If the walls of Ballast Elementary could talk, they would speak volumes about the school, now in its 85th academic year.
But the Mediterranean-style building with its original hardwood floors and custom-made cast-iron gates oozes history in other unique ways, prompting the school staff and PTA to revive its colorful past.
The recent discovery of school artifacts has inspired a rekindling of its history, propelled by detailed research by Virginia Clay, Ballast Point Elementary PTA secretary.
"It's fascinating," said Clay, whose digging into the past was aided greatly by online chats through the statewide "Ask a Librarian" program, providing Web links to appropriate historical sites.
Still, Clay thought, there must be information left by previous generations of faculty and students.
Her hunch was correct. Remodeling and exploration of a couple of small closets revealed documents, photographs and more. Items uncovered include a group photograph of the first-year faculty at the then-new building, the women wearing 1920s-era flapper-style hats.
Uncovering the past is especially intriguing for teacher Jana Reicherter. The veteran educator now in her 39th academic year at Ballast Point attended the school from 1957 until 1963.
"As much as things change, they stay the same," Reicherter said. "And the kids stay the same."
George Wilkens
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