June 14, 2000
Students, tree take root and grow up together
Former Norris kindergartners revisit maple they planted in 1988
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
In the fall of 1987, kindergartners and their parents walked into a freshly-painted and decorated classroom at Norris Elementary school for their first day of school. On the wall a bright banner blared: Welcome Class of 2000!
While children wondered what it meant, teacher Carolyn Dunscombe-Habel already knew the significance of the latest group of fresh-faced students. She realized that this class would be graduating during a significant year, even though at the time it was just a distant glimmer in the future.
"The parents walked in and said, 'Oh, my gosh, that's impossible!'" said Dunscombe-Habel, who retired in 1994 after 11 years of teaching at Norris. "They did not believe it at first. These kids were a wonderful group."
By Arbor Day the next spring, Dunscombe-Habel had a plan: her students were going to plant a tree on the school grounds in honor of their class, a living memorial to such a significant date. The tree would be a gift from her 50 or so students to the future generations who came to Norris.
Twelve years later, with the red maple flourishing and much taller, a dozen of the former kindergartners came back for a visit. Now graduating seniors, most from West High School, they came to their old stomping grounds last Wednesday afternoon to reminisce about old times and see how 'their' tree was doing.
Many of those gathered remembered the fateful day, especially those in the morning class who actually planted the tree. While they may not have truly understood what they were doing, they got caught up in the project anyway.
"The most exciting part of kindergarten was planting the tree," said Lucy Cole, who will be heading to Northwestern Michigan College in the fall to study law enforcement. "You can drive by the school and still see the tree."
At the reunion, these grown-up kindergartners munched on cookies and milk, looked over old photos of their younger selves and visited their old room, which seemed impossibly tiny now. They crammed around a tiny table and peeked in the bathrooms at the miniature fixtures, hardly believing that they used to be so small.
Or so uneducated.
"I remember the Letter People," said Brent Whitney, who will be attending Western Michigan College in the fall to study dance. "Mrs. Dunscombe had this room and every week she would go in there and get a new letter for us to learn. It seems like a long time ago."
Attendees at the reunion also signed banners sharing their best memories from kindergarten and future plans for college and careers. Many have been friends or stayed in touch during the past dozen years of schooling as they marched through grades at Norris, West Junior High and West High School. Others who were tracked down at Interlochen or Central High School came to catch up with their former classmates.
"I didn't get a hold of half the people from the class because they've moved away," said Molly Hackett, who helped organize the reunion. "I do remember the day we planted the tree because I was in the morning class and we planted it."