More Than A Builiding

I never did understand why Wallace needed a new junior high,. Heck, the grade school building with the entire junior high on the 3rd floor was plenty good enough. I was dismayed when I came back in the early '80s to find that the junior high was gone, and not only was it gone, they had renamed it, "Silver Hills Junior High". Silver Hills? Why wasn't the Wallace brand good enough anymore?

I have such fond memories of the old junior high. I mean, who wouldn't love 400 7th, 8th, and 9th graders all smashed together like sardines in a can? That, my friends, promoted unity, cooperation, friendship, and a terrible smell. All those ingredients mixed together produce character, and believe you me, we produced our share of characters.

Now, Silver Hills Junior High has given way to become the grade school. I cannot for the life of me imagine going to Osburn for my grade school years. Now, this is not in any way a slam on Osburn, I rather like Osburn, but Wallace grade school was, well, it was special. I loved the old rusty radiators that sang their mournful song on those cold December mornings. I loved the way they hissed, clanked, and moaned, loudly protesting having to get up and go to work on such a freezing day.

I loved the way the hallways would become wading pools when we got December rain instead of snow. We were way ahead of the times. We had skylights long before they became vogue. The hallway ceilings all had little holes that allowed us to enjoy the great outdoors and be in our classrooms at the same time.

It was in the old brick building that we stated our academic careers in kindergarten, advanced to grade school, began puberty, and the awkward years of early teens. Heck, I  need a handkerchief.
Anyway, that building is gone, and all that is left is the memories locked away in the chips in our brains.

I suppose that someone will come up with the atrocious idea of building a new high school and combining the junior and senior highs under one roof. Nah, nobody would do that, would they?