Memories, stories shared as Coeur d'Alene school prepares to close

COEUR d'ALENE — A tidal wave of memories came flooding back when a small group of former Borah Elementary School students met at the school Tuesday to reminisce and recall their Borah experiences.

Parades to neighboring senior living facilities, cherry drops on the playground bars, Borah Special Chorus, trips to the principal's office, the questionably safe tower slide and teeter-totters, school carnivals, talent shows, the big lion mural that used to be in the hallway near the entrance, science fairs, puppy concerts, lifelong friendships, teachers and principals who became like family.

“Generations of my family went to school here," said Kat Yockey of Coeur d'Alene, who went to Borah first through sixth grade from 1978 to 1984.

"My auntie went to school here. My dad went to school here. My brothers and I went to school here, my nieces and nephews,” she said. "I'm a proud Borah Lion, dang it."

It is the end of an era for the little neighborhood school that has seen thousands of students in the nearly 75 years its doors have been open.

Borah will be repurposed as the Coeur d'Alene Early Learning Center at the start of 2024-2025 following a difficult financial decision made by trustees of the Coeur d'Alene School Board. Leadership in the Coeur d'Alene School District is working to correct an expected $6 million budget shortfall, and to do so drastic measures are being taken, including saving $1 million by closing Borah.

“I can’t believe that that's it," Yokey said. "Knowing that it's no more, it's kind of sad."

Borah Elementary was named for Sen. William Borah, who was known as the "Lion of Idaho," according to his U.S. Senate biography on senate.gov. He was described as fierce and independent, and was once named by Time magazine as the "most famed senator of the century."

The Lion of Idaho was the inspiration for the school's mascot, which has played well into the Borah Lion Pride concept of school spirit through the years.

Ashley Rohrman was a Borah Lion from 1998-2004. Her class was responsible for making the lion mosaic on the external brick wall adjacent to the main entrance.

“We broke those pieces apart and glued them all in there with our art teacher,” she said, smiling.

Ginny Easterly went to Borah in the 1980s.

“My first grade teacher was Mrs. Redfield,” she said, adding that Joyce Brockhoff must also have a shoutout. 

"She was an absolute staple in this school,” Easterly said. "She was the office lady, and she was like the grandma that we all wanted to have. She was just always kind and wanted to fix your boo-boos."

"There was track and field the last day of school, there was the school carnival," said Lisa Aitken, who was in Yockey's class.

"A real carnival, when they would bring in real rides," Yockey said.

Former Principal Dan Hicks, who worked at the school in the '60s and '70s, was also spoken of with great love and fondness.

Heather Cederblom attended first through sixth grade from 1967 to 1973. She said all the staff and students at Borah were special.

"In the winter of 1968 when we had all the snowfall, I remember the playground had trails that we could walk in. The snow walls were taller than the students," she said. "My sixth grade year there were four classes at Borah. The majority of six graders in our district went to Sorensen that year. It was really fun being the upper classmen for a second year in a row. Some of us girls got to serve lunch in the cafeteria and answer phones in the office. That was so much fun. My heart is happy to keep in touch with friends from our grade school days." 

Dina Hourlland of Coeur d'Alene was a student from 1966 to 1972. She wore her first grade teacher's pearls as she visited with the group.

“Her name was Viola Perkins," Hourlland said. "She taught me piano, and she was my first grade teacher and became a family friend.”

Perkins' husband gave Hourlland her jewelry box when Perkins passed away.

"I always kept her pearls, and she wore them every day at school," Hourlland said. "I love them."

Borah is a special place for Hourlland for several reasons. Her grandchildren are now in her first grade classroom.

“It’s still one of the last places everybody is still like a family," she said. "That’s how my grandkids feel about it, that everyone is family here. And they feel so safe here."

The towering maple tree on the northeast lawn is especially meaningful for Hourlland because it was planted in honor of her brother, Ronnie Mills, who was killed at the end of her fifth grade year.

“His last year here, he broke all kinds of records for track and high jump, way back when,” she said.

She said she cried when she heard the news about Borah being repurposed.

