Grand Rapids — Marjory Virkstis and her husband, Mike, reminisced about attending Harrison Park Academy while walking the halls of their former school during its recent 100th birthday celebration.
“We were going steady here in 1956,” Mike said. The two have now been married for more than 60 years.
Marjory said she enjoyed going outside during recess and climbing on the monkey bars.
“The playground was fun,” she recalled. “I was also the first girl to get picked to play kickball.”
Mike said he remembers ordering caramel apples at school during the fall and walking home for lunch, as he lived just a few blocks away.
“I was a naughty little girl,” said another 1950s alum, Linda (Dronkers) Slagboom. “I would go to school in the morning and walk home for lunch, but I wouldn’t come back in the afternoon.”
Slagboom also said she had a lot of wonderful memories from attending grade school at Harrison Park.
“The school has been kept up so well,” she said. “I hope it always stays this way.”
A Pillar in the Community
During the 100th anniversary event, students and staff from the last century gathered to enjoy dinner, cupcakes and bury a time capsule in the courtyard that had been filled with photos, letters and drawings.
“One hundred years ago, a vision was born, rooted in the belief that education could transform lives and empower individuals to change the world,” Harrison Park teacher Rebecca Cisek said during the dedication ceremony.
Opened in 1925, the building saw the completion of a $25 million renovation in 2007 that maintained historic elements while adding two new gymnasiums, computer labs, 50 classrooms, air conditioning and a two-story lobby atrium.
Principal Brad Moore said the school has continued to be a pillar of the Grand Rapids community.
“It’s really exciting that this event is happening,” he said. “This year at Harrison Park, we opened our new Cherry Health center, we have a new playground on the way and new books in our library.”
Current fifth-grader Sahara Banks said her favorite thing about coming to school is seeing the smiles on her friends and classmate’s faces.
“I like to learn and want to become a teacher and teach math,” she said.
To see footage from the 100th birthday party and students burying the Harrison Park Academy time capsule, view a video on the district’s website.
Looking around the gym, fifth-grader Azriel Shapiro said, “I can’t believe this school is 100 years old. It doesn’t look that old. … There probably weren’t (audio) speakers and a lot of other things back then.”
Former Harrison Park students offered their advice for the current students.
“Study, because I never did,” Mike Virkstis said with a laugh.
Added alum Marilyn Burrows: “Stay in school.”
Read more from Grand Rapids:
• ‘A positive sendoff’: community says goodbye to Stocking after 100 years
• GRPS teacher initiative builds its own educator pipeline
