THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 8, 1995 TAG: 9510060189
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 24 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HOLLY WESTER, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 105 lines
STANDING UNDERNEATH a brightly colored tent, surrounded by aging yearbooks, photo albums and posted black and white pictures, Caroline Newnam Wood started to cry.
``I was happy here,'' she said, surveying the grounds of Friends School on Laskin Road, as the tears rolled down her pink cheeks. ``That made all the difference in the world.''
She was a student at Friends in the late '50s and early '60s, returned later for worship and even married in the meeting house.
``This school set the foundation for my life,'' she added. ``It was like family.''
Wood, who now lives in Asheville, N.C., was not alone on her walk down memory lane last Saturday. She was one of more than 300 visitors - current and former students, their families and friends - to stop by when the Quaker school celebrated its 40th anniversary with an all-day homecoming/reunion.
Students and faculty from the '50s through the '90s visited the school - traveling from as nearby as next door to as far away as Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and New Hampshire - to see what had changed and what had stayed the same. Although Friends, which currently serves students from 3 years old through ninth grade, had a small get-together for its 25th anniversary, this year's gathering was the first official reunion in its history.
``It just seemed like it was time to have it,'' said Louise B. Wilson, one of the founders and chairman of the homecoming committee. ``It was time to see old friends - to see former teachers and students - to exchange memories and remember the old times.''
In the works since June, when 2,000 letters were sent to alumni, the reunion kicked off at 9:30 a.m. in the meeting house. After 15 minutes of the traditional ``silence,'' former and current faculty, staff and parents introduced themselves to one another, many attaching stories from the past to their names.
``People seem to have really warm feelings about this place,'' said Margaret Jeffries, director of development at Friends School.
The brief meeting was followed by a guided tour as well as other organized events, such as art exhibitions and a musical jam session.
``We feel really strongly that childhood should be a journey not a race,'' Jeffries said, taking a handful of alumni through a pre-kindergarten classroom. ``Our job is to be patient and support them through their weaknesses and celebrate their strengths.''
Hearing the school philosophies and seeing the classrooms - all individually decorated with everything from butterfly paintings to bathtubs to live plants - local resident Bill Russell remembered his first orientation with his son, Brian. ``When I came here as a parent, I wanted to be a student,'' he said. ``It really was a family affair.''
Because of that sense of family, many former students said they feel attached to Friends. ``Some people feel a connection with their high school,'' said University of Virginia graduate Chris Jordan, a Charlottesville resident who attended Friends in the late '70s and early '80s. ``I feel a connection with the people here - at my elementary school.''
Jordan's mother, Linda Jordan-Banyay of Norfolk, said she knows why. ``Christopher has a moral and ethical foundation within himself that came from Friends School,'' said Jordan-Banyay, a third-grade teacher at Chesterfield Academy for Math, Science and Technology.
Popping into former classrooms was an experience for Beach resident Brian Russell, a friend of Jordan's who attended Friends from 1975 to 1983. When he stopped by his fourth-grade classroom, now the physical education room, he examined the cubbyholes underneath the windows to figure out where he used to put his lunch box.
``I spent such a large portion of my life here - I've always felt a connection,'' said Russell, 24, who graduated from Virginia Tech and is now a mechanical engineer. ``We were allowed to excel. You couldn't help but learn.''
Russell's two favorite activities in school were drama and pottery. ``We were really into it,'' he said. ``It was all interactive. That's what makes Friends different.''
During lunchtime and an afternoon concert, alumni flipped through photo albums and yearbooks, giggled at pictures and picked up copies of ``A View From My Window,'' the newly released history on Friends.
While there was plenty on campus to do, most just wanted to hug, exchange stories and hug some more.
``This is a very emotional experience, to be able to come back and see people who were very instrumental in developing your character,'' said Norfolk resident George Polizos, who attended the school in the 1960s. The reunion was his first time back in 30 years.
``What comes back to me is a sense of spirit,'' he added.
Polizos almost didn't come to the reunion, until he got a phone call that persuaded him. He's thankful for that call.
``I don't think I've been anywhere where I've felt more loved and supported,'' he added. ``The bottom line is, this place has the ability to bring out the best in its students.''
Wilson said the event turned out just as she had hoped. ``I feel like they'll leave with a lot of warm feelings and a desire to return,'' she said. ``Hopefully, they won't wait another 40 years.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos by HOLLY WESTER
Caroline Newnam Wood (1957-62), left, and Marnie Werth (1958-63)
were among the more than 300 visitors who flipped through photos and
other memoirs at the 40th anniversary celebration of Friends
School.
Louise B. Wilson, one of the Friends School founders and chairman of
the homecoming committee, signed copies of ``A View From My
Window,'' a history of Friends School.
by CNB