After 20 Years, The People Inside Make MTES 'Special'

A school is just a building — what really matters is what goes on inside.

Superintendent of Schools David Trethaway relayed that message to the nearly 600 students and staff packed in gym Friday morning to celebrate the facility's 20th anniversary. 

"A lot has changed in 20 years," Trethaway said. "But the one thing that hasn't changed about MTES is the people, and that's what makes it very special."

Many staff members have come and gone since MTES was dedicated on Feb. 23, 1992, though 10 of the inaugural employees remain.

To celebrate the school's 20 years, students in each grade level prepared bulletin boards throughout the hallways detailing what they think they will be doing after another two decades pass, according to special education teacher Teresa Wood, who worked on the 20th anniversary planning committee.

Everyone, from staff to students, wore a white T-shirt specially made for the occasion. Students also lent their thumb prints to a mural of the school's dragon mascot. 

"It's hard to believe that this beautiful school is 20 years old," Principal Marge Stevens said to students and staff. Stevens, former principal of Whiting Elementary School, .

Over 20 years ago, it became apparent that the township needed another elementary school. Ridgeway Elementary School was forced to hold double sessions to accommodate an overabundance of the students.

But residents at the time were not fully supportive of the plan. Voters twice defeated a referendum to construct the school.

"It was very difficult to build this school, but the former board and administration got it done," Trethaway said. 

The board of education decided to take a different route and petitioned the state to finance the building through a lease purchase, said current board President Donald Webster. 

"It turned out to be a good decision," he said. The school, which Webster said cost about $12 million, is now completely paid off. 

To close the ceremony, student representatives from each class placed items including drawings, year books and posters into a time capsule. In another 20 years, it will be opened for a new generation to see what life was like for Manchester elementary students in 2012.