"Red Castle" Remnant Returned

The cornerstone of the Children's Museum of South Dakota, formerly Central Elementary, reads 1936.  Previously, the site was the home of Brookings High School, affectionately known as the Red Castle because of its architectural style.  This view is from the southwest

A feature of all schools from that era is the traditional school bell.  Many people had wondered what had become of the bell from the old school.  The mystery was solved this past summer, when the Superintendent, Roger DeGroot, "received a hand-written letter from Beverly Bergman, a resident of White, telling him that she had an old bell from the original Brookings high school."  (Brookings Register, Jan. 30, 2015).  Rather than quote the story from the paper, this link   http://www.brookingsregister.com/v2_e_edition.php?toc_id=3351   will take you to the original article.  The print is rather small.  Some computers allow you to increase the print size by hitting  Ctrl + .  Ctrl + may also be used to increase the size of this print.  That may help if you are experiencing difficulty, as I was. Those who are more computer-savvy than I may have better methods.

In the background in the lower right hand corner appears to be what we called the primary building.  Here is better view, again  from the southwest.

Some of us went to first and second grade in there, as Central only had classrooms for kindergarten, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grades.  In junior high, we had 7th and 8th grade art in the basement.  If we took art later on as freshmen or sophomores, we also had to journey outside to get to class.  My first and second grade classes were in the same classroom in the northeast corner on the first floor.  The small playground had swings, a merry-go-round, monkey bars, teeter-totter, and a climbing contraption we called the rocket ship because it resembled a skinny pyramid made out of thin pipes.  On the west side of the building was a metal tube, perhaps four feet in diameter, that extended from the second floor diagonally down to just a few feet above the ground, where it leveled off.   It was the fire escape, and was just a giant tubular slide..  It was a favorite place to play when school was not in session.  It could get rather warm in there in the summertime.  It was also somewhat slippery, so we frequently removed our shoes and socks to scale its inner walls when we wanted to slide down it.

Since my classrooms were always on the first floor, there was no reason to go up the stairs to see the second floor.  We may even have been instructed not to go up there.  The only time I recall being on the second floor was when some student in our class had gotten sick and had thrown up in our room.  The smell was quite potent, so we had class upstairs until the stench had cleared.

One year, probably in the first grade, someone brought in a Monarch caterpillar.  Our teacher,  a Mrs. Jensen, put it in a jar with a milkweed stem and leaf, as that is their only food  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_butterfly  and   https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A0LEVi1LUdFUkkMAohEnnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTBzbWVldTlmBHNlYwNzYwRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkA0FDQkMwXzE-?_adv_prop=image&fr=yhs-mozilla-001&va=monarch+butterfly+caterpillar&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001).  During one of our reading sessions, one of the girls (Helen Snow?) happened to be looking at the jar and exclaimed with astonishment, "It broke!" or "It popped!," or something like that.  Mrs. Jensen euthanized it, and then mounted it for us.  During my teaching career, a number of students brought in some caterpillars, though not Monarch ones.  We put them in a jar with some twigs and leaves and waited for them to spin their cocoon or chrysalis.  Only one of them ever matured into an adult, and that was a Cecropia moth (https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrB8pnzU9FUiEQA6iGJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBsZ29xY3ZzBHNlYwNzZWFyY2gEc2xrA2J1dHRvbg--;_ylc=X1MDOTYwNjI4NTcEX3IDMgRiY2sDYWZmOGljOTh1dHNkdSUyNmIlM0Q0JTI2ZCUzRExyNF83N1JwWUVLU3FVMjZoZjdjV210Um9FeXdocUtFTldrNVpDSFBSS3M0JTI2cyUzRGxpJTI2aSUzRFY5UHpBalo1aFJ3S1hMb0ZLNV9BBGZyA3locy1tb3ppbGxhLTAwMQRncHJpZANPRVRGRGJfYVJqeVFXS0pJNmhhZjFBBG10ZXN0aWQDbnVsbARuX3N1Z2cDMTAEb3JpZ2luA2ltYWdlcy5zZWFyY2gueWFob28uY29tBHBvcwM5BHBxc3RyA2NlY3JvcGlhIG1vdGggBHBxc3RybAMxNARxc3RybAMzMgRxdWVyeQNjZWNyb3BpYSBtb3RoIGNhdGVycGlsbGFyIGNvY29vbgR0X3N0bXADMTQyMzAwNDY4MgR2dGVzdGlkA251bGw-?gprid=OETFDb_aRjyQWKJI6haf1A&pvid=tcnjPDY5LjGnvRJiUe7xvgupNjYuMQAAAAAXPczt&p=cecropia+moth+caterpillar+cocoon&fr=yhs-mozilla-001&fr2=sa-gp-images.search.yahoo.com&ei=UTF-8&n=60&x=wrt&hsimp=yhs-001&hspart=mozilla). Whereas Monarchs mature from caterpillar to adult rather quickly (no more than two weeks), Cecropias spin their cocoon in the fall and do not emerge until spring.   Our Cecropia emerged on a Sunday afternoon, when I happened to be in my room.  Its wings appeared quite delicate, almost like tissue paper, and were hanging straight down rather loosely.  It moved its wings back and forth slowly, until the wings became stiffer.  Since the adults only live about two weeks, we let it go in hopes it might "smell out" a mate  (http://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Library/Invertebrates/Cecropia-Moth.aspx). 

