By WENDY HAMACHER Special to the Palisadian-Post Marquez Charter Elementary School celebrated its 50th birthday on June 5, and in true Palisades fashion hosted a party that attracted students, parents, alumni and neighbors to a day of festivities and nostalgia. ”Around town, it’s no secret that Marquez is a high-achieving school with its innovative teachers and bright students, not to mention loyal community support, but imagine being a student from one of the first graduating classes reliving old memories from the 1950s? ”That was the tale of the day when a small group of students from the Class of ’59 gathered around old school photos of classmates and teachers. Naturally, their memories of childhood at Marquez are fond ones, and to some it was like going back in time. ” ‘It’s amazing how little the school has really changed,’ said Tom Betts, the man responsible for gathering up the old gang, who this spring has also been coordinating the upcoming Class of ’65 reunion at Palisades High. ‘Looking at the overall footprint of this school, it’s the same as it was when it opened.’ ”Betts, along with other Class of ’59 students like Suzanne Thomas, Pam Wilkes and Mark Matthews, exchanged hugs and laughter while looking at some of the old class photos. ”’This teacher right here in this photo, Miss Lillig, seems to be a teacher all of us remember,’ Betts said. ‘She was one of those who was definitely in command of the classroom. We may have been a bunch of cut-ups, but nobody fooled around in her class.’ ”’She was remarkable,’ said Suzanne Thomas. ‘She was a very strong teacher.’ ” Mark Matthews recalled the first time he ever heard a student, who happened to be one of his best friends at the time, talk back to a teacher (certainly not Miss Lillig). ”’My old friend Greg Braunger, he’s now deceased but during recess he told the art teacher to ‘go to hell.’ I tell ya I’ll never forget that.’ ”Other ’59 classmates who showed up for a reunion photograph included Marion Imhoff Foster, Kathy Thomas Perez, Suzanne Thomas, Emmet Acterman, Stuart Borden, Dave Bennett, John Lawton, Lyle Harper and Andrew Bokelman. ”They were second graders when Marquez opened in 1955, some of them transferring from Palisades Elementary as new school boundaries split the community in half. Houses were popping up all over town, especially in the Marquez Knolls area, and the post-World War II baby boom was hitting the schools. ” The alumni said they felt fortunate to have attended a school that brought parents, teachers and students together as a family. ”’It was the opportunities we were afforded and it was a magnet even when it opened up,’ Betts said. ‘The teachers were the cream of the crop.’ ”Marion Heller taught at Marquez for 37 years and recalls being welcomed with open arms when she started in 1965. ‘It was so wonderful, just wonderful’the best move I ever made,’ she said. She still keeps track of many of her students and is pleased when they come back to the Palisades to raise their families. ”’To see the kids grow up and then to see their kids, you know, it’s just the neatest thing.’
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
