Members of the Patagonia Schools and the community joined on May 17 at Old Main School to honor Kate Musick, who is retiring from teaching after 41 years, and Old Main itself, which is closing after 100 years as Patagonia’s elementary school. In her opening comments, Patagonia School Superintendent Denise Blake described Old Main as “our community’s matriarch” and noted that it is the longest running continuously operating elementary school in Arizona.
Patagonia Elementary School (PES) Board Member Cindy Matus-Morriss talked about the fire that destroyed the town’s small schoolhouse in 1912 and the beautifully designed new building that was erected two years later, with classrooms brightly lit by large windows, and shiny wood floors. One hundred years later, the bell in the tower of the school’s gracious campus is still a familiar sound in town, ringing each morning at the start of the school day.
Matus-Morriss then recounted anecdotes from some of the school’s early students. Her mother, Carmen Rivera Matus, who attended from 1938 to 1941, remembers that the fifth and sixth grades shared a classroom and that the boys all had desks but the girls had to sit around a large table. (Carmen’s greatgrandson, Thomas Montanez, is a fourth-generation student at Old Main.) Eloise Mendoza Walsh told of being reprimanded for speaking in Spanish during the 1950s. (Years later, one of her tasks as a PE teacher there was to teach Spanish.) Bob Lenon, Jr., remembers how Mr. Sears, a former principal and teacher, maintained discipline with an old fraternity paddle. And a first-aid kit was kept at the ready for bike-riding children who took a spill into the mesquite trees, rocks, and brush when their bikes picked up speed as they descended the hill road and couldn’t make the curve at the bottom.
After an interlude in which music teacher Jason Schrieber led some of the school’s students in a musical performance, the event focused on departing teacher Kate Musick. Jack Heiss, former PES Superintendent at Old Main, and veteran teacher Patty Cooper shared stories about her early years and praise for her dedication, noting that she has touched the lives of hundreds of children spanning two generations since she began in 1973.
Kate Musick then took the podium, and recalled her first impressions of Patagonia, stating that it “felt like home.” “There was an innocence about Patagonia and its children that I felt immediately,” she said, adding that most of her students had never seen TV. She spoke of her love for Old Main and its “calm presence” and noted that over the years she has taught children whose aunts, uncles, or cousins had been her students years before and who have made her feel like family.
The guests brought side dishes and desserts to accompany a meal catered by Las Vigas Restaurant from Nogales, after which high school student Carlos Mingura provided music as the event’s DJ. The event drew many community members, who wanted to be a part of the moving tribute to a beloved teacher and a revered campus.