Remembering Woodstock

I went to school at Woodstock Elementary ... located there on 13th East and about 60th South. While my parents have moved from the house I grew up in, they are still very close, so we would always pass by my old school as we went to visit. I would point it out to my children, telling them which classrooms had been mine, and often continuing on with stories (much to their chagrin). I was aware that they were building a NEW Woodstock (behind the old one) and that of course that meant the "old" building would be coming down ... but to actually drive by and see it today, it still caught me off guard.

I had driven by last week (I had wished I had taken a picture then) as the demolition was just in the beginning stages; the windows out (more like the front of the school in the first picture). Today, the South side was ALL coming down ... this is what it looked like as we went TO Grandma's house (I actually lifted this from a friend who posted on FB ... my kids thought I was weird when I stopped to take pictures, but see, I wasn't even the only one!)

On the way home (I did stop to take pictures), the whole South side was down ... my kindergarten class and my first grade class. Two-thirds of the school was still standing, and you can see the new school there in the back. It's going to be a new view as we pass by from now on, I won't be able to say to my kids "see, that's where I went to school when I was your age."

Here's some random memories from Woodstock -

• My kindergarten teacher was the same as my 6th grade teacher (Mrs. Diamond) ... a "welcome" to school and also a "goodbye".
• I remember being read to in third grade, the book "Sonny Elephant" being my all time favorite (and I OWN Woodstock's copy of it, my mom picked it up at a book sale).
• Ms. Bullock was known for making kids write "I have never ..." whatever their infraction was, a hundred times ... I was one of the few kids that never had to do that (I had a close call once for stepping on toes, but it was Tuesday Toes-day!)
• For fourth grade I was in a 4th/5th grade"split" class. My teacher was Mrs. Bjornson, and years later after I was married, I moved into her neighborhood!
• I remember the playground, with the HUGE tires buried halfway. In my later years they introduced strange swings that you pumped with your arms. During the winter, we would stamp down mazes in the snowy field and then play tag.

Farewell little elementary school ... it would have been fun to walk the halls one more time ... probably a big change for the kids who are still going there too. After Landon's first couple years at Columbia Elementary, they tore it down. For second grade, he went to a newly built school to the West of us as they rebuilt. Then it was back to the new Columbia for 3rd ... so in just four years, he went to three different schools (although technically, they were all Columbia). There's a bit of demolition going on at Columbia today too. They've torn out the South playground, just one of the things they have to relocate as the intersection at 7800 and Bangerter is changing (an exit ramp will be where the playground was!). Ah ... construction/destruction ... ch,ch,ch,changes ...

... and then while the three older boys finished up their elementary years at Columbia, I ended up moving Colton and Cooper (only Kindergarten, 1st and Kinder-3rd grade there) to nearby Terra Linda Elementary. It was on a traditional schedule, rather than tracks, and I felt like Coop especially needed the consistency. The original change was hard, but the move was a good one.

Landon went to Elkridge Middle ... it was the boundary school for his 7th/8th grade - then there was a boundary change, and we had to permit him in to finish (9th). He then started at West Jordan High, but moved to Herriman High after a couple weeks (more of the kids from Elkridge went there than to WJHS, and Herriman was a brand new school, and we had some pressure from friends to make the switch). Callahan and Keaton went to West Hills Middle School (on permit) then Copper Hills High (on permit). Cooper went to Elkridge (on permit) and Colton had his first year there (7th) then there was a big boundary switch up AGAIN, and we just decided not to fight it anymore and sent him to our boundary school, Joel P. Cooper started at Bingham (on permit) but switched to an online school. Mountain Heights Academy. Colton is on deck to attend West Jordan High.

5 boys ... four different high school, three different middle schools, two different elementary schools. School choice ... it's good, but does create complications and decisions!