School's Out For Never
9:58 PM | Author: Jordan Barker











Hopedale, Ohio is known for three things: Clark Gable's childhood home, the first woman to have a successful face transplant, and Hopedale Elementary. The most important of the trio is certainly the elementary. The school was built in the middle of the 19th century as a college, and the building has stood tall ever since.

A levy to build a new school is presented to the voters in the community, but it is constantly shot down because the village refuses to demolish this landmark. I share the county's belief that the school should never cease to exist because it has a value that is infinite. The school ties together our small town and gives each child hope for a better tomorrow.

The fondest memories I have at the school involve the playground. The playground was where we could socialize and run through the grass without a care in the world. When I was in school, the playground was not home to a jungle gym, a see-saw, or even a set of swings. We had grass, an entire football field to be exact, and that is certainly all we needed. Lunchtime was not for consuming food, but for planning the giant game of tag that was to be held after we had dessert. Even only being in elementary school, all of my classmates knew that recess was important, and that just being outside—in nature—was important.

Hopedale elementary has something else that I can guarantee that most school's do not: our cooks actually cook their food from scratch. I can easily close my eyes and taste Ms. Rhonda's meatballs or Ms. Jan's corn casserole. Environmentally this saves thousands of miles that would have been traveled by truck drivers, and hundreds of plastics that would have ended up in landfills. Destroying the elementary would result in a new school that can change the value that Hopedale has put on home cooked meals. The carbon footprint of Hopedale Elementary has to be so much better than the other schools that are just another line in the chain. We did not have pudding delivered in a plastic cup, covered with tin foil. We had a bowl that was washed, and not thrown away, filled with pudding. We did not have a brownie that was pre-packaged with rainbow candies on top. We had a 1 inch by 1 inch brownie square that had been scraped off a pan that has been used for longer than I'd been alive. Hopedale had gotten the best out of everything it used, and everything was certainly used.

The things inside the school had not changed since when my mom had went there decades ago. The desks are still the same, and so are the floors they sit on. The children run onto the same field that their parents did. The principle sits in the converted dean's office of a century ago. The best way to “recycle” the school is to have it continue to do what it has always done: re-use until it cannot be used anymore. The school seems to never give up on things, and it is not because of the inability to fix things. The second the roof had a leak in it when I was in the 5th grade, the whole ceiling and roof was replaced. Financially the county has the power to maintain the school and keep all of its principles intact with it. The school and the county just believe in getting the most out of everything, which is why when a desk should last a few decades they make sure that it does.

If a levy was ever passed and a new school was ever to be built, the best thing to do would be to recycle all the material that makes up the interior and exterior of the school. Simply tearing down the building and shipping out the rubble would not benefit the environment or the community. The desks and supplies inside the school can certainly be used in any new school or even be given to other schools in the state that are in need. All of the wiring that connects each computer to the network can be used again in a new school or given away like the supplies. Even by tearing the school down, it must be used to the fullest, because it always has been.

If the school were to be taken down, the land plot should contain a memorial site. The building encases more than just knowledge and intelligence. It holds the memories of thousands of individuals who take a piece of the school with them every where he or she goes. A landmark that is environmentally friendly, and small would be perfect. Something that is open and has no doors would be perfect. The community would want a building that is more of like a walk-through with bits and pieces of the old school scattered throughout the structure rather than an enclosed museum. A shrine is the perfect word to describe what would best suit the village of Hopedale. The structure would not require electricity, running water or anything else. It would be completely free to the public. If nothing else, the structure has to restore the integrity that the school had built over the years. The public needs to be reminded that the school was a building unlike no other, and that the values that were exhibited over the hundred plus years it served as a school were far more important than the grades on anybody's report card.

What do you miss most about your old school?



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