In 1961, Dianne Scharfe was 19 years old and teaching her first year at the new Woodward elementary - an annex to Thomas Kidd elementary.
Every morning, class began with a reading from the Bible and reciting the Lord's Prayer, recalled the 69-year-old retired educator.
Scharfe (her last name was West at the time) will never forget the day when a rather "difficult" boy flipped himself backwards while she was reading from the Bible.
"I was at the front of the classroom, when all of a sudden I saw these two feet sticking out from underneath my Bible," said Sharfe, still shaking her head in disbelief five decades later.
Sharfe, along with four other Woodward staff and students, got together with the News to reminisce prior to the school's 50th anniversary reunion Sunday.
Sharfe described her first day of work and how exciting it was to jump into her 1957 Chevrolet and head to Woodward from her Vancouver home.
"As I approached the Steveston turnoff I could clearly see to the west, the very small, brand new one-storey building of Daniel Woodward," she said. "I proudly pulled into the parking area and entered the school where I met the Head Teacher and Grade 3 teacher, Jean Myron and Pat Fuller, the Grade 2 teacher. "And there I was now 'Miss West' in my first year of teaching the first Grade 1 class that entered this brand new primary annex to Thomas Kidd elementary school."
When Woodward opened its doors, there were approximately 100 students between Grade 1 to 3.
"There was no library, no music room or gym," said Sharfe, adding her salary then was $420 a month. "A mobile library came in once a week."
Jamey Paterson, 55, was a student of Sharfe's in 1962.
He remembers that all the young boys were crazy about Sharfe.
"I was six years old and all the boys had a crush on Miss West," Paterson said. "Can you imagine a six-year-old boy with a beautiful young teacher?"
Sharfe, a little embarrassed, said: "I remember Jamey as a sweet little boy with a twinkle in his eye and a very warm smile," she said. "To me he really hasn't changed."
When asked about discipline, both Sharfe and Paterson looked at each other and smiled.
"I have to admit that a few times I was punished and had to stand against the wall," Paterson said. However, Paterson was quick to point out that it was a great time to be young and living in Richmond.
"It was really like living in the country," Paterson said. "We used to jump the ditches on our way to school and run through the fields."
Jeannette Lemieux (Merkle) was 22 when she came to teach in 1962 as the Grade 4 teacher. When the News met up with the group last week, it was the first time in 47 years that Lemieux and Sharfe had seen each other.
Lemieux, 71, smiled as she remembers being expected to teach singing and tuning into the CBC Radio show, This is Music, to build up her song repertoire.
"We didn't have musical instruments either," she added. "We had to be creative in our approach."
The sixties were also a time when teachers had to record student attendances on a daily register sheet, which was submitted to the Richmond School Board before they got paid.
As the memories flooded in, the camaraderie that existed all those years ago was evident.
"Do you remember we didn't have a janitor and so if a child threw up we threw sawdust on the vomit and cleaned it up," laughed Sharfe.
"The kids also high jumped in sawdust," quipped back Lemieux.
Since there was no gym, Lemieux remembers having her students' exercise through the desks and around the chairs.
Both Lemieux and Sharfe added that it was expected they fail at least one student a year.
They also agreed they loved their time spent at the tiny annex.
"It was really a special time," said Lemieux.
Tyler Caviglia attended Woodward from Grades 1 to 7 starting in 1969.
"We had three classes crammed into the multipurpose room and boy was it a sweat shop," he quipped, adding the early seventies saw the school bulging at the seams with almost 600 students. "We also had three or four portables to handle the overflow and back then there were no classrooms reserved for ESL or learning assistance and there was no kindergarten."
Between 1973 and 1975, the number exploded to 776 students. Woodward underwent a few renovations between 1967 and 1977 to keep up with the growing demand.
"Imagine herding all of us into the gym for an assembly," said Caviglia. "Recess was a gas, we had so much fun."
One day in April 1970, he remembers "being rushed into the gym as a Grade 1 student to watch a small black and white TV to witness the Apollo 13 splash down and everyone cheered."
The man responsible for much of the work behind the 50th anniversary open house this Sunday is Don Taylor, who spent 19 years at Woodward - as a firstyear teacher in 1977 and again from 1999 to 2004 as the principal.
"In the gym, we will have displays from all the decades," said Taylor. "We expect more than 500 people to show up during the day."
The Woodward Elementary School 50 Year Celebration, a reunion of past and present staff, alumni and students happens on Sunday, Oct. 23 from 1 to 4 p.m. in Woodward elementary, 10300 Seacote Rd.
To register your attendance, email woodward@ sd38.bc.ca.
