By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Roosevelt Elementary School wrapped up a week of events Friday that celebrated the school’s 50th anniversary with a sock hop.
The students were entertained by Elvis tribute artist Frank Werth, who is a native of Hays and also attended Roosevelt as child.
After the Werth’s performance, the children danced in their socks in the gym to and ’60s music.
The children concluded their day with ice cream sandwiches donated by Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers.
At the beginning of the week, the teachers and staff decorated hallways representing each decade the school has been open. The school also had dress-up days for each era.
On Wednesday afternoon, former teachers and staff returned to the school for a reunion.
Related story: Roosevelt Elementary celebrates 50th anniversary with reunion
Katie Schmidt, a fifth-grader, said her favorite portion of the weeklong celebration was seeing Werth perform as Elvis.
Her grade dressed in ’90s style earlier in the week. She wore overalls and a plaid shirt tied around her waist and high heels. She said she really didn’t know what all that meant and neither did her mom. The two had to research the outfit online.
Schmidt said she enjoyed attending Roosevelt and was proud to be a Roadrunner.
Roosevelt Elementary School was opened in January 1967, during the beginning of the second semester of the school year.
Roosevelt was built in response to population growth in the city, especially to east of Vine Street.
Roosevelt housed grades kindergarten through sixth until the 1981-82 school year, after which it became a K-5 school.
Some past principals include Manley Higgins, Bob Collins, Ione Buchheister, Dale J. Koerner and Gary LeCount. Principal Lee Keffer retired in spring 2017 and was replaced by current principal Paula Rice.
Notable events from the historical archives on the school indicate the school first starting using a computer in 1982, an Apple II Plus that was used to help students improve their math skills. At that time, there were only seven computers in the entire district — a far cry from the one-to-one technology program the district has today.
In 1994, $849,000 from a district bond issue was used to complete a classroom addition at the school. For a time, the school had used modular classrooms at the site due to overcrowding.
The records also indicated a long history of Roosevelt’s Home and School organization being actively involved in the school, including $50,000 raised in 2003 by the organization for new playground equipment.
Below are some photos from the current decade at Roosevelt:
