The library at Center Avenue Elementary School was filled Thursday afternoon with staff members, photographs, finger foods and countless memories.

Dozens of current and former teachers gathered to reminisce about Center Avenue’s rich 125-year history.

Center Avenue, along with Broad Street, Clearfield, Meridian and Oakland elementary schools, will close next month under a Butler School District consolidation plan.

The school will be remembered most as a tight-knit family. Parents and staff often were close. The staff ensured this because Center Avenue is mostly a walking community school.

Dale Markle was principal there for five years in the early 1990s. He said the dedication and ingenuity of the staff was impressive.

“You see people doing the best they can with what they have. A lot of these ladies were working one-and-a-half jobs and still trying to do everything they could — volunteer when they could,” he said.

The original school building, initially called Springdale School, was built in 1890. That was a two-story wooden building that was razed in the 1980s and replaced with the current building.

As the school was built, the construction company was open to making it a learning process for the students, Markle said.

“We would take the kids outside to see the excavators grabbing the old parts of the building,” he said. “It was just amazing.”

Paula Opalka began her teaching career at Center Avenue School in 1967; she later became a principal for 13 years, from 1994 to 2007, when she retired. She’s also a former Butler School Board member.

A new program, called Accelerated Reader, just started when Opalka became principal in the mid-1990s.

“We would take kids to Pizza Hut in a limousine. We had all kinds of prizes for kids. I can remember one mother crying as her child got in the car and went in the limo,” Opalka said.

“She said, ‘I thought my child would never learn to read.’ Now he’s one of the best readers and he’s going to Pizza Hut in a limo. I mean, that was so important.”

Center Avenue often hosted career days. She said professionals, doctors and beauticians alike, came to talk with students. However, what made that so special was that many of those people were Center Avenue alums themselves.

Bill Hetrick, who taught sixth grade from 1960 to 1976, carried with him a binder of old photographs and the wooden plaque bearing his old room number, room 18, in tow.

“Three years ago, the Lions gave books to the fourth grade class. I presented the books, and I told them, I started teaching here in 1960. One of the kids said, ‘My God, that was the last century. How old are you?’” he said.

Students built an impressive reading-themed float for the Butler County bicentennial parade in 2000. Groups dressed up as characters from popular books, like “Tom Sawyer” and “Charlotte’s Web.”

“We worked for two solid weeks getting this float together. It was beautiful,” said Bev McAnallen, a reading specialist at the school from 1995 to 2002.

David Herlinger, who was a teacher from 1972 to 1986, also attended Center Avenue as a child.

Many influential teachers from over the years were mentioned by staff: gym teacher Dot Yochum, kindergarten teacher Carol Schofield, music teacher Sal Signorino.

“I have good memories of Mr. Signorino because he was my elementary music teacher.” Herlinger said. “And then when I graduated, I went into the Naval band. I had to learn how to play the tuba. So I came back and asked Mr. Signorino to give me lessons.”

Shirley Bilowich, who taught third grade in the 1960s and taught fifth grade from 1994 to 2009, said a group of staff began getting together every other Friday, on payday.

“We still do it on a regular basis,” Bilowich said. “A number of them are now teaching elsewhere, but we became friends here. We always kept that friendship.”