First day for the 50th time

When Liz Van Arsdell attended Highlands Elementary School in the early 1960s, young girls wore dresses to school and there were no videos or computers.

"We had brown paper with very wide stripes we'd write on it with very fat pencils and crayons," she recalled.

Arsdell was one of several Highlands alumni on hand Monday to celebrate not only the first day of school but the 50th anniversary of Highlands.

Superintendent Alan Leis kicked off the flag-raising ceremony, welcoming roughly 620 students and their parents back to school.

"This is a great place to start because of your school spirit," Leis said.

Fifth-graders raised both the American flag and the new Highlands 50th anniversary flag with a logo drawn by Chloe Guswiler, a former student and first-grader last year. Highlands parent Julie Kulak helped turn the drawing into a flag and banner for the school.

Alumni from each decade then shared their Highlands memories to give students a feel for what school was like over its 50-year span.

"For many of them, that's a concept they can't even imagine, if you're 5 or even 10, what was 50 years?" Principal Susan Stuckey said. "So I thought to have alumni speaking and sharing from their past it might make it a bit more real for them."

Marty Murphy, who attended Highlands in the late 1970s and early 1980s, now has children of his own at the school. While he wasn't fond of square dancing during physical education classes, his fondest memories include art projects and acting as Kermit the Frog in a school play.

Nicole Discianno, who attended the school from 1997 to 2003, remembers she and her classmates making time capsules filled with notes to themselves, old homework and pictures they'll open in 2010.

"It's nice to know when me and my Highlands classmates are seniors, we can come back and open up the time capsule and remember all the great time we had at Highlands," she said.

Highlands will also hold a 50th anniversary celebration from 1 to 3 p.m. Sept. 23 at the school, 525 S. Brainard. The event is