A Blast from the Past at the Junior High
Seventh graders in David Gonzales’ Texas History classes were treated to a blast from the past in honor of Homecoming and Maize Days last week. Five members of Parmer County Retired Teachers and School Personnel discussed the history of the Junior High building with the students on Sept. 18th.
Mr. Gonzales began the class by encouraging the students to be involved in the community and reminding them to choose a civics project which will count as their first semester test. He emphasized that preventing and reporting vandalism is their civic duty. He introduced the five retired teachers, each one having retired after many years of service to the Friona school system. Each person discussed his/her experience while in the current Junior High building.
Sharon White explained that the Junior High building was once the high school. She graduated from Friona High School in 1963 and then returned to that building to teach from 1967 to 1969 before continuing her career with several other assignments, including Primary principal. She showed pictures of the Junior High faculty her first year of teaching and shared the 1929 yearbook, the year her father, Hadley Reeve, graduated from FHS. She also explained an old Maize Days tradition, the making of class floats.
Harley Merritt taught in the junior high building from 1965 until 1969. He then moved to the high school where he served as biology instructor until retirement. He reminded the kids that they are making their own history and it is up to them to make it a good one.
Mickey Griffin taught in the junior high from 1966 until 2003. He discussed physical changes in the building such as the heating and air conditioning system, the improvement of the playground area, and the demise of the tennis court. He was also the chief room painter for many years, stating that he and his crew had painted each classroom in the school system four or five times over the years.
Dale Mann discussed changes in technology and in teacher and classroom resources during her time as an ELA and ESL teacher. She served students in the junior high from 1992 until 2007. She was also Student Council sponsor and encouraged the kids to be involved in student government and extracurricular activities.
Connie Slagle discussed changes in the science department between 1974 and 2013. She told the kids that the building housed fifth through eighth grade and was extremely crowded her first years. When the fifth grade moved to the elementary school in 1982, there was space for a designated lab room. It underwent modernization, making it TEA compliant, in 1995. The $75,000 renovation was facilitated by funds from the Canadian school system through the Robin Hood program.
Several of the presenters mentioned the old red school building and fondly remembered former co-workers. Each one emphasized that teachers, their co-workers, and students often form lasting friendships. Many current faculty members who were former students of the retired teachers joined the classes throughout the day. The students were very polite and receptive, and Parmer County RTSP thanks Mr. Gonzales and Mr. Galdean for this opportunity.
