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100 Years Of Learning

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By MEGAN HUSSEY, Tribune correspondent

Published: February 3, 2008

To celebrate the 100th day of school this year, kindergartners at Hudson Elementary School saw two examples of a century's worth of good living.

Thursday, 20 children in Kelly Edwards' class met Esther Newman and Elizabeth Tripodi, both of whom will turn 100 this year - Tripodi on Feb. 21 and Newman on Nov. 10.

"When people ask me how it feels to be 100, I say, 'Age don't mean nothing to me,'" said Tripodi, who used to volunteer at Hudson Elementary.

"I am what I am."

Sitting in rocking chairs in the school's media center, the two answered students' handwritten questions: What's it like to be 100? How much did candy cost when you were a kid? Can you still ride a bike?

"I never could ride a bike," said Tripodi. "I tried, but I was scared."

Students asked if there were cell phones and computers 100 years ago. Tripodi and Newman told them about horses and buggies, long walks to one-room schoolhouses, outdoor plumbing, and the earliest radios and telephones.

"For fun, my brothers made us a sled out of wood," said Tripodi. As a teenager, "I danced to every big band orchestra there ever was."

The near-centenarians also offered students a sense of history. Tripodi remembered President Woodrow Wilson's visit to her hometown of Pittsburgh, Pa.; New York native Newman recalled seeing Broadway plays and an early Charlie Chaplin movie.

Five-year-old Jade Brady asked if the women had worked. Newman was a secretary, and Tripodi was a seamstress.

Thursday's question-and-answer session was an extension of the annual 100th-day celebrations held at many Pasco County schools.

"Each school participates differently," said Holly Rockhill, supervisor of volunteer programs with Pasco schools. "Teachers may have their students count out 100 of something and bring it to school or incorporate the concept of 100 into their math or reading curriculum."

At Hudson Elementary, the 100th-day celebration generally revolves around math activities, Edwards said.

"We begin counting on the first day of school," she said. "It also helps build math concepts such as number patterns counting by twos, fives and 10s, graphing, sorting, classifying and measuring."

Students learned about the concept of 100 in other classes. They did 100 exercises in gym, drew pictures of what they would look like at 100 in art class and drew 100 pieces of matter in science class. Each student also licked a Tootsie Pop 100 times and made necklaces with 100 pieces of Fruit Loops cereal.

The visit from Tripodi and Newman, though, served another purpose: creating more of a bond between young students and older people.

"We've had grandmas and grandpas activities, with older school volunteers working with the kindergarten through second-graders, for 20 years," said Anna Stump, the school's parent involvement coordinator.

As they hugged and posed for pictures with the children, Newman had one more thing to share about her life at their age:

"I just want the children to know we were happy."

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