Reflections "76" -- A Book Review

by Mary Bordi

Reflections "76"is a slim, paperback La Honda Elementary School yearbook. The pages were obviously cut and pasted and captioned by typewriter before being sent to the School Annual Publishing Company in Kansas City, MO for printing. This was a labor of love, produced in 1976 without the aid of computers.

In that red-white-and-blue Bicentennial year, Jimmy Carter was elected President, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (the movie) garnered five academy awards and the National Academy of Science determined that gases from spray cans could damage the earth's ozone layer. None of this was mentioned in Reflections "76", however.

La Honda Elementary school buildings were 16 years old in 1976 with a new Multi-Use Room. Consisting of grades kindergarten through eighth, the school served around 145 students who arrived by bus from the far corners of the district. All classes were split grades except for kindergarten and eighth. It's difficult to determine the class sizes because the yearbook is laid out by grade, not classroom. The seventh grade, with twelve students, was the smallest while kindergarten, with 20 students, was the largest. Six regular teachers and a learning disability teacher handled the workload.

Mr. Bickmore was the District Superintendent/Principal; Mrs. Tainter, secretary; Mrs. Silva, librarian. Bus drivers were Gayle O'Connor and Lois Marcil.

By this time you've figured out this isn't really a book review but a description of a piece of history. 

 The music department, under the guidance of Mr. Raney, consisted of Beginning and Advanced Guitar as well as Band. The band picture shows ten members. Cheerleaders as well as Pom Pom Girls inspired the La Honda Bandits Basketball team to victory. Between them they rated a three page spread.

Other sections include 1988 (what will eighth graders be doing then?), Activities, Polls (best dancers, best dressed, eyes...) and Candids. The pictures on the Moments to Remember, Candids and Activities pages are a little difficult to make out (you probably just had to be there) but one stands out. Titled "Snowed In," it shows a group of kids playing in a rare snowfall on school playground equipment that would nowadays be classified as unsafe.

Not noted in the yearbook but worth remembering was the lunch time Snitch Box where students could put items from their lunch bags that they didn't want, for others to "snitch," so the food did not go to waste. And also not noted was kindergarten teacher Gowan Ratliff's famous money raising bake sales outside the Post Office. What didn't sell went into the freezer to be thawed for the next bake sale.

Near the front of the book is a wonderful aerial photo of the school and surroundings--at a time when Google Earth's inventor was probably just a kid himself. (No, not at La Honda School.) 

As the 1976 kindergartners celebrate their 40th birthdays, one might wonder what has become of the students in the nine grades of La Honda Elementary that year. Some have moved out of state or out of the country. At least one has passed away. Some are reconnecting on Facebook. But some of these former students regularly return to the Multi-Use Room to watch their own children in school drama productions, fifth grade graduations and other activities. They still live here. By the way, can you find today's Principal in the second grade picture?

This book is long out of print. You'll have a hard time finding it on eBay or the used book web sites because nowhere in the Reflections "76" yearbook is "La Honda" even mentioned. It was just so obvious to all...

This copy of Reflections "76" will be placed in the archives of the La Honda Historical Society. Names of students have not been mentioned in the text in order to protect the” innocent.
 

 

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