Millersburg says goodbye

by Peter Jakey. Managing Editor

There have been many memories made at Millersburg Elementary School (MES) over the decades. Today, students and staff will be living final memories on a bittersweet last day of school.

A special program honoring former teachers who taught in the building and a 40-minute slideshow was conducted Wednesday morning following the graduation ceremony of the school?s last kindergarten class, which had 15 students.

?It has been very emotional, I grew up here,? said teacher aide Sharon Winfield, speaking about the final week. ?I went to school here, my kids went to school here. You?re excited that the school year is done, but you?re sad because it is the end of an era.?

About 87 students from kindergarten through fourth grade attended MES this year. According to historical records, there has been a teaching facility in Millersburg for 111 years.

?IT SEEMS like the time is slipping away and you can?t do anything about it,? said 1st grade teacher Mark Gengle. ?You just have to enjoy each other in the last few days. I don?t think it has hit us yet, that the school will be closing. The school is so much of the town. It affects everybody, it touches everybody.? Gengle said, once the doors are closed, it will be time to move on to a new chapter. ?It will be kind of exciting going over to the other school,? said Gengle. ?Still, it is bittersweet, because there are a lot of memories here.?

Teacher Alma Sutphen, who prepared still photos and video of all grade levels for the slideshow, said MES ?has offered a great learning environment. We are going to do our best to take this learning environment and embed it into Onaway the best that we can. We will move forward and make the best of it.?

Plans are in the works to transfer ownership of the building to the township and possibly use the facility for early child education.

?IT IS SAD to see it go,? said parent Kim Smillie. ?To not see the buses pulling through town, or the parents dropping their kids off. I think it is going to be very emotional for the teachers, kids — everybody.? Several staff members fought back tears, or couldn?t comment.

?It is too much to talk about,? said Shelly Tribisondi, who has worked in the MES kitchen for 17 years. Teacher aide Tami Bassett added, ?It is sad, I don?t know what else to say. We?ll miss this, the atmosphere, the smallness of it, we?ll miss it.?

School success worker Deb Russ, who attended the school, did her student teaching there, and has been there for four years, said the teachers, staff and volunteers have been a tight-knit group. ?I expected my kids would go here and they won?t,? said Russ.

Most of the staff will be moving to the main campus in Onaway, with the exception of second grade teacher Dave McLellan, who is a t

eacher without a job for next year. He gained a unique perspective working at the school ?It was neat to see that this school was the heart of the community,? said McLellan.

FORMER TEACHER Barb Tomas said, ?It was a tight community feeling within this school. It was almost like a large family, everyone was so supportive of everyone else.? ?(Students) are all going their separate ways,? said Russ. ?Some to Onaway, Rogers City, private schools. Some will reunited in the fall and some will not.? Winfield said it will be difficult driving by in the fall and not seeing the kids or activity at the building.

On the final day today, there will be lots of laughter with the annual water balloon fight. Mrs. Bassett is going to be bringing 300 to 400 water balloons and nobody is going home dry. It will hide some of the tears, but not the sense of loss many from the school and the community will be feeling.

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