Public Comment
Former, Never to be Forgotten Students of the 50's at Berkeley's Lincoln School
And..here I be, at the ripe (?) age of near ninety!
My fondest memories are of the beloved 43-some second graders at Lincoln School…circa, 1955+ and I continue, lovingly see their faces and remember them!
As a new teacher, in th’olden days…even before Kennedy,”people’s park” and integration of the schools in Berkeley..I had the most sincere joy of being in the classroom with Bobby Tom, Audrey Nobori, Shirley Curry, Yasafumi Hamamoto,Patsy Cornilius,and 43 other darlings whose names I still recall along with their photos and letters…Eddie Mack,Jocelyn,Tommy,Alfred Boling,Jackie Nickleson, and and and!!!!!!
Willie Mays came over, at our invitation one afternoon! In 1965, thanks to the administrators, I was given the green light to take50 some youngsters, ages 9 -16 via busses, to the SF Opera House to be in the DRESS CIRCLE to hear the great DIVA,Marian Anderson in her final concert. She even came over to our Lincoln School a few years prior..and Columbus School, too!
How precious are my memories of each of you 2nd graders, then later at our 9th grade school, then..at the BHS senior graduation at the UC Campus!
That beloved Dr. Harriett Wood-Jenkins, first Black principal of Berkeley, and then (of NASA) and of our Lincoln School Faculty,’58-’79,Emerson School, Administrator. I recall the joys of all of you Berkeley kids. She is now UP in a blessed space with our principal,Bill Rhodes,custodian Marcel Guest,secretary Tina Thomas.
Most of all I shall always treasure the gift you, students of Lincoln, Columbus Schools gave to me! The gift of love and trust and sharing of your lives with this aged old educator.
