Education has always been important in Hampton. Twenty-three years prior to our town’s 1786 incorporation, school districts were formed — Appaquag, Rawson, Boston Hollow, Bigelow, Howard Valley, Clark’s Corner and Hampton Hill – and seven one-room schoolhouses were built, each serving students in grades one through eight. Though a 1927 Town resolution rejected the notion of consolidation, shortly afterwards only three remained – Bell School for primary grades, Clark’s Corners for fourth and fifth, and Center School for grades six, seven and eight.
The era of the one-room schoolhouse ended in 1950 with the construction of the Consolidated School. A Building Committee convened, a nine member Board of Education was elected, and land was donated to build what would become the only wooden school in the state, serving the town’s students for 41 years. Major changes included a cafeteria, a playground, and, of course, plumbing. Though there were rooms for every class, the student population didn’t merit separating the grades. Lois Woodward taught grades one and two, Viola Fitzgerald, grades three through five, and Stuart Haskell taught grades six through eight and served as the school principal. As enrollment grew, the entire school became utilized. Primary grades occupied the south part of the building. Older students were in the north portion, in the upper and lower level, which also housed the auditorium where we watched movies and performed on the stage. This space also served daily as the cafeteria and sometimes doubled as a gymnasium. The kitchen was where it is now, and not much larger. There was a nurse’s office across from the primary grades, and the principal’s office and teachers’ room were behind the stage. Stately elms lined the front lawn, and the flag pole remains in its original position, though without the World War II Memorial; hoisting the flag every morning was an honor. In time, the student population and educational programs expanded. Kindergarten was mandated by the State. The stage became the school library – prior to that we walked to Fletcher Memorial weekly. An art room and special classes started to occupy spaces, and a portable classroom became necessary, consuming a portion of the playground. In 1991, a new school was built a mile north, and the consolidated school became the Town Hall.
Our collective memories of the school are astonishingly clear. Kathleen Fitzgerald, who was among the first students to attend transferring from Clarks Corners in fifth grade, shared her memories of students and staff; and the graduation program featured on Hampton Remembers the 2nd Half of the 20th Century, the source of most of this information, proved her accuracy nearly 70 years later. Kathleen’s Aunt Viola was her teacher, her Aunt Sadie was the school’s cook, and her father, Ed Fitzgerald, was the bus driver.
That’s a small town!
What most of us readily remember is recess. There were morning, lunch, and afternoon recesses. We also utilized the ball fields after dismissal and on weekends. “The playgrounds were all open and we took advantage of it. Tackle football on the top field,” Susan Latimer Perez recalled. “I played until around 7th grade when I, and probably a couple others, went to tackle Randy Thompson and he ripped off his sweatshirt, literally ripped it off, and continued running. I thought that was beyond my skill set.”
“Mrs. Grant was the recess aide when I was there. She was so nice and friendly to us kids,” Becky Burelle Gagne wrote. “We used to play on the swings of course, and the monkey bars, but loved to play hop scotch and jump rope, too. We’d also play games like Tag and Red Rover.” Old-fashioned games like these and “One, Two, Three Red Light!” and “Mother May I?” were favorites, but we were not entirely immune from cultural influence and I remember playing “Bat Man” at recess, with Brock Squires in the title role and Donnie Moore as “Robin”. The girls drew straws for “Cat Woman”.
We also enjoyed the playground equipment. “I remember the awesome slide. It was so high and fast in those days,” Carol MacKinnon Lavoie recalled, and Lisa Chapman Studor added, “We would save our milk cartons and rub the wax off of them onto the slide.” Attesting to the slipperiness, Debbie Fuller shared, “On my first day of first grade, I broke my wrist on a rock at the bottom of the slide.” Now that’s memorable! “The slide was tall, or at least seemed tall. Kids would shimmy up the anchor polls, or once up the stairs, shift around to slide down the poles,” Susan wrote. “There were two sets of smaller swings on the other side of the slide. I would wear shorts under my dress (girls had to wear dresses and skirts to school) so I could hang upside down on the cross bars. The big swings where I thought I might touch the moon if I just could pump a little harder, and then the chains would buckle to bring me back to my earthly reality.”
“Our school had the best swings,” Alma Pearl Graham agreed. “You could really go high on them. We would swing, then jump off.”
Kathy Thompson relayed that when the Town Hall was planning to scrap those swings, her brother Randy rescued them, shortened them, and they’re now at Keith and Brandy Crawford’s house where they’re still used.
In winter, we built snowmen and colossal snow forts. “I loved making trails in the snow and playing Fox and Geese”, Debbie recalled. And the slopes at the school strongly suggested sledding. “During winter we would bring our sleds to school and slide down the hill. If you had a great ride, then you stopped just shy of the stone wall,” Susan wrote. “There was an accident in which one child ran over the arm of another child, breaking the child’s arm.” The policy on sledding during school was changed after that, “A tragedy,” Scott Johnson lamented.
