No, I'm not talking about the Watson IBM computer system that has been playing Jeopardy so well. But that was the trigger for this post.
'Watson' in that instance, was Thomas Watson who turned IBM into what it is today. He was a revolutionary businessman, salesman and policy-maker. Of course, he's dead now, has been for a long time.
He doesn't look like a lot of fun, but then, neither do I.
But
when I heard the name 'Watson', my mind jumped to the sound bite in the
title of this post that was made famous by Sherlock Holmes.
You,
the gentle reader, are probably already aware that Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle, Sherlock's creator, never wrote such a line. Sherlock did once
say, "Elementary", and he was talking to Watson, but that's about it.
That line became famous in the movies, where the actor who played Sherlock did speak it out loud.
So
when I heard the line, my mind (such as it is) jumped to my elementary
school in North Miami, Florida. For those of you with good memories, you
will recall I wrote about William Jennings Bryan Elementary School once
before back in my post from February 1, 2009.
The current
building was completed in 1928, which in Elementary School years is well
before the dawn of man. My daughter, who attended Burnside Elementary
in Norristown, Pennsylvania lost her school to the wrecking ball.
In
the Norristown Area School District Board of School Directors Regular
Meeting of October 25, 2004, after congratulating themselves in the
minutes declared the Burnside School should be demolished since 'the
building is no longer necessary for District operations'. It had been
closed since June 30, 1999. So much for history. Tear it all down.
Bryan,
on the other hand, is still a living, active school even after 82 years
which included hurricanes, wars, floods and famine. I can still walk
the halls, I know because I just did.
There's
been a school on that site since 1914. So what if the first one burned
down? They just rebuilt it better than ever. And the originally named Arch Creek School was renamed in honor of
William Jennings Bryan who ran for President three times and was
Secretary of State and a Congressman. He may be most famous for serving
as council in the Scopes Trial, the 'Monkey Trial' of evolution fame.
Bryan
had a winter home in Miami, so I guess he was a popular local figure.
He was almost President three times, but no one knows who he is today.
We should bear that in mind when considering our own lives.
Here's a photo of his winter home, it sort of looks like the school a little if you squint.
Originally,
the school operated with eight grades and then you went on to 'high
school' for the last four. By the time my brother and I went there, it
was a true 'elementary' school, just the first six grades. I went there
for the whole six.
My family lived down at the end of what was
then a dead-end street and access to other kids was limited. And
everyone can tell you that my brother was no fun, so I was very excited
about going to school. I loved going to school, it was a world of books
and writing and playing outside. The school was a sanctuary.
We
could walk to school in about fifteen minutes if we followed the Florida
East Coast (FEC) railroad tracks. I guess we were on the 'other' side
of the tracks. Haaa! It's difficult to comprehend that we walked alone
through what was essentially an open tract of wilderness. Five steps off
the railroad tracks, and you were in raw Miami, untouched by human
hands. Then, bang, you were on NW 125th. Street and the school was in
sight.
Look how welcoming the front gate is! It looks like it's saying "Come in!" Or, alternatively, "I'm going to eat you!"
It was designed as a rectangle around a central courtyard with a fountain. And it's all still there.
You
can see the hallways are all open air. This was Miami in the fifties,
there was no 'air conditioning'. If you were hot, you sweat, deal with
it. The classrooms had huge windows that had a hook on a lever at the
top. When you wanted to open them (even little kids), you used a long
wooden pole with a knob to fit into the hole, pull down and the whole
huge window opened effortlessly. When the rain came (it's Miami, folks)
we had to hurry to close them.
The hallways had red tile floors that were built to last, even under the crush of so many little feet. Yes, all still there.
The
stairs were designed for little legs, so they had a lower riser and
remarkably, they are still original equipment. How lucky am I that they
built it so well? With the original steel cross-hatch protectors in
place. These are the very ones I stepped on more than half a hundred
years ago.
Of
course, you can't forget that this is 2011, so some stranger can't just
stumble into an elementary school and start wandering around. So, when I
stopped in the last time I was in Miami, I went to the office and
announced myself wondering if they were just going to take a shot at me.
But
one of the office workers very kindly offered to escort me around, so
she got me into the auditorium which was being renovated, but still had
the "B" logo and curtain structure that I recalled. When I saw it, I
remembered that I performed in several plays there. I had forgotten all
about it, but whammo, it all came back!
Then she took me to the cafeteria which appeared smaller to me for some reason. Am I ... bigger?
As
we were leaving, I asked her if she had ever been to the third floor.
She looked at me funny and said, "No this is a two story building".
Knowing
better, I took her to a door she didn't know was there and took her
upstairs to the secret third floor. A million years ago, it was another
small classroom, but now it's just a storage area. It was thick with
dust and memories.
I can only imagine what she said to her co-workers when she went back to her desk. "Dude! You should see what I just saw!"
When
I went back to my car, I noticed the trees that rimmed the school
property. Back on Arbor Day in 1958, they came around and picked a half
dozen kids from class, one from each grade, to help plant the trees and I
was one of them. So, here's a photo of my legacy from April 25, 1958.
And I don't need Watson's ninety servers to remember it, either, just a couple of synapses. How about that!
6 comments:
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Leah Kleylein said...
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I actually remember my elementary school quite well, which is unusual since my brain seems to have dumped most childhood and adolescent memories in favor of knowing things like Henry I (allegedly) died from eating a surfeit of eels and that the favored style of haircut for men of the Regency period was "a la brutus".
Also, how cool that you acted in plays!! Do you remember what they were? -
Rich Kleylein said...
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No, sorry, I don't remember the plays although I'm pretty certain they weren't the caliber of 'Pirates of Penzance'. I did play the lead in at least one of them where I played an older man with a mustache. How's that for foreshadowing?
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Dave said...
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Hey, what do mean I was no fun? Remember all the fights we used to have? I was entertaining you. This was a great piece Rich, brought back lots of memories of Bryan. I can still remember the words to the Bryan Day theme song - can you?
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Rich Kleylein said...
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Dave - No, I remember Bryan Day very well, but not the song. We all ran around like lunatics, foot races and all and they gave us ribbons. Were the lyrics maybe "Hit 'em high, hit 'em low, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, ha cha cha!"??
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Unknown said...
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Hi Rick,
LOVE this article and yes I am on WJB Alumni Facebook.....I will forever remembered and LOVE WJ Bryan. When ever I get chance, I still make the trip down there and post pictures. I have not met one person who was not impacted or didn't have something positive to say about WJB. Academic Excellence all the way!!
Kettelene c/o 92. -
John Bloomfield said...
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I enjoyed your blog, the pictures got to me. My brothers and I went there in the mid seventies when candy drives were a means to window unit air conditioning. I played improvised stick ball more than once by sneaking out of class and into the adjacent bathroom with a ruler and a wad of paper. The best part was getting busted by Mr. Price. Mr. Price had stories that were legendary. And the exaggerations got bigger every day. "Hey, did you hear...Mr. Price threw a kid out the window!".
I was too young to appreciate the Spanish architecture. But I was just old enough to keep WJB with me always. Thank you for bringing it back to the surface.
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