Robyn Connelly was in my first grade class.  If girls' athletics had been around when we were younger, she may have been one of the best.  We had a game somewhat like tag.  We would run between the primary building and the high school annex (by the lunchroom).  One person was it, and would try to catch someone before he or she could run from one wall to the other.  I could never catch her.  In fact, I seldom caught anyone.  Should have known that sprinting would not be my cup of tea. 

Do you remember flash cards?  The teachers used them not only for arithmetic, but also for reading.  Mrs. Jensen would sometimes place them on her desk so that they could be seen if one was observant.  Since we were in first grade, most of us did not know how to read (at least I didn't).  I knew the alphabet, though, so when I went home, I would ask my mom what word a certain combination of letters, such as c-a-t, would spell.  Some students learn how to cheat at an early age. Remember what reading series we had?  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_and_Jane  or    http://www.bing.com/search?q=fun+with+dick+and+jane+books&qs=AS&pq=fun+with+dic&sc=8-12&sp=1&cvid=632d21d8c17e4ea6bbef933ee80682a1&FORM=QBLH)

In second grade, our teacher was Mrs. Jeglum.  She was very slender, small, and old.  She may have retired after she had  taught us (it seems that a number of teachers retired after having us in class.  Any connection?).  In the 1959 annual (http://www.classmates.com/yearbooks/Brookings-High-School/4182714492?page=0), (at the top of page 62) there is a picture of the club for Future Teachers of America.  Two of our classmates had sisters in that picture  (http://www.classmates.com/yearbooks/Brookings-High-School/4182714492?page=62).  Can you identify them?   In the bottom right-hand corner of the same page, there is picture of some students pouring coffee for Mrs. Jeglum. .  She is the one in the middle with a big smile and holding a napkin in her left hand.  To the left of that picture is a high-school student acting as if she is assisting a second grader with his assignment.  That picture is staged because the student she is assisting is yours truly.  My guess is that she chose me because one of my sisters was also in the class of 1959.  I may have been chosen because of that connection, or I may have been just plain lucky.  Can you recognize the boy in front of me, or the girl in the background? I once had the original, which is larger than this one, and shows,  I think, who is seated behind me.  If I can find it, I'll let you know the answer to those two questions: whose sisters were in the Future Teachers, and who is also in the picture with me?  An added question might be what other classmates  had older brothers or sisters who were seniors that year?  We might have to get an actual copy of this annual to find that out, as pages 20/21 (http://www.classmates.com/yearbooks/Brookings-High-School/4182714492?page=20) appear to be missing from this copy.

The primary building was torn down in the late 70's, early 80'sm as it was becoming structurally unsound.  I believe someone or some outfit actually saved the bricks to be used for some other project.  Only the first floor may have been used in its latter years.  The site was a playground for a few years after the building was torn down.  In our 6th grade science classes one year, we brought in an engineering professor who taught surveying at SDSU.  He gave a surveying demonstration, after which we went out and discovered that the playground there sloped about 15 feet toward 5th Street.  When gym space became critical for the school district, a large gymnasium, appropriately called the 5th Street Gym, was built on the site in the mid-80's.  There are three full-length basketball courts running east and west, plus bleacher space on the east side.  It is used a great deal by the community.  The Middle School and Central had used it for gym classes and basketball and volleyball practices, but classroom use has declined since Central Elementary and the Middle School are no longer next door. It is still used for Middle School basketball and volleyball practice.  This site has a picture of the exterior and the interior:  http://visitbrookingssd.com/directory/fifth-street-gym   The old high school is visible in the background to the south in the first picture.  The interior photo is looking to the southwest.  The old Central gym would be behind the flags and the black scoreboard on the right.  Can you see the geometric "Bobcats " prowling along the walls?  The playground  and outdoor portion of the Children's Museum is to the right on the exterior photo.  If you look carefully, you can see the head of the T. Rex at the height of the greenery  (http://www.brookingsregister.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=76&story_id=8875).  This video shows both the old Central gym and the 5th Street gyms in the background   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f7psz7U9Os    This video shows the installation of mama T. Rex about five years ago   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXxo6Hmjqz4    Here is one following the exploits of  a youngster as she visits the exhibits    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTv0EDWl0gc   (To see the videos, copy and paste the site in the address box of the URL)  You may find some of the other videos listed at these sites rather interesting, also. 


Lastly, does anyone remember Miss Papritz?  She began teaching before a bachelor's degree was required, and taught in the primary building for a number of years.  She was so memorable because she was hardly taller than her students.  Later on, she was involved with special education.  She was a very enthusiastic teacher, and was well-respected by students and staff alike.  She was helpful to me when I first started in 1973.  Sadly, she passed away about ten years ago (http://www.eidsnessfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/Eidsne1/obit.cgi?user=1252_HPapritz243).