(NOTE: This is taken from my Facebook post of Friday, August 11, 2023. I post it here to my blog for those who have not seen it on Facebook.)
It’s not every day that you get to re-visit an elementary school of your youth, 61 years after you left it. For me, it was never, until today!
The Missions Committee of my church, Wilshire Baptist Church of Dallas, hosted a Back to School Drive requesting donations of a wide variety of items to stock the pantry of Spring Valley Elementary School in the Richardson ISD.
When I received an email Wednesday from Abbey Adcox, ministry assistant for missions & advocacy, asking for a few volunteers to help take the donations (𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺) to the school and arrange them in the pantry, I responded immediately.
Why wouldn’t I? I attended Spring Valley Elementary in 4th & 5th grades, from 1960-62 – you know, back in the “Dark Ages.” This was my first time to set foot in the school since my parents & I moved to Kansas City, MO, in the summer of 1962.
It was wonderful, as I stood (𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 – 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘵 – 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳!) in this school, thinking of times long past, and friends of those long-ago times. A couple of names sprang to mind – my best buddy back then, Craig McLean (𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 – 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭 – 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵) and Mike Fox. I’m still in touch with one friend from those days, Donald Dilmore. We were great friends back then and reconnected about 30 years ago. His mom was our Cub Scout pack’s den mother one year. I fondly recall the Halloween-themed birthday parties at Don’s house (𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘖𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘣𝘦𝘳 28).
After I responded to Abbey’s email, I went through my files labeled “Commemoratives” and came up with a few gems from my time at Spring Valley, and took them with me today. When I showed them to Shana Gaines, assistant principal (𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦), and Brona Hudson, principal, they loved them and asked to take pictures of them – which I was glad for them to do.
Just consider these four “commemoratives” my contribution to the old elementary school tradition of “show and tell” (𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭):
(1) Texas Readers Club certificate, with the Year, School, and Grade blanks filled in as 1961-62; 𝗦𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘆; and 5
(2) Spring Valley Elementary School Science Fair certificate, certifying my participation, and signed by my 5th-grade teacher, Velma Watson, and principal, D. S. Stewart
(3) Sixth Grade Promotion Program at Spring Valley Elementary School, May 31, 1962; fifth graders were enlisted to assist with the ceremony, and my name appears on the back page as one of six ushers
(4) Last but not least, my 4th-grade report card, signed by my teacher, Mrs. McClearin (𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘺 𝘋𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘺, 𝘈. 𝘑. 𝘑𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘥); my grades were pretty good, but there was a note at the bottom of the page that listed various behavioral aspects: “𝗜’𝗺 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗸 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂.” This “trouble” has followed me all my life; only weeks before Joanna passed away in 2021, she walked into my study one day – where I was sitting at my desk – and sat down in the recliner behind me. I knew immediately that I was in trouble. She said, “𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆?” Oh, Joanna, if only you and Mrs. McClearin could have put your heads together on that one!
It was wonderful to be a part of our church’s mission to this school. As a founding trustee of Pastors for Texas Children, I place a high priority on our neighborhood public schools, and deeply appreciate our faithful public school teachers, administrators, and staffs for their service to our children and grandchildren.
Our Wilshire group: (l-r) Shana Gaines, Spring Valley’s assistant principal; Heather Mustain, with Bly; Carol Tommey; yours truly; and Abbey Adcox
Heather Mustain, Wilshire advocacy and missions pastor
I shared with Brona about my work with PTC, and we had a really good discussion about our mutual frustration with the lies that some are telling about public schools. I assured her that we are working hard to support public schools and to encourage people to go see what’s really going on in their neighborhood public schools instead of believing the things they hear. They will find – as I said above – faithful teachers, administrators, and staffs serving, caring for, and teaching their children.
It was a special treat to be back in my old school after being absent for over 61 years (𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥).
I shared with Shana and Brona some very special memories of how the Spring Valley of my day kept students engaged in current events, seeing that as a key part of our education:
(1) January 20, 1961 (4𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦) – Mrs. McClearin wheeled a TV into our classroom, and our class watched President Kennedy’s inauguration together.
(2) May 5, 1961 (𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 4𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦) – As we arrived at school, we found that a TV had been placed on the covered colonnade outside, and many of us stopped and watched the launch of Alan Shepard’s space capsule, as he became the first American in space.
(3) February 20, 1962 (5𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦) – John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth, completing 3 orbits, which took a total of 4-1/2 to 5 hours; serendipitously for us, it covered most of the school day. Our entire school gathered in the cafeteria and watched the coverage of that momentous event. Remember – the “space race” was something very new and exciting; our eyes were glued to that TV set that day.
Brona Hudson, Spring Valley’s principal
I rode with Abbey Adcox, whose van we had loaded with the numerous boxes of donations. When we left, I asked if she wanted to drive by my old house, which she did. It was just a couple of streets over from the school. As we drove past the house, I shared that I had just talked to my sister, Patsy, last night, who reminded me that on October 4, 1957, we had gone outside with our parents, and Patsy & I had laid down on the driveway, looking up at the sky as the USSR’s Sputnik satellite made its way across the sky above us – it was so thoughtful of Premier Khruschev to include Texas on the itinerary, lol.
Spring Valley was one of five elementary schools I attended, and the only one that I attended for more than 1 year. When I started 1st grade in the fall of 1957, Richardson was still very small; however, Texas Instruments had just located its headquarters there, and Richardson began growing by leaps and bounds, so they started adding a new elementary school every year, getting a little closer to our house, which was actually in the Dallas city limits but in the Richardson school district.
So I attended Richardson Heights Elementary in 1st grade, Terrace in 2nd grade, Dover in 3rd, and Spring Valley in 4th & 5th. Then my parents and I moved to Kansas City, MO, where I attended Davidson Elementary in 6th grade. Funny thing about that; we lived in Kansas City, but we were in the North Kansas City School District. Seems I never could get the city and the school district to line up.
Anyway, I helped start three brand-new schools in Richardson – Terrace, Dover, and Spring Valley. Fortunately, in Kansas City, the moving finally stopped in 7th grade – I attended Northgate Junior High from 7th through 9th, and Oak Park High from 10th through 12th.
It was a very special day today. Thank you, Heather Mustain, Wilshire’s pastor for advocacy and missions, and Abbey Adcox, for all you do to lead Wilshire’s missions and advocacy ministries; and thank you, Shana Gaines and Brona Hudson, for the wonderful welcome you gave today to a very grateful former Spring Valley student.