Ealy Elementary Teacher Packs Up 20 Years of Memories

by Joni Hubred-Golden

On Friday evening, Ealy Elementary 3rd grade teacher Marla Gartner was in her classroom packing boxes, while families enjoyed a movie night outdoors.

The school year ends – and Gartner will move, possibly to Sheiko Elementary – on June 12, as West Bloomfield school officials voted in 2012 to close Ealy this year. Already, 60 boxes of everything she has collected over 20 years of teaching in the same building are stacked around the room.

“Both of my kids went here, I did my student teaching here, I got my job here,” Gartner said, adding that she worked as a permanent substitute teacher before joining the staff.

The school she knew 20 years ago is much the same as it is today. “It was a community, it was a family. People cared about each other, and I had great relationships with parents.”

Back then, she said, more parents volunteered in the classroom. Today, more work, but although they have less time to volunteer, they remain dedicated to their children’s education and pitch in when they can.

“The sense of caring and wanting to be here is still there,” Gartner said.

Marla Wujczyk, whose children are Ealy alums, said the school always felt like home during the eight years she was involved with the Parent Teacher Organization.

“It was just such a warm, friendly place,” she said. “It made me want to be a part of it.”

Because the school houses programs for students with special needs, Wujczyk’s children had the opportunity to be “Peer Pals”, helping students with autism in lower grades. “It teaches them there’s something greater than themselves,” she said.

Students sad to see school close
Fifth graders Adam Potts, Jake Dinnan and Matthew Hartung, who all attended Friday’s outdoor movie night, will move on to another school no matter what, but they all said that it’s sad to see their first school close. Each has a favorite memory, and Adam’s still makes him laugh.

“In third grade, we were studying crayfish, and we put a crayfish on (Principal Roderick) MacNeal’s shoulder and it pinched him,” he said. “It was very funny.”

Matthew said he has had the best teachers during his six years at Ealy. His favorite memory is being principal for a day, after he raised the third highest amount of money for the school’s fun run in 3rd grade. He got to attend a meeting with MacNeal, had a special lunch, toured each classroom and helped school secretaries prepare paperwork.

Jake said he will most remember the teachers, who are “really nice and funny”, and all the events like Friday’s family movie night and the annual Ealy Fair.

This year’s fair, held June 7, 4 p.m.-7 p.m., will include a celebration of the school with a video history, guest speakers and delivery of a time capsule to the Greater West Bloomfield Historical Society. All current and former students and families are invited to attend and share their memories with a special balloon launch and other activities.

To learn more, contact MacNeal, macneal@wbsd.org or 248-865-6210.

This is the first in a series of articles about the closing of Ealy Elementary. Share your memories with a comment or by adding a photo to this story.