Timberlake HS grads return proudly to their elementary roots
Photos: LISA JAMES/Press Third-grader Sean Peterson gets a hug from Natasha Branson as Chloe Ballard, left, and other Timberlake High School graduates who graduated from Athol Elementary School greet students during their visit to the school on Thursday morning.
LISA JAMES/PressNatasha Branson, right, and Chloe Ballard lead a line of Timberlake High School graduates who graduated from Athol Elementary School as students line the hall to greet them during their visit to the school on Thursday morning.
LISA JAMES/PressAthol Elementary School wait excitedly for Timberlake High School graduates who graduated from the school to visit on Thursday morning.
LISA JAMES/PressNatasha Branson, right, and Chloe Ballard lead a line of Timberlake High School graduates who graduated from Athol Elementary School as they roam the halls greeting faculty and students during their visit to the school on Thursday morning.
LISA JAMES/PressAthol Elementary School nurse Joy Gerstenberger, left, hugs Camille Olphie as Timberlake High School graduates make their way down the hallways during their visit to the school on Thursday morning.
LISA JAMES/PressTimberlake High School graduate Anders Larson helps fifth-grader Serenity Storms take down a display after he and other Timberlake graduates who graduated from Athol Elementary School visited the school on Thursday morning.
LISA JAMES/PressTimberlake High School valedictorian Jacquelyn Mallet, right, and Matthew Duncan are interviewed by fifth-grader Lucy Chapell after Timberlake graduates who graduated from Athol Elementary School visited the school on Thursday morning.
LISA JAMES/PressTimberlake High School graduate Michaela Caudle, right poses with her former Athol Elementary School teacher Julie Anderson as Camille Olphie takes a picture during a visit to the school Thursday morning by Timberlake graduates who attended Athol Elementary School.
LISA JAMES/PressTimberlake High School graduates and old family friends from left: Natasha Branson, Clayton Rundgren and Shelby Salois, pose behind a picture of them taken on their first day of Kindergarten at Athol Elementary School in 2004. Timberlake High School graduates who graduated from Athol Elementary School visited the school on Thursday morning, roaming the hallways lined with students and visiting with their former teachers.
LISA JAMES/Press Camille Olphie, left, hugs her sister Tommi-Jean, a fifth-grader at Athol Elementary School, in front of the part of the mural in the school's gym that depicts a 12-year-old Camille pushing her friend William Sherrel in his wheelchair. Olphie visited Athol Elementary School on Thursday with other Timberlake High School graduates who also attended the school.
ATHOL — Students’ cheers and music filled the hallways of Athol Elementary two days before the end of the school year. Kids watched in awe Thursday as a group of high school students passed through, giving high-fives as they went.
A group of graduating seniors from Timberlake High School visited their alma mater, Athol Elementary, to thank the teachers and staff for the role they played in the graduates’ success.
“I called Mrs. Thomas and mentioned it to her that I thought that would be something cool that the Athol kids could do,” said Mark Schell, a Timberlake senior and student body president.
Schell kept in touch with Athol Elementary principal Kathy Thomas over the years and visited the school often during his senior year to help tutor sixth-graders.
Natasha Branson, another Timberlake senior, also maintained contact with the school’s staff, which made it easy for her to organize the event.
Thomas had the elementary students line up along the hallways to watch the graduates walk through the halls in their caps and gowns. The kids cheered and held out their hands for high-fives as music played in the background.
The graduates noticed how much smaller everything seemed to them now compared to when they were students there. When Thomas brought out a yearbook from 2011, the graduates’ sixth-grade year, the room filled with a powerful sense of nostalgia.
“Oh man, that’s rough,” Timberlake senior Anders Larsen exclaimed as he looked at his portrait. “Look at my hair!”
Teachers found out about the event last week, but didn’t tell their elementary students until Thursday morning.
First-grade teacher Sammi Curry said the younger students were excited.
“They said, ‘They’re coming back to where they started,’” Curry said.
After the graduates finished their walk, they sat down with their elementary school teachers and talked about their plans after graduation. Fifth-graders got the chance to interview the graduates.
“We’re representing what these little kids are,” Branson said. “They’re going to make it here.”