NORMAN — Cynthia Love is quick to stake claim in Truman Elementary’s “original” club.
Love, one of the initial hires — among 13 others — 20 years ago at Truman Elementary, remembers when the school was just paint and carpet, when its back yard was a field where coyotes roamed, when the student count — now about 850 — totaled approximately 300, when there were only two portables, no second wing and three teachers — now six — per grade.
“I’ve been here since the beginning,” said Love, who retired from Truman in 2008 but continues to tutor at the school, during an assembly Wednesday commemorating Truman’s celebration of its 20-year anniversary.
“That’s a generation, so we’ve helped launch a new generation into the world. That’s the way I look at it,” she said, as she pointed out other “originals” in the crowd.
For Susan Field, the reunion is 15 years lapsed. Field, now principal at Horace Mann Elementary School in Shawnee, said this is her second time to return since she left teaching fourth grade at the school 15 years ago.
“It’s like coming home,” said Field, her eyes lighting up as she looked around the gymnasium. Field was head teacher at Truman when it first opened and also was part of the “original” crew.
“Oh, do I have stories,” she said.
“I have stories, too,” Love said, laughing to Field. “Some better left unsaid.”
Principal Kristie Eselin said the celebration was a turning point for the “trailblazer” school — its mascot. Next year, the school will be divided into two buildings when the primary facility — the future headquarters of pre-kindergarten through second grade — opens in the fall.
And for the last month, the school’s been on a two-track theme of Truman and the No. 20, as students wrote 20 things they loved about Truman, wore their favorite Truman T-shirt and shared 20 compliments, among other activities.
During the assembly, the school, which until Wednesday lacked a character mascot, was presented with cartoon drawings of its newest staffer: Harry Bear, dubbed for its namesake former U.S. President Harry Truman.
Deciding on the mascot was an elimination round for artist Don Schooler, who said he wanted the character to parallel the schools’ trailblazer mascot. Schooler named bears and wolves —trail marker animals — as contenders for the school’s mascot title. Norman North High School, however, already claims the wolf, hence Harry Bear, not Harry Wolf.
Also during the assembly, former teachers, along with the “Heavenly Seven,” current teachers who are members of the “original” club, shared their favorite Truman memories, such as Linda Cowen, current librarian at Roosevelt Elementary School, who remembers walking the outline of the school when it was stakes and strings and the library was housed its first year in the gym.
And for former teacher Maryanne Tullius, the absence of pantyhose and a cubicle paled next to recess duty.
“I was always so thankful I wasn’t behind a desk typing,” she said, before she and Love, who also shared her favorite Truman moments — lunch and recess — broke into a spontaneous song on friendship.
“That was kind of a Lucille and Ethel moment,” said Love, laughing, of the duo number.
Nanette Light 366-3541 nlight@normantranscript.com
