A BRICK, A BELL AND A BOOK...A Reminiscent Memphis School Story...By Kail Tescar

Memphis Alumnus, Kail Tescar and his handsome son, Kail Jr.
Kail's awesome collection of souvenirs from our old school. Click on any photo to enlarge. Once enlarged, click again to super enlarge!

A BRICK, A BELL AND A BOOK.

My name is Kail Tescar and I was born and raised in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood of Cleveland Ohio. I attended Memphis Elementary school from 1966 until 1972. I started in the basement Pre-K classroom of Miss Goodnight (“Good-night, Miss Goodnight!”), and worked my way to the top floor sixth grade classroom of Miss Emch.

I moved away from Cleveland in 1999 to a small town in Georgia and rarely had the chance to return to the area until the memorial for my dearly departed Grandmother. It was a sad time, but also a time of rekindled friendships and a lot of nostalgia. When I heard Memphis was being torn town I decided to take one last look at my former school.

What I found surprised me. The once familiar structure now seemed completely foreign, covered with graffiti, shackled with chains and with not a single window. As I looked around the playground I couldn't help but think of old friends and joyous hours spent at play on the swings and slides that were once there. The metal stairs to the auditorium/lunchroom still stood and I vividly remembered swinging from them as a makeshift monkey bar, passing the time before the bell would ring and we would be called to class.

Curiosity got the better of me, and I decided to see if I could gain entry and have a look inside. I tried the front door and found the chains easily slipped from the handles. I stepped inside and was shocked by the flood of emotions that fell over me. The once wondrous halls so filled with light and activity had fallen into gloomy decay. But the memories spent there were still so fresh that I felt like Rip Van Winkle returned from his slumber, as if I were in a Twilight Zone episode where a hundred years has passed over night. Everything so familiar yet totally changed. The school had long since been stripped of it’s material value, the wooden floors of the gymnasium, the seats and curtains from the auditorium, the teacher’s desks and blackboards all were gone. I visited all of my old classrooms, where I found the floors, having been exposed to the elements, buckled, warped and swelled, like the waves on an ocean ‘Where are they now?’ I wondered as I thought of my teachers, friends, favorite books from the library, music class, and everything from drawing Kitty cats in the basement, to my prepubescent unrequited love for the six foot Goddess in a mini skirt, Miss Emch.

I decided I must have a few souvenirs before it was gone forever. I returned early the next morning before my trip back to Georgia armed with a wrench and screw driver. I took a few things, like the door handle off of my kindergarten class, a bell from the hall, and a chair that my 6 year old son sits in today. Attached you will find a picture that contains my little memorial to Memphis Elementary School. It contains a bell, a brick and a book, and I keep them around to remind me of great times spent there, and of a much simpler world.

Here’s to the good old days!
Cheers,
Kail

Many thanks to my good friend and fellow classmate, Kail Tescar for this awesome story and the vintage photographs shown below. He can be contacted through his website www.startrekanimated.com