AMHERST — Walking through Wildwood School as part of a guided farewell tour of the 1970s-era building, retired kindergarten teacher Lorine Timmermann recently returned to the exact classroom where she taught generations of Amherst children.
“This is my room,” Timmermann exclaimed upon entering the space.
And while current kindergarten teacher Shannon Applegate has added elements to the room, such as a drawing of a neighborhood on one wall, for Timmermann — now 90 and retired since 2007 — it was like she had never left, even being joined by a handful of former students.
“I can’t believe it, some of the students I had in kindergarten are here,” Timmermann said.
One of those she taught back in 1977 was Brian Cavanaugh, who grew up in a neighborhood near the Strong Street school, coming back to the building for the first time in almost 42 years.
“What a joy to come into this room, after all these years, and to have Mrs. Timmermann here,” Cavanaugh said, as he sat down in one of the tiny seats and desks that today’s kindergarteners use.
Before Interim Assistant Principal Kristin Worgess welcomed the 25 or so people gathered at the main entrance for the tour, many were already reflecting on what the school has meant to their lives. Timmermann recognized Cavanaugh right away.
“I’m glad you’re here,” she said to him, before posing for a selfie and recounting how she came to the school around 1974.
“The year I started we had 57 kindergarteners,” Timmermann said.
Timmermann wasn’t sure what to expect from the tour. “It’s going to be interesting to walk through here,” she said.
Nearby was Kirsten Lindblom, who began her professional teaching career training as a paraprofessional with Timmermann. Later, she taught mostly at Mark’s Meadow School, but noted she didn’t want to miss out on the chance to visit Wildwood.
With the last classes to go through Wildwood and Fort River schools, with both being replaced by the Amethyst Brook School in the fall, the district is providing tours, with the last coming on May 20. The tours begin at 4 p.m. at both schools.
Worgess said on the first tour in March, people asked to see specific areas of the school and to see if things looked — and even smelled — the same.
Principal Allison Estes, who led the tour throughout the building and the grounds, brought the visitors to the large library, what she called the “crown jewel” of the tour. That includes a seating area that is sunken into the floor.
“It’s a beautiful well for children to sit in and listen to books being read,” Estes said.
There, some of those present recalled the late Joan Logan being the librarian and their own antics, as well as a time when live animals were present, both in the classrooms and in the library.
Wildwood once featured quads, designed when the open classroom model was used. Many of these have been modified with new walls or had walls removed, though the doors still have “quad” written on them.
Estes showed off the art room, which she said is still functioning even though the kiln no longer works, the cafeteria and music room, and the playground, though almost all of the equipment is new.
When the tour reached another classroom where his mother Betty Turner taught, Jonathan Turner remembered times he got in trouble for the drawings he made there.
Turner said his impression is that while the building seemed impossibly large as a child, it now feels much smaller.
For many, though, the building felt familiar, even with changes. Estes pointed to the entrance hall where flags and maps are arranged, showing the range of countries the students come from.
Aside from that, “It’s exactly the same blue color, the same ceiling, the same lights, the same brick walls,” Cavanaugh said.
Estes said the school year will conclude in June with two celebrations: one for the graduating sixth-grade class, as happens each year, and the other for the fifth graders, a ceremony unique in the school’s annals.
Members of both classes will head to the Amherst Regional Middle School next year. Sixth graders will become part of the regional school, and the fifth graders will form the inaugural Chestnut Street Academy, joining their peers from both Fort River and Crocker Farm schools.
Others on the tour included siblings looking for the commemorative brick they bought to place in a patio near the playground, and Chris Wood, who attended Mark’s Meadow but wanted the experience of a walk-through of Wildwood.
Eric Lewison of Belchertown, who made the short trip, said the school is the same place where he received his elementary education.
“I loved it, and I love how little the school has changed,” Lewison said.
