JACKSON During a recent Honoring McAuliffe open house event, parents, staff, and past students gathered to bid farewell to Christa McAuliffe Middle School.
To commemorate the many years the school has served the community, a ceremony was conducted during which memories were shared. In order to cover a budget deficit brought on by reductions in state aid money, the district is closing the school and selling the building and land.
Christa McAuliffe Middle School, named for a teacher who traveled into space and perished in the Space Shuttle Challenger catastrophe, was honored with this farewell ceremony. The focus of the 90-minute event was her motto, “I touch the future, I teach,” which summed up her conviction that educators had a significant influence on the development of future generations.
For the last farewell, two eighth-grade sisters who were wrapping up their time at the school stopped by. Brianna Kosarin, 14, stated, “Even though we have only been here for three short years, it definitely had an impact on us. It is really sad being the last graduating class.”
We were able to introduce ourselves to each of the professors here, and we have since grown to feel almost like family. It’s depressing since it’s similar to losing a house. 14-year-old Bianca Kosarin said.
Bianca also spoke during the event later that evening in her capacity as class president. It undoubtedly had a significant effect on our lives.
Lauren Komaitsky, a special education teacher, had on a shirt from McAuliffe Elementary School. In 2001, I worked as a student teacher at McAuliffe. I was formally rehired in 2003 and remained here till 2022. I’ve been in the school district since college, but I’ve been switching to Goetz for the past three years.
Ironically, the Board of Education altered the district’s original intentions to close a middle school, which had Goetz as the target school and the building sold.
I spent the majority of my career teaching literacy. This location is truly unique. I would say that here is where we all grew up. We all started together in our early twenties, became friends, and have countless wonderful memories and times with the students in this facility as well as with one another. It is truly heartbreaking that it is closing. She went on to say that it was a significant period in our lives.
Teachers were swapping stories and glancing about the building. Opening up some old memories that were sown when the school first opened was part of their own special celebration earlier in the day.
As part of a staff celebration that included retired individuals and those who were transferred to other buildings, teacher Jerri Porlow, who has been with the school since 1993, was present for the opening of the school’s time capsule. We referred to it as “sweet endings.” We opened the time capsule and enjoyed dessert.
In remembrance of the teacher who inspired the school’s name, the time capsule contained a variety of objects, many of which had a space theme. It also evoked memories for former vice principal John Dunzclman Sr., popularly known as the Space Guy. During the time capsule’s unpacking, Dunzclman even donned a NASA space suit, exposing school newsletters, a 1993 TV Guide cover with CBS News Anchor Connie Chung, a miniature spacecraft, and other photographs of former administrators and instructors.
I’ve been in this school building for 17 years, current principal Debra Phillips told The Jackson Times while she was there. The heritage and customs that we established here and modified throughout time are more important than the structure.
We’ve made an effort to maintain this school as a safe space for children to explore and discover who they are, form relationships, and receive a strong education so they can move on to the next phase of their education and be contributing members of the Jackson community and beyond, Phillips continued. “Times change, kids change, and technology changes, so we’ve changed with the times.”
She will take over as principal of the Goetz Middle School, which will now be known as the Jackson Township 5-6 School, the following year.
Jessica Canada, a parent, arrived with her family to bid them go. My daughter has been enrolled in this special needs program since last year, and she will be attending Memorial, or more accurately Jackson Middle School, which will house seventh and eighth graders, next year, she told The Jackson Times.
She conveyed her sorrow about the school’s closure. You wish for your children to graduate from the same institution where you did. I’ve spent my entire life in Jackson. I visited Switlik. My daughter attended Elms before coming here for middle school, but I attended Jackson Memorial High School. She had the same instructor for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade, which is why I enjoyed this place. When she enters high school, her teachers will all be new. I’m depressed about it. In order to avoid having to continually closing schools, we’re hoping they can figure out our deficit. Our special education children are losing programs because we don’t receive enough state aid money.
The incident served as a somber reminder to Superintendent Nicole Pormilli of a comparable incident that occurred last year when the state ordered the closure of Sylvia Rosenauer Elementary School. In order to balance the school district’s budget, the 60-year-old school was sold as part of a massive round of cuts.
A state monitor stated that they had no option but to overturn the vote after the school board rejected that suggestion, leaving the state Department of Education to make the final decision. At a special program organized at the school, Rosenauer alumni turned out to bid the institution farewell.
