All Stars from across the ages visited Adams Elementary School last week to say farewell during a community open house.
First built in 1909 and expanded in 1917, Adams is the oldest school in Spokane. Voters approved a replacement this November after recognizing the current building has major issues with efficiency, accessibility, functionality and security.
Students and staff will move about two miles west to Camp Adams at the old Jefferson Elementary School in January. Then, the 116-year-old facility will be razed over winter, with groundbreaking on the new school set to begin in March.
On Tuesday, clusters of former classmates and teachers wandered the hallways, pausing at tables full of memorabilia while reminiscing on past experiences.
“It smells exactly the same, how is that possible?” asked Nicole Ehrlich. She attended in 1985 and was part of the school’s centennial celebration, which included the burying of a time capsule.
“The whole school is a time capsule – it hasn’t changed,” said Spencer Wright, who attended in the mid-90s. “Desks, floors, carpet, stairs, bathrooms – everything’s the same.”
His former classmate Katherine nodded nearby. “It’s such a blast from the past. When I walked upstairs the first thing that got me was seeing my locker,” she said.
She remembers her teacher keeping the windows open to encourage a slight breeze to enter the sweltering classroom.
“We were sweating in this room while my brother across the hall would be freezing with his coat on,” she said. “It’s sad to see things go, but this is going to be a really positive improvement for all the future generations.”
Standing near poster board renderings of the future Adams, Angie Hughes recounts how she started as a first grader in 1960, before the school offered kindergarten.
“When I was in sixth grade, I remember the principal, Mr. Gordon, called me before school started and wanted to know if I would be a crossing guard,” she said. “This was when 37th was a dirt road, and so we had to cross the kids across that.”
She recalled the handbell used to call kids in from recess, and being sent to the basement to clean erasers as punishment for a long-forgotten offense.
“In gym class, students with glasses had to wear a catcher’s mask,” she laughed. “So, guess who didn’t wear her glasses and could never see the ball when it was coming at me?”
While her daughter nibbled a cookie, Tyauana Roberson looked at an album and smiled. She started at Adams in 2012, after moving from a largely African American community in Indiana.
“This was my first ever interaction with other cultures, other ethnicities.” she said, evoking the memory of her teacher, Fannie Bush, who helped her feel at home. “Even though I was the only person in that room that looked like me, she helped me feel seen.”
Karalyn Slagle graduated from Adams the year Tyauana arrived.
“I always loved music class here with Mrs. Clark,” she remembered. “Spending that hour in room 110 was just the funnest part of my day, and the part of school that’s really stuck with me.”
In a classroom down the hall, Matt Johnson sifted through photos alongside friends and family.
“For Earth Day, our class raised the funds and donated the tree that’s on the south side of the building,” Matt said. “My dad actually bought the tree with his Lowes discount.”
Now a teacher himself, Matt sees that tree every day on his commute to Ferris High School.
Jim, Don, and Albert recalled watching the original Ferris campus come out of the ground while they were attending Adams in the early 60s.
With a laugh, they said the principal’s office is a memory they all share, along with their favorite teacher, Marie Lobdell.
“We all met in her fourth-grade class,” Don said. “She made learning so fun.”
“I remember Easter coming around and she bought chocolate bunnies on a stick for everyone in class,” said Jim. “Teachers didn’t do that back then.”
Elyse Ammon moved on from Adams in 2000, a year ahead of her brother, Blade Gannon.
“I was one grade ahead of him,” she said. “We got to see a couple of our teachers who are here tonight. It was so fun to see them and the old pictures and just reconnecting.”
Blade agreed, noting how the school feels much the same as it did in his childhood.
“The bones are the same. You can still see the images of your childhood overlaid on top of this place,” he said. “It’s so nice to come back. What a great opportunity that the principal and everyone put together.”
A 2015 SPS bond funded the design of the new Adams, which will incorporate space for Boys & Girls Club of Spokane County programming for the south Spokane community.
The design has been completed by NAC Architecture of Spokane and Garco Construction of Spokane will be the builder. Keep up to date on the project at Together Spokane: Adams Rebuild.