,” she said. “I’m terrible at spelling now. I think I was better then. I really wish I would have written a friends list because I read some other letters and found it interesting to see who their friends were in sixth grade and how everything changes.”
Frasch agreed with Ney that the elementary visit should continue every year.
“That’s our childhood in that building and walking through the building and seeing the teachers and all the new kids who are in our places,” she said.
Senior Abbey Peleschak, Ringtown, also found her letter interesting to see after six years.
“This is by far the most memorable year of elementary school,” Peleschak read from her letter. “So far we are undefeated for the 2010 softball season. This past winter in basketball I made the All-Star team. One time during a tournament, our team started talking about cheese. Cheese is good on any food. Cheese is so yummy and is the favorite food of the North Schuylkill All-Star team Sixth Grade 2010. “After every tournament and most games we would go to Rita’s and celebrate. We would always go to eat together. When I grow up, I want to go college and either become an occupational therapist or a dermatologist.”
On the visit, she said, “Kids were handing out little notes to all of us, and one I got said, ‘Good luck at college. Get a diploma.’ ”
About seeing her letter written six years ago, Peleschak said, “It’s kind of surreal. I haven’t cried much yet, so I don’t think it’s hit me yet. It’s sad but it’s also happy times. It’s exciting.”
As for her career prediction, Peleschak said she will major in food science and minor in agricultural business at Penn State University Park.
“Cheese makes an appearance again from my love of food,” Peleschak said with a laugh.
Frasch will also attend Penn State main campus to major in biology.
The visit ended in the kindergarten wing before they left the building to return to graduation practice.