How do you react when a link to your past is no more? When a person, or place, or object, or institution impacted you so profoundly that even when you drift away on life's no return road, you glance over your shoulder just to assure yourself it's still there? Such was the case with my childhood school. Founded in the mid-1990's, constructed of gray cinder block with sheet metal roofing, wooden shutters and a concrete floor, this plain one-room church-administered Mennonite school was the place where I experienced bullying for at least two years, the place where I realized I was visually impaired, where I was firmly taught conservative values and strict adherence to church doctrines, yet silently wondered about some of the religious practices, where the teacher always joined us on the playground and made sure everyone played together. My eight grades were spent here, later on my daughter was enrolled here. Although I left the traditional church many years ago, in my heart I treasured the memories and highly admired the school in itself for the teacher-student relationship policies, the North-American curriculum, and its standards of dressing.
Yet now for the first time in its history this little school is finally closing down. When or if they will open again is not clear. Hopefully sometime in the future it will be operational again yet that remains to be seen.
Once my school years were over, simply knowing the school was open served in some way to connect me to it. During my teenage years I left the church, firmly resolved I would never be a member there again. However when my daughter was enrolled here, somehow I felt as though a link had been fastened again to my childhood church since we would occasionally attend due to school functions (the church being on the same yard as the school). But now, it's as if that link has been removed. There is no longer any reason to attend the Holdeman church. Not because of hard feelings, simply because with the school closing down and my daughter out of it there is no more connection to that particular church.
Below is one student's reflection of her time spent in this school:
I am sad. I am sad because my school is closing down. They will not open anymore. But I am excited because I will go to a new school. And I am excited about having new friends. I will be a stranger for a while but then the other students will be strange to me too.
I liked the school I was going to. I really liked the teacher. There was one boy my age and my grade. I like to read. I like to read interesting books with mysteries. The other students liked to play king's base but I did not.
How to play king's base: there should be two people in each base. Everybody can chase each other and catch them but the person that came out first will have lesser base than the one who came out last. The one who came out last has more base.
My school is a Christian school. It's name is Belize Christian School. The school I was going to is a Holdeman Mennonite school. I liked it there.
I want to make new friends but I am a little bit shy with strangers. I do not know what the new school will be like. I am both excited and scared about the new school.
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A. Mendoza
