Apparently, we had some unfinished business from seventh grade.
In 1976, ours was the last seventh grade class to walk the halls of William Beye School in Oak Park. For most of us, Beye had been our school home since kindergarten, and we expected to return for one final year.
But the school district had other plans.
Rezoning changed the elementary schools to kindergarten through sixth grade and created two new junior highs. Instead of spending eighth grade with classmates many of us had known since we were 5, we headed to a new junior high with roughly 500 other eighth graders – most of whom we had never met.
Our Beye years ended without the kind of goodbye or graduation that usually marks the end of an era. Fifty years later, we decided to fix that.
On Sept. 26, 25 members of Beye School’s final seventh-grade class returned to Oak Park for what we named the “Beye School Redemption Reunion.”
The day included tours of Beye School and OPRF High School, both of which were as impressive as ever. Familiar hallways brought back memories we hadn’t thought about in decades. One of our favorite sixth-grade teachers, Larry Viverito, also joined us, making the reunion even more special. We spent the rest of the day reconnecting, reminiscing and laughing – a lot.
What may have been most remarkable was how quickly the years seemed to disappear. There is something unique about spending time with people who knew you when you were 12 or 13 years old – and for many of us long before that. They remember your childhood, your teachers, your neighborhood and a version of you that existed before adult life took everyone in different directions.
Getting 25 former classmates together after a half-century felt pretty special. Discovering that the connections were still there felt even more so.
We may never have gotten our proper Beye School send-off in 1976, but 50 years later, we finally did.
Turns out some friendships can survive even a very long recess.
Redemption achieved!
Kris Shaner Bradley
Oak Park (originally)
Now Fenton, Michigan