The last classes at Central Elementary

JERRY PERSON

This week, we’ll look back at the old Central Elementary School when

it was still on Orange Avenue between 5th and 6th Streets. We’re

going to look at the activities and subjects being taught in the last

classes of the old school building, in February 1923, well before it

became Dwyer Middle School.

By October of that year, students would attend the new Central

Elementary School at 14th Street and Palm Avenue, but for now we will

approach as quietly as possible see what our kids were learning then.

“Take a Hike” had a different meaning to the kindergarten class,

as these young students hiked over to some local eucalyptus and pine

trees to learn about them, and were even given some leaves and

pinecones to bring home to mother.

As we approach the classroom of Miss Graves, we see her busy

helping students make valentines for the coming holiday and preparing

for a Valentine party.

We’ll tiptoe out, so as not to disturb the class and into Miss

Baldridge’s class, and the first thing we notice is its size -- there

were 48 students.

Sewing and handcrafts were an important part of the student

program in Miss Reith’s class, and for part of that semester her

class would be outside growing plants in the school’s garden.

Knowing how to spell correctly was the responsibility of Miss

Helm, who was preparing her class for the Red Star Contest. Getting a

red star beside your name really meant something to a child, and in

Mrs. Christainer’s classroom, her second-graders were learning to

read with expression and absolute accuracy.

I can’t say the same for today’s politicians and television

newscasters.

In Mrs. Biery’s class, her students were given the assignment of

reading the literary classics, writing a small summary of what they

read. The students were also to list the characters in the book they

read and to explain in a sentence what the moral of the story was.

In Mrs. McKelvey’s classroom, her students were determined to

learn all about Abraham Lincoln and to share what they learned in

short talks in front of the class each morning. The students in

McKelvey’s room were great readers, having read through four school

readers in seven weeks, and were to begin reading a fifth, a Horace

Mann reader.

In the sixth-grade class, students had just completed writing,

from memory, the 23rd Psalm, something you don’t see in our public

schools today.

With the coming of Valentine’s Day, there was a beehive of

activity in both Mrs. Adams’ and Mrs. Howard’s classrooms, as their

students were busy making valentine boxes and valentines to fill

them.

Third-grade teacher Ina Blossom was especially busy this month,

teaching her class and entertaining visitors from Arizona.

In Mr. Park’s science class, each of three groups was given a

subject to report to the entire class. One was to report on “New and

Useful Inventions,” another on “Labor Saving Machines,” and the third

on “Household Helps.”

Being able to read one’s handwriting has always been an asset in

the business world, and Lola Reed served as supervisor of penmanship.

Mr. de Laubenfels has been busy coaching boys in the seventh and

eighth grades in the finer points of that grand old American game of

baseball, and when spring comes, he is sure that they will be fine

players.

A new teacher was added to this year’s faculty when Muriel Curtis

from Smith College was hired to teach fourth grade, and she will also

be teaching girls’ physical education.

Harlen Reid’s arithmetic class, meanwhile, was learning to use

numbers.

We should be very proud of these teachers at Central Elementary,

for not only were they the last teachers to teach at the old wooden

two-story school, but they also taught good morals and ethics that

would remain with them for the rest of their lives.

Because of these dedicated teachers then and now, Huntington Beach

is a better place to be.

* 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.