‘So long’ party held for Central Elementary School in Bristol, Tenn.

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Bonnie Wood stood with old schoolmate Linda Fuller in the cafeteria of Central Elementary School Thursday night and chuckled at a memory that was still fresh 50 years later.

“Right over there, back there,” Wood said, pointing toward an area filled with a current generation of Central students. “I remember being in third grade and standing up on top of a table. And then, my teacher, Mrs. Steffey, came over and – pop – gave me a good ole smack on my backside. Just like it was yesterday.”

With a smile, Fuller looked at Wood and said, “You always did get into some trouble.”

And the two women giggled, like, well, the two Central Elementary school girls they were in 1959.  Or like two Central Elementary school girls might now – in 2009.

Wood and Fuller were among the hundreds of former and present Central students, teachers, parents, staff members and administrators who attended a “farewell party” for the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard school, which officially closes Dec. 18.

Beginning Jan. 5, all 400-plus Central students will resume classes at the new, state-of-the-art Fairmount Elementary on Virginia Avenue.
As for the Central building, it will remain standing – but empty and inactive – for the near future, said school Principal Rachel Walk.

“It’s been a great school building that’s really served our district well,” said Walk, who will also move to Fairmount.  “There’s going to be a lot of great memories of Central.”

During Thursday night’s “So long” party, which included a PTA Christmas program and a closing ceremony, many spoke with fondness about Central and its role in their lives.

Teresa Dischner walked Central’s hallways with son Jason, 7, and daughter, Taylor Greer, 9 – both current students at the school.
“It’s been a good school for my kids,” Dischner said. “The teachers are very good, they have lots of friends and it’s like a family atmosphere here.”
“But,” Dischner added, “I guess it is time to be somewhere bigger. And newer, too.”

Taylor, a fourth-grader, enthusiastically agreed.

“We’re going to get to have our own lockers at Fairmount,” she said. “And it’s going to be all new.”

Mary Jean Harrison, a fourth-grade teacher at Central, laughed when told of Taylor’s excitement that all upper-grade classrooms at Fairmount will include lockers for pupils.

“You can’t believe how many students are saying to me, ‘We get our own lockers,’ ‘We get our own lockers,’ ” said Harrison, in her 15th year at Central.
“It’s definitely been a big topic. I guess they love it here, but they’re really ready and psyched to move to Fairmount, too.”

That excitement was understandable to Wood and Fuller, the longtime Central schoolmates and friends, as they took a final look around their old school.

“Oh, yes, if I was a student here now, I’d be excited moving to a brand new school, too,” Wood said.

“But if there’s any way they can hang onto any memories of being at Central, I hope they will. It’ll always be a special place.”

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