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School Daze

This past September I found out they are tearing down my old elementary school, View Ridge Elementary.  It made me sad because when Samuel was born I realized he would get to go there.  I've been to so many schools I thought it would be cool that my son could go to at least one of them.

My school journey started in Kindergarten with my mom homeschooling me.  My mom and I were best buds and she wasn't ready for me to leave, plus at the time Mukilteo Elementary wasn't the great school it is now.  We both liked homeschooling so much, I stayed home for 1st grade too.

For 2nd grade I headed off to Silver Lake Christian School.  I don't remember my parents reasons for starting school but there I was.  I met some new friends but school work wise had a rough start.  Halfway though 3rd grade my parents were done with that school.  My dad was in Japan and woke up in the middle of the night to call and remove me.

Come January I started at View Ridge.  I had a great teacher, Miss Engleman, who ironically was paired as my mentor after college in a Women's Ministry event at church.  I made more friends, one of which I'm still friends with today.

One of the cool things about View Ridge Elementary was the giant Big Top.  The big top was this huge white tent looking building that we played under during rainy day recess.  There were basketball courts, foursquare boxes, and lots of balls and jump ropes to play with.  From what I've heard the big top will be torn down too.  There are supposed to incorporate the spiny ball on top as part of the new building.

I only spent a year and a half at View Ridge but it was a cool old school build sometime in the 50s.  One of my memories is when they had the 5th graders paint this huge underwater mural in the lunch room.  Later View Ridge was my polling place and every time I went there to vote it brought back those memories.  The mural has also since been painted over.

Another cool thing about View Ridge was the sink in the girls bathroom.  It was this huge semicircle sink that had a foot lever, so no matter where you stood you could turn on the water.  The last time I was there I peeked in to see that it was gone, and looked like it had been for some time.

After I found out they were tearing it down, we had an HOA meeting in the library.  I brought my camera and had my dad take my picture outside my 4th grade classroom.  In the 4th grade I was Viking of the month and some where there is a picture of me outside my 4th grade classroom with my award.

This morning the Herald printed an article with the artist rendering of the new school.  It looks like it will be amazing.  Samuel will have fun going to kindergarten in his neighborhood and making friends and memories.  He can tell his classmates that his mom went to school there too back when it was old.

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