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Kyle School, Troy, Ohio, USA

Some of life's most important lessons were learned in elementary school

· Our Shared Values

This is Kyle School, located in our beautiful city just south of downtown at the corner of Plum and Simpson Streets. From Kindergarten to Sixth Grade, this is where I not only learned things like how to spell and multiply, but I also learned lessons in serving others, taking responsibility and learning how to be part of something bigger than just myself.

I have so many wonderful memories of Kyle School. One of my favorite memories was going down to the Good News Bench to tell the principal, Mr. Beamish, about a good grade or a good deed. The bench was painted green and yellow and at least a few times a week, he’d pull up a chair in front of the bench and talk to you about what you did. The kids on the bench were full of pride and you knew that Mr. Beamish was happy to see you. He would pull out a pen and draw a little guy (that looked like a waving peanut) on your perfect spelling test congratulating you on your accomplishment and give you a hearty handshake.

I also remember every year we would have the “Chalk on the Walk”. On a cool spring Saturday morning, we would go to school and the kids would each have one sidewalk block to decorate and color. What we wanted to color was completely up to us and we were always well stocked with sidewalk chalk because we were always sharing; if someone had an extra stick of blue, we’d trade an extra stick of green. At the end of the event, the PTO would give out these huge ribbons for those that had done exceptionally well. I surprised myself by winning a huge 2nd place red ribbon in Fifth Grade. It was always fun seeing friends on a Saturday morning and trying to create a piece of art that would hopefully at least last one or two rainstorms.

Oh and who couldn’t forget the annual Spaghetti Dinner. The PTO would work hard to transform our small school gym into an Italian restaurant complete with a man who would play classical violin. The lunch ladies would serve the spaghetti, garlic bread and green beans on those plastic lunch trays for all the families to enjoy by candlelight. It was always a fun time to enjoy a meal as a community.

I remember in Sixth Grade I was Student Secretary for half the year. Instead of going out to recess, I would hunker down in the principal’s office and answer phones while the secretary took her lunch break. The best part of the job was using the huge intercom machine to send students down to the office and when Mr. Meyer, the school psychologist, didn’t want the Corn Nuts the PTO would occasionally put in the teacher’s mailboxes, he would happily give them to me. I also remember how Mrs. Powell, who was one of the reading specialists, would let me sit with some of the younger kids and we would read stories to each other on these huge bean bags.

My favorite memory of Kyle School was being on the Safety Patrol in Fifth and Sixth Grade. Both before and after school, the kids on the safety patrol would huddle up and put on these orange belts that went around our waists and over one of our shoulders and we would take our orange flags and fan out across the neighborhood. We would be on patrol, rain or shine, hot or cold. On those especially cold days, we were always treated to a cup of hot chocolate to warm us up afterwards from the kitchen staff.


When I was on the patrol, I always liked being at the intersection of Market and Simpson Streets. It was the only street with a traffic signal and it was always nice to talk to other students as we waited for the light to change. I guess I was good at being on the Safety Patrol, or was at least dependable. In Sixth Grade, I was named Captain of the Safety Patrol, this was a big deal.

My heart will always be grateful to Mrs. Cole, Mrs, Johnson, Mrs. Putnam, Mrs. Beckstedt, Mr. Burton, Mrs. Craver, Mrs. Watson, Mrs. Murray, Mrs. Riggin, Mr. Carmen, Mr. Beamish and Mrs. Rarick for being some of the best teachers and principals a kid could ask for!

There were a lot of important lessons learned at Kyle. I learned important lessons on responsibility, teamwork and serving others. At Kyle, we were taught to give your best and expect the best. It’s those values of responsibility, teamwork and serving others that I am bringing to this campaign for our community’s Mayor. I hope you will join me. You can learn more about this campaign at www.williamlutz.org