Happy school dazes of a bygone time

A LOOK BACK

The Huntington Beach School Alumni picnic at Lake Park sure

brought out

a lot of happy memories of the past.

This week I thought we would look at a few of the people who were

around in the 1930s at Central Elementary School, which is Dwyer

School today, and I’m sure that those who attended the picnic will

recall many of these people and have fond memories of when they

started school here in Huntington Beach.

The school started out as Central Elementary and taught

kindergarten through eighth grade. Today we have two schools -- Smith

School, named for Agnes Smith who was the principal of the old

grammar school and Dwyer

Middle School, named for Ethel Dwyer who was the school’s vice

principal.

When Huntington Beach resident Gordie Higgins was in the eighth

grade his teacher was Miss Ethel Dwyer, who began her long career

here in 1921. In those days you didn’t talk back to the teacher and

if you did, a sharp rap on your knuckles by the teacher’s ruler

stopped that real fast.

So lets begin with our flashback at Central Elementary.

When you were first thrust into its hallowed halls to begin your

education it was in kindergarten and that would have been in Margaret

Giacomazzi’s class who began her stay here in 1931 after graduating

from Broad Oaks College. Longtime Huntington Beach resident and

first-grade teacher Esther Funk began at Central in 1924 after

graduating from UCLA. Another first-grade teacher in school is

Isabelle Siracusa who received her teacher’s degree at USC and

started teaching here in 1936. Gladys Jones, another first-grade

teacher, began her career here in 1928 after receiving her diploma

from Broad Oaks College. In 1930 Rebecca MacMillan joined the faculty

to teach the first grade and she came to us after graduating from

Arizona State Teachers’ College.

Do you remember being in Dora Dow’s second-grade class during the

big earthquake of 1933? She started here in 1926 after receiving her

degree at UCLA.

Another great second-grade teacher was Jean Berry, who came here

in September of 1937 after graduating from Pomona College that June.

In 1936 Dorothy Lewis started teaching the second grade after

attending UCLA to get her teaching papers. Moving to the third-grade

classes we find Frances McKelvey from the Duluth Minnesota Teachers’

College and she started here in 1922.

In 1924 Agnes Snasdedd joined the faculty to teach fourth grade.

She was a product of the San Francisco State Teachers’ College and

with her teaching the fourth grade was Alice Sturgeon fresh from USC

in 1937.

I don’t know if you remember or not, but in the fifth grade school

work starts to get tougher and teaching that grade were Ruth Bates,

who came here in 1936 from LaVerne College, and Betty Ruth Sheppard

who started at the school in 1927 after getting her degree at

Whittier College. The last fifth-grade teacher was Kathryn Scales,

who also began her career here in 1927.

We now come to the sixth-grade teachers who you might recall with

more fond memories and they are Susan Russell, later be to called

Mrs. Bergfelt. She joined her fellow teachers in 1935. In 1930

Gertrude Peters who received her degree from USC came on board.

Jacqueline Woods was our third fifth-grade teacher and she started

here in 1937. I’m sure the girls remember their physical education

teacher Mary Goodman who started fresh out of USC in 1924. Another

dedicated teacher was the boys gym teacher, James Ranney, who came to

teach from the Missouri State Teachers’ College the same year as

Goodman, 1924.

In the art department was Rheta Akins, who came here from UCLA in

1928. The school’s librarian, Lea Hood, came to work at Central

Elementary in 1930 after getting her training at USC. My friend Teri

Webb who works in the office at Dwyer School today, and is one of the

unsung heroes of the school, joined the ranks of those unsung heroes

of the 1930s that included office clerk Chrstine Advant and school

secretary Lorene Hancock and school nurse Alice Freeman.

When we see that big yellow school bus on the road we scarcely

think of who hat driver is, and the one in charge of school

transportation in the 1930s was Joe Perry. He would also drive the

bus, and in later years have a local school named for him.

Angie Mollica and Michael Nichols did double-duty as bus drivers

and custodians. Other custodians of the time included John Flaws,

George Mitchell, Lee Orrell, Zinie Phillips and Earl Robinson. I’m

sure a lot of you can name your grammar school teachers, but how many

can name the ladies who served you a hot meal in the cafeteria on

those cold rainy days.

Some of these unsung heroes include Leona Miller, Florence Preston

and Beulah Westmoreland. School gardener Albert Lake and building

Supt. Fred Lock are two more unsung heroes without whose help the

school could not function. Many of these people would remain with the

school for 30 to 40 years.

I hope some of these names brought back a fond memory or two. If

you stop and think that these people walked the very halls that your

grandchildren walk today, you might tell them that today’s teachers,

custodians and cafeteria workers will be their fond memories someday.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington

Beach resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at

P.O. Box 7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.