On the Monday after Thanksgiving in 1914, students moved into an eight room modern red brick schoolhouse on Greenville Avenue.  On December 6, 2014, students, staff, alumni, and members of the Richardson community, celebrated the 100th anniversary of this historic building.

In 1927 more rooms were added to the red brick schoolhouse.  At that time, people thought the added classrooms would serve the community for at least fifty more years.  There was no way for them to predict the population explosion that would happen in our community.  ( In 1946 district enrollment was 351.  In 1970 district enrollment was 29,000)  By 1960, the red brick building no longer housed students, but it became the RISD Administrative Building.

Be still my heart!  It was a grand party.

Plenty of students joined the celebration and showcased their talents.  This is just a small sampling of the student performers.

There were cheerleaders

High kicking drill teams

How can they do that?  Wow!

I loved these dancers.

Country western dancers also strutted their stuff!

In the auditorium, elementary choirs performed.

Librarians joined in the fun. There were storytellers, and free books for all children.

Upstairs a string quartet played for our enjoyment.

Sweet Mother of Pearl!  All of these students are so accomplished.  I love being reminded how remarkable the RISD students are.  Many dedicated teachers are responsible for training and encouraging these students.

It was a modern day celebration with two food trucks supplying sliders and tacos.  How fun is that?

I especially enjoyed the room filled with memorabilia.

There were pictures and yearbooks.

My favorite picture was of our friend Jerry Morris and Carolyn Grissom Kerr.  They were the school mascots.  They are so cute!

My, oh my!  They were both at the anniversary celebration.  How wonderful!  (They are still cute.)

The diplomas were certainly ornate in years past.

This Certificate of Progress for penmanship in the first grade caught my attention.  Penmanship isn’t such a high priority these days.

There were even a couple of old class rings on display.

School letter jackets certainly are keepsakes.  I did like seeing them.

How interesting to read the tidbits of history.

This is so amazing.  It is the tax rolls.  Almost an entire page is filled with the name Huffhines.

At the end of the day, an excellent video about the history of this building was shown in the auditorium.

I do wish they had talked more about Superintendent J.J. Pearce who led the Richardson Independent School District from 1946 to 1977.  During these years, Richardson changed from a small farming community to a world renowned technological community.  Through his leadership, the foundation for excellence in education was laid.  (My opinion.)

What a wonderful day.

I had to buy a t-shirt.  I am so proud to have been a part of the Richardson Independent School District.

Blessings to you and yours,