Building slated to be retired
OAKLAND TWP — After 65 years of service, Oakland Township Elementary School will close permanently today. But not before some tried-and-true traditions have been observed by teachers and students.
Some of those traditions, such as cartwheeling teachers in the hallways, will have to be left to the imagination.
Others, like the school's sixth-grade awards ceremony and a volleyball game between staff and students to close out the year, were in full swing Wednesday.
Chad Broman, the building's assistant to the principal, said emotions on the eve of the building's retirement “run the gamut,” for students and teachers.
“I think there's a little bit of everything,” he said.
The school worked to temper students' nerves, Broman said, with things like a pen pal program and field trip that showcased their new destinations.
He said students from kindergarten through third grade would attend Center Township Elementary; students from fourth and fifth grades would attend Butler Middle School; and sixth graders would attend Butler Intermediate High School.
At this point, Broman said, students are mostly excited. It's the teachers who are more apt to get misty-eyed about the move.
“They're sad to see Oakland go,” Broman said. “When you've spent 20 years at a school, it's hard to let go sometimes.”
Second grade teacher Jen Srock has spent the last 22 years at Oakland. She said the building's history — it was built in 1950 — is wrapped up with the people who filled its hallways.
Srock still remembers an old teachers' tradition at Christmas-time, where students and staff would belt out the “Twelve Days of Christmas” as loud as they could. The memory still shines for her, even though the tradition stopped years ago.“That's one of those things I will always remember that the kids so enjoyed,” she said.Sixth grade math and language arts teacher Nicole Nea said she's found fast friends and a tight-knit community during her seven years on staff.“A lot of my closest friends now are people I met here,” said Nea, who moved to the area from Pittsburgh.Many of Nea's students have parents and grandparents who also attended Oakland, she said. That's something the school celebrates each year with Grandparents Day in May.This year the beloved tradition attracted about 350 people, Broman said. It's just one of many examples of how close the school and community keep each other.“My memories are of the families and of how much of a community school this is,” he said.For the building's 267 students, the moves will mean expanded horizons, teachers said.“The opportunities for the kids are going to be much different,” Nea said. “There will be more exciting things for them to do.”Fifth grader Timothy Young, who enjoys science and played percussion in the school's band, said he's nervous and excited about next year, when he and other students from Oakland's fourth and fifth grades will attend Butler Middle School, which formerly was the district's junior high school.Young wants to take advantage of the school's STEAM program, which mixes science, technology, engineering, math and art.“It's basically a bunch of my things all mixed into one,” he said of the program. “I'm really into that robotics, science and math stuff.”Students Lyric Hays, a third grader, and Harrison Lynch, a first grader, say they're just excited to get where they're going. They both enjoy keeping active during school. Hays loves field day, and Lynch gym, where he likes to “just run.”Both will attend Center Township Elementary School next year, and are looking at the change as an adventure.“Nobody's really worried,” Lynch said.Kathy Armor, a Title 1 and reading specialist who will also be relocating to the Center Township school, said she shares students' excitement.Armor is looking forward to collaborating with a bigger team of teachers, and believes that Oakland teachers and students will carry with them what made Oakland Elementary a special place to teach and learn.“The teachers, kids and community are what make a school, not a building,” said Armor. “No matter where we are, that community is still going to be there.”
