Fifty years! It seems like a long time, but, to me, it is like the blink of an eye.
In 1967, I braved my first big snowy day wearing a sari, a light coat, and sandals. After changing buses, I finally arrived at Woodbury Friends School, where I was greeted by Mary Clare, the Head of School. Seeing me struggling with the snow, she came out to escort me in and offered me a cup of hot coffee. That was the very moment I fell in love with Friends School, and I have never left it. It reminded of my schools that I left behind in India, and its philosophy was most aligned to my own beliefs.
Two years later, the School moved to Mullica Hill, and that adventure will always be embedded in me. I brought everything from my classroom to Mullica Hill (including the bricks and wooden planks I used to make shelves). We had very little money, so we had to improvise. The classrooms were very good—specious and with plenty of natural light. We started a little late as the new building (later to be called the Salem Building) was not quite ready for use, and there was a problem with one of the sections of the building. The truck that was delivering the prefabricated building got stuck while turning from Route 45 onto the School’s grounds. We had to wait for a big crane to pull it up and place it on the previously built posts. It was quite a sight. Once we moved in and settled down, we were quite happy. The classes were almost full. I had 23 students to start, and it was just great. The building had 12 rooms—classrooms for kindergarten through 8th grade as well as rooms for offices and a library. This building was the venue for several very memorable occasions. Mary Clare remained the Head of School, and June Taylor and Jean Smith were the secretaries. Betty Porter oversaw the Upper School and Margarette Priest took care of the library and a few other responsibilities. Everyone happily wore more than one hat.
The old red building was later named the Cope Building after Caleb Cope, who was a very active with both Woodbury Friends Meeting and with the Friends School in Woodbury. In the first year, the Cope Building held the 9th-grade class, a 3-year-old pre-kindergarten class, and an office. Students came from all over the region with a few even from Philadelphia and Camden. One of the high school students, Boyer Purnell, came to our house in Woodbury from Philadelphia and then I would take him to Mullica Hill. His mother used to work for a Woodbury public school. The basement of the Cope Building initially looked like a dungeon. There were bats, mice, and all kinds of insects. Later the basement was refurbished into beautiful rooms where we had classrooms and a photo lab. The library eventually moved to a big room on the first floor and the art room moved to the second floor. The remaining rooms were used for high school classes. Everything was planned and set very beautifully.
One small story in the School’s history that has been largely forgotten but made an impact on the larger community, was the opening of an academic summer school for high school students. I was given the responsibility of looking into starting this academic summer school, and I was very excited. To start summer classes for younger students was not very difficult, but to start academic summer classes for high school students was quite challenging. These were to be open to both our students and to local public school students, so we had to consider hours of instruction and credits. The superintendents of the local school districts were very helpful. This summer school, filled to a great degree by students from the local public schools, became quite well known. We did, however, not make much financial gain from this, and the program closed after a few years.
I am grateful that Friends School allowed me to teach the way I always imagined. As a 6th-grade teacher and then as Head of the Middle School, I was given total freedom to plan all my lessons. I was supported in all of my special programs—Gandhi Jayanti (Celebration), United Nations Day, Thanksgiving Feast, International Day, and several others. To support these programs, I would plan excursions both in this country and to foreign countries. I was very fortunate to receive support and help from many parents. During our many travels, our students received great praise from people for their excellent behavior and good knowledge of the subject matter.
One of the things that I always loved about Friends School is that all of us at Friends School, teachers, administrators, and staff, have always followed the leadings of Quaker belief. From the moment I entered the school in 1967, I felt so much at home that I never left it. Even though I was offered jobs elsewhere that paid more, I never considered leaving.
Twenty-five years ago, the Head of the School, John Harkins, asked me to organize the festivities to celebrate our school’s 25th year. We were lucky to have most of our former Heads of School join us. It was a great celebration and it is hard to imagine that another 25 years have flown by and that we now celebrate the 50th year of our school.
It is a Magical Place!!
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