“It was sad, especially for my grandkids because they love it here,” Hourlland said, her eyes glistening. “They’re in kindergarten and first grade, but they love it. They feel so safe. See, I’m going to cry now."

Principal Aaron Peak said he wasn’t surprised when the board decided to close Borah, which has garnered a stigma in recent years for being a challenging, high-poverty school.

At one point, Borah was to undergo a massive overhaul, with a new name and magnet-style curriculum changes, but the COVID-19 pandemic thwarted those plans.

"It gets into your soul," Peak said. "But we have created a wonderful team here and it’s really sad to see that go, because I thought we were making moves in the right direction.”

Borah is at its lowest enrollment since 2004 with 291 students. Five years ago it served more than 340 students, but numbers have dwindled since COVID.

“We have slowly trickled down,” Peak said. “Birth rates are down, all those things are down, so I get it. Coming from a financial standpoint, it still hurts to say that Borah should be the one that closes. But I get it. There’s four schools within two miles of here.”

Just about every staff member has opportunities for other positions in the district, he said, all certified teachers and the majority of classified staff.

He said Borah is truly one of the best schools in the district, despite what some people may think.

"If you were to come in and experience it, walk the hallways and see the joy and the happiness and the quality of teaching, you would understand why Borah is a special place," he said. "You don’t judge a book by its cover. I think too many people have done that for too long. I’ve only been here for five years, but I know what we offer. I know the quality staff we have, I know the rockstars that we have. I see in their faces the care and concern they have for the students and I appreciate the parents and the support they’ve given us.”

Kindergarten teacher Merrit Mitchell has been at Borah since 2005. She has been going through decades of stuff and supplies in the kindergarten storage area, where she found such treasures as a painting with a note on it from 1943 and signs of encouragement from the COVID-19 years.

Mitchell said she felt profound sadness when she heard that Borah would close. Before she was a Borah teacher, she was a Borah mom.

"It's been my home away from home," she said. "All the murals on the outside walls, my older children helped make those. The tiled lion, my children helped to make in Jane Morgan's art class.

"I have so many years here, and people here are like my family," she said. "It makes me cry to think about all of us going to different places. We are like family here."

She said she's excited to teach first grade at Bryan Elementary, where many Borah students will go.

"Borah's a wonderful, wonderful school," Mitchell said. "I wish more people knew about the wonderful things that happen here. It's really a special place."

    Borah Elementary student Lewis Herndon is seen with the school sign on his first day of kindergarten at the start of the 2022-2023 school year. "We're all really sad the school is closing," said his mom, Rebecca Merrigan. "I have two kids in Borah right now and the news was rough for them."
  

    Multiple generations of former Borah Elementary students gather Tuesday outside the school to share memories and swap stories as the closure of the school is on the horizon. From left: Tom Scheller, Ginny Easterly, Lisa Aitken, Sue Espinazza, Dana Baze, Kat Yockey, Heather Cederblom, Dina Hourlland, Ashley Rohrman holding daughter Elsie Rohrman and Kim Kraack.

    Borah Elementary School then-fifth grader Silas Brumbaugh, in an inflatable chicken suit, parades with classmates through Bestland Senior Living Community during an all-school Halloween parade in 2022.
  

    Former Borah Elementary School student Dina Hourlland smiles up at the tree that was planted on the school grounds in memory of her brother Ronnie Mills who was killed in 1972. “His last year here he broke all kinds of records for track and high jump, way back when,” she said.
  

    From left, Borah Elementary teachers Teresa Armstrong, Katie (Kurtz) Rinne and Michelle Brassat gather boxes of supplies gifted by the Teacher Fund in March 2022. The Teacher Fund delivered $10,000 in supplies to support Borah classrooms.
  

    In this March 2012 photo, Jennifer Reyes, a fourth grade teacher at Borah Elementary School, reacts after shocking herself from static electricity produced by a Van de Graaff generator during a demonstration hosted by educators with the STAR Discovery Bus.
  

    In this June 2017 photo, Borah Elementary School students, from left, Landon Melville, Daphne Casko, Natalie Murphy and Brooklyn Wells ride new donated bikes in the gym.
  

    David Gray's sixth grade class at Borah Elementary School, 1983-1984.