Published: Saturday, June 19, 2010
Historic Trafton school's bell rings for final time
Teachers and students bid tearful farewell to historic school
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Mark Mulligan / The Herald
Trafton Elementary School students join hands outside the school at the end of the day Friday.
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Mark Mulligan / The Herald
Students place items in a time capsule at Trafton Elementary School on Friday afternoon.
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Mark Mulligan / The Herald
Second-grader Austin Olson is part of the third generation of his family to attend Trafton Elementary School. His grandfather, father and brother have all attended the school.
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Mark Mulligan / The Herald
Wyatt Meier, a fifth-grader, waves goodbye to Trafton Elementary School for the last time Friday afternoon.
TRAFTON — Todd McLaughlin isn't prone to tears, but he choked back a gut sob on the last day of school.
Mr. Mac, as he is fondly called, met with each of his second-grade students to talk about their report cards. The kids loaded up their backpacks and prepared to go outside for the final ringing of the school bell.
As of Friday, Trafton Elementary School — established in 1888 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places — is no longer the oldest continuously operating small public school in the state.
“The closing of our school has been tough, but we have endured worse,” McLaughlin told his second-graders. “Family members have lost jobs, people have been sick.”
The kids seemed to have already put things in perspective.
One boy interrupted with: Is the oil still spilling into the Gulf of Mexico? Another with: May I use the bathroom?
“That's what's so great about being a teacher,” McLaughlin said, smiling. “Your honesty, sincerity, integrity, trust, respect and friendship give me strength. When something isn't fair, you use your words, and if you meet adversity, you still show up in class. You all are destined for success.”
Mike Ray, chairman of the parent group Keep Trafton Alive, sat at a picnic table in the schoolyard, awaiting the last bell.
“We fought the good fight,” Ray said. “But the school board never gave us a chance to just sit down and talk with them. We gave our testimony, then they made a decision. It was one-way communication.”
Faced with declining enrollment and revenue shortfalls, the Arlington School Board voted Monday to move Trafton students and teachers to other schools in Arlington.
As a result, some Trafton parents have threatened to pull their children out of the school district, vote against school levies, defeat incumbent school board directors and no longer patronize businesses owned by board members.
In a letter sent home with students Thursday, Principal Ed Aylesworth encouraged parents to attend a reception June 25 at Eagle Creek Elementary where most Trafton students will go to school in the fall.
Hanna Novy, 10, plans to go to Eagle Creek.
“I was really looking forward to graduating from Trafton,” Hanna said, her voice cracking. “I hope they reopen my school someday, but I don't know now.”
Hanna received the Lorrie Doggett award this year for being the most well-rounded fourth-grade student. That helped a bit, Hanna said.
Other Doggett award winners and generations of former Trafton students, including Principal Aylesworth's teenagers, showed up at the school Friday.
A Trafton graduate himself, the principal climbed up the bell tower one last time.
As he rang the bell, the students, parents, faculty and staff took each other's hands and made a circle around the old school.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gifege@heraldnet.com.
Mr. Mac, as he is fondly called, met with each of his second-grade students to talk about their report cards. The kids loaded up their backpacks and prepared to go outside for the final ringing of the school bell.
As of Friday, Trafton Elementary School — established in 1888 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places — is no longer the oldest continuously operating small public school in the state.
“The closing of our school has been tough, but we have endured worse,” McLaughlin told his second-graders. “Family members have lost jobs, people have been sick.”
The kids seemed to have already put things in perspective.
One boy interrupted with: Is the oil still spilling into the Gulf of Mexico? Another with: May I use the bathroom?
“That's what's so great about being a teacher,” McLaughlin said, smiling. “Your honesty, sincerity, integrity, trust, respect and friendship give me strength. When something isn't fair, you use your words, and if you meet adversity, you still show up in class. You all are destined for success.”
Mike Ray, chairman of the parent group Keep Trafton Alive, sat at a picnic table in the schoolyard, awaiting the last bell.
“We fought the good fight,” Ray said. “But the school board never gave us a chance to just sit down and talk with them. We gave our testimony, then they made a decision. It was one-way communication.”
Faced with declining enrollment and revenue shortfalls, the Arlington School Board voted Monday to move Trafton students and teachers to other schools in Arlington.
As a result, some Trafton parents have threatened to pull their children out of the school district, vote against school levies, defeat incumbent school board directors and no longer patronize businesses owned by board members.
In a letter sent home with students Thursday, Principal Ed Aylesworth encouraged parents to attend a reception June 25 at Eagle Creek Elementary where most Trafton students will go to school in the fall.
Hanna Novy, 10, plans to go to Eagle Creek.
“I was really looking forward to graduating from Trafton,” Hanna said, her voice cracking. “I hope they reopen my school someday, but I don't know now.”
Hanna received the Lorrie Doggett award this year for being the most well-rounded fourth-grade student. That helped a bit, Hanna said.
Other Doggett award winners and generations of former Trafton students, including Principal Aylesworth's teenagers, showed up at the school Friday.
A Trafton graduate himself, the principal climbed up the bell tower one last time.
As he rang the bell, the students, parents, faculty and staff took each other's hands and made a circle around the old school.
Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427; gifege@heraldnet.com.
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