BREAKING GROUND, AND HEARTS!

        SATURDAY, APRIL 13TH., 2019
   BREAKING GROUND, AND HEARTS!

    Regular readers are well aware I steer clear
of politics in my public posts and this blog.
    That said, the groundbreaking for a new
Wilkes-Barre Area High School has me
doing a lot of thinking about the all the
schools we used to have that are now just
memories. Mostly good ones that we're
sad to see go!
     I grew up in Hazleton where, during my
years in the classroom "neighborhood schools"
were the rule.
     My elementary school was two blocks from
my house. My junior high  school was three
blocks away. My walk to High School was
my longest hike at about one mile.
      I never rode a school bus until my TV news
days when I boarded one to do a story about
drivers who ignore their flashing warning lights.
      I will admit my junior high school was in
bad shape as far back as when I was a student
there. It was raised years ago and a new building,
not a school  stands on the site.
      My elementary school building was converted,
not replaced, to an apartment complex.
      My high school was renovated into a secondary
school. It was replaced with a new high school
which had a leaky roof two years after it's
construction.
      Several apartment buildings in Wilkes-Barre
were once schools and one is now a beautiful
office building which retains the look the
structure had as a school.
       I'm no engineer so I can't testify as to the
structural integrity of the Wilkes-Barre schools
being closed. I do know they look pretty sturdy
to me as I drive by.
       I also know, as with the schools I attended,
a lot of family memories were made within
those walls. Classes, plays, sporting events,
concerts, and graduations brought more
than just the students to those buildings.
       Hope maintenance of the new
high school will be a top priority and that
all your NEWS is good.