Neal Moon recalled playing touch football, Arlene Becker, soccer, Joey Ameer remembered basketball, Tadria Pawlikowski Milhomme, kickball, and I remember dodge ball. But all of us remember playing baseball. Boys and girls played together, and teams were selected swiftly to make the most of our time on one of the fields. “Coke, Lee and I went home for lunch and then we all raced back to claim the field near the grange for softball games,” Sandy Reynolds wrote. “Girls and boys played, but I think Susie Loew was the best softball player and everyone had a lot of fun!”
“During recess, I had slid head first into second base ripping my dress halfway around the waistband,” Susan remembered. “Pinned it back together until I went home at lunch to change clothes. Lunch home was always nice. I was able to take my bike or walk to and from school.” Though several students lived near enough to walk home for lunch, many remember the lunches served in the cafeteria and the cook, Mrs. Lee. When we were in first grade, she used to let us lick the cake bowls during morning recess! Imagine that!
“I have so many memories of her,” John Osborn wrote. “Probably my best was how we sat on the edge of our seats waiting for her to call ‘seconds!’ She worked this gift for us in a kitchen that was, in reality, a small closet.”
“She lived at the end of Old Route 6 East,” Louis Chatey relayed. “I would see her drive up Hampton Hill every morning in her little white Studebaker filled with large pans in the back, as I think she did a lot of the prep work at home the evening before.”
“On days when the menu consisted of something I didn’t like,” Karen Loew Gambolati recalled, “Mrs. Lee would sneak me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich so I had something for lunch. She was so good to us.” Though she can’t recall, legend has it that Karen christened our collective favorite lunch: Hampton Burgers. “She took the bottom half of the roll, put a dollop of butter and then a hamburger patty on top. This went under the broiler where the top of the hamburger cooked but not always the underside so some days it was a little like eating hamburger tartare,” Louis explained. “But you know that probably bolstered our immunity so here we are 50 years later posting our memories in the middle of a pandemic.”
The cafeteria also served as an auditorium where vintage projectors displayed movies on an enormous screen some Saturdays. The stage was used for graduations and performances, including full-scale musicals. “More than one teacher accused my class of being ‘bad actors’,” Al Freeman remembered. In The Pirates of Penzance Mark Davis was the Major General, and “to my parents’ amazement, he had all the words and music down pat,” Beth Davis Powning relayed. “I was ‘the very model of a modern Major General’, Mark confirmed. “But that’s all I can remember now!” There were also dances on the weekends, and lessons after school, Ball Room dancing with Miss McFarland and Evelyn’s School of Dance. Kathy Thompson relayed that the “dig step, dig step, back, forth” that Miss Evelyn repeated through ‘Poison Ivy’, “stuck with me forever.”
Most memorable to us — the teachers. I remember Mrs. Flaherty, my first grade teacher, vividly. She was beautiful — her shoes were always dyed to match her dresses! Mr. Paradise was a favorite, though most everyone was remembered fondly.
Miss Kivela. I remember she used to wear nice mohair sweaters, was friendly, and I learned so much from her — likely the start of my desire to teach English.
Debbie Schenk Moshier
Grammar and writing are not my number one subjects, but I do remember much of what she taught us. She sure had a way of teaching.
Jeff Osborn
I recall Mr. Franklin as taciturn, a stern teacher and disciplinarian to be sure, but also someone whose abiding interest in nurturing us was always evident…I think that his was an impossible job – full-time teacher plus principal of the school…certainly no one in their right mind would take on those dual responsibilities in these progressive times. Then, again, no one in their right mind would lock themselves in a room full of 8th graders.
Kit Crowne
Mr. Franklin was my favorite teacher and so was his red volkswagon that I got a ride home in one day when I got into a fist fight with a classmate. Since that incident with a boy Mr. Franklin was my best friend! He drove me home to tell my parents what had happened, but loved the fact that I wouldn’t put up with any nonsense and stood up for myself!
Carol Dauphin Kilburn
I had Mr. Orlando in 4th grade. I remember we used to pick dandelions at recess time for him to make dandelion wine. I think we may have gotten an extra recess at times to do the same.
Karen Loew Gambolati
For 6th grade we had Mrs. Lunden as a teacher. My classmates and I worked on a mosaic of tiny colored tile. I think we made a picture of the school. We dedicated it to Mr. Ellsworth, the principal. It was in the front entrance.
Mary Blankenship
Mrs. Maker and Alison Davis made a dynamic team with over 30 kinders in a small room on the lower level. So much busyness, so much noise! Still don’t know how they did it!
Mary Oliver
I remember in Mrs Bingham’s 3rd grade, she taught us how to make butter in a jar with cream and let us all take turns shaking. I’m not sure how long Mrs. Bingham was there. But it must have been a very long time. All eight of us Burelles had her.
Becky Burelle Gagne
Who didn’t love Mrs. Bingham?
John Osborn
Students return this September with masks and social distancing and arguments all over the news as to Covid mandates in schools. They are living history, and might not imagine that decades from now, future generations will ask – what was it like? They’ll remember – and teachers — mostly they’ll remember you. Here’s to your success – all of you — and to your health.