COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL JUNE 20, 2018
HARRISON from A1
emotions. Th ere’s like excite-
ment for summer for some
kids, can’t wait. And then for
other students, school can be
the most safe, predictable part
of their lives. And that safety
net being removed is a hard
thing. So those are just the
normal things we face,” said
Brown. “And then the building
on top of that.”
To prepare for this good-
bye, students got to paint their
handprints on walls through-
out the school and read a book
titled “School’s First Day of
School” about a new school
building that is nervous about
starting the year. Students also
wrote letters to the new and old
school.
“I am going to love our new
school, but I will miss you. I
love you because of the memo-
ries,” wrote one fi rst grader.
“I love you because you have
held strong for many years. I
will miss you Harrison. I loved
to have you here Harrison.
Th ank you for holding us for
years. I love you Harrison,”
wrote a third grader.
“I love your classrooms be-
cause you’re great. You’re the
best ever. I will miss the whole
school,” added another third
grader.
Th e new Harrison school,
located just a few blocks away
at 8th and Taylor streets, was
constructed with money from
a 2016 bond. Th e school will
open its doors to students this
coming school year.
“It’s kind of bittersweet. It’s
exciting that we’re going to a
new place but it’s also kind of
sad and just overwhelming.
And my kids went … to Har-
rison all the way through and
so it’s a little sad to say good-
bye to it,” said teacher Ambyr
Hankins.
In addition to the emotions
at the school, the teachers are
making sure they are prepared
to be out of the building by this
Friday. Th eir rooms have been
broken down into piles with
some going to their new class-
You Can Count on Us!
PHOTOS BY ZACH SILVA/COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Among the now empty halls at Harrison Elementary School
are boxes, a wall with students’ names who are the last to
attend the school (right) and items to be moved.
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room just down the road while
other items will be up for grabs.
Next week principals around
South Lane will get a chance to
claim items that are no longer
needed. Aft er the principals,
local nonprofi t organizations
will take a look at the items
before it will be opened up to
nonprofi ts from outside of Cot-
tage Grove. From July 1 to 3,
the district will hold a commu-
nity garage sale. Th e remaining
items at that point will be recy-
cled or stored.
Th e furniture at the new
school will arrive on Aug. 6,
and principal Brown notes that
the “hope is to get teachers into
their classroom somewhere
around August 13.”
“I honestly started (the
cleaning process) probably last
year. And so little by little and
then this year I went through
everything again. Just trying
to downsize and make sure I’m
R ECYCLE ! R EUSE !
E
R
O
T
S
R E
NEW
R E S TORE H OURS
T HURSDAY , F RIDAY & S ATURDAY
10 AM -6 PM
Drop off your old paint
for recycling
at our ReStore location
during business hours
Preserve our earth
Keep items out of the landfi lls
Donate to the ReStore
Habitat Offi ce and ReStore
2155 Getty Circle ~ Unit #1
in the Cottage Grove Industrial Park
South on Hwy 99 past the High School
Call 541.649.1104
for more information
11A
only taking the stuff that I will
use,” said kindergarten teacher
Sarah Parsons.
Parsons had been teaching
in her current classroom for 10
years. Th is same classroom was
also her second-grade class-
room as a student when she
attended Harrison. But with
the school year now drawn to a
close, Parsons is excited about
the rare opportunity to start a
classroom scratch and ready to
take on the challenge of mak-
ing the new building not just a
structure but a classroom full
of life. And she has a method to
do that.
“Polka dots. Just put polka
dots on anything and it will feel
homey,” she said with a laugh.
“I think the extra touches that
make this a special room for
kids, they’re in those boxes I
hope. And honestly, it’s who is
there. We’ll make a classroom
family and we’ll make it our
own. And I don’t have huge
plans of decorating a whole lot
because the kids are going to
help me do that. So that will be
fun.”
Likewise,
kindergarten
teacher Stephanie Black is
keeping in mind the impor-
tance of adding that individu-
alized connection in a brand-
new classroom.
“I really do think that will
come as we get into that space
and fi nd it out because it is add-
ing those little touches of per-
sonal things. You know, I’ll be
using some of the same things
that I used to create a sense of
family atmosphere here,” said
Black. “Like adding their family
pictures to some kind of board
somewhere — and making it
where they can see their name.
In a sea of unknown, giving
them some known.”