Aylesworth Elementary School students and staff in Portage went through all the last lasts Wednesday. The last recess, the last day of school, the last day for the school.
“We started the day with tears, and it’s going to end with tears,” third grade teacher Mary Quinones said.
“They’re all getting separated next year,” she explained, as the school will be demolished this summer to make way for the new Aylesworth Middle School that will replace Willowcreek Middle School, which will be razed after the new school is built.
Quinones and her fellow teachers were spending the day trying to calm down people – students and staff alike.
“It’s going to be a sad ending, that’s for sure,” fellow third grade teacher Amanda Fengya said.
“Our team, we’ve banded together the last three years,” Quinones said, but they’re going separate directions. Quinones is going to South Haven Elementary to teach third grade; Fengya is to become a fifth grade reading teaching at Fegely Intermediate School.
Amy Rivera, a special education teacher, has a special bond to the building. Her sister, fifth grade teacher Becky Mitcheltree, taught at Aylesworth, and father, Jim Hoffman, retired from the building about a decade ago.
“There’s lots of energy. Kids are feeling all the emotions,” she said.
Arin Irvin, a third grader, said Wednesday was “nerve-wracking and chaotic.”
She’s sad to know she won’t be with her friends in the future.
Third grader Kenzie Kardan was having a good day with her friends. “It’s really fun and so exciting,” she said.
Ashton Smith, also in third grade, was having fun, too, but knew it wouldn’t last. “Everybody’s going to be leaving. It’s going to be so sad for everybody,” he said.
Ethan Freiberg, a fifth grader, was sanguine about the school’s demise. “It’s meant a lot to me. I’ve been here since kindergarten.”
King Stepter, a fifth grader, was going to miss the school as well as his friends. “It’s kind of sad to hear of another school being broken down,” he said.
“It’s been a blast,” Grayson Collins, a third grader, said. He was spending the day with his friends while he could.
“Honestly, it’s a great day to be part of Aylesworth,” Title 1 instructional aide Gabriel Hedger said. He has enjoyed getting to know the kids. “I’ve grown a lot of strong bonds with these students,” Hedger said. He’s off to South Haven Elementary next.
Principal Jon Chlebowski said Wednesday was a joyous day but also tearful, as everyone will miss each other.
The staff and PTO made the best of it, giving away free popcorn – why charge when the proceeds of popcorn sales were seed money for buying more popcorn – and free Kona Ice. Students used their good behavior tickets to enter raffles for prizes, he said.
“Aylesworth Elementary School has an incredible culture with the students and staff and families,” Mayor Austin Bonta said. Yes, the students and staff are being scattered to other schools, but there’s a bright side. “They’re taking the spirit of Aylesworth with them,” he said.
Bonta spent the morning at the school, sure to get writer’s cramp from all the Sharpie autographs he was asked to give. Water bottles, shoes, a plush snake, a rock, eyeglasses case were all offered to him to sign. “For the most part, it’s been shirts and shoes.”
“Can you sign my face?” one student asked. “Can’t do that, buddy. Sorry,” Bonta replied.
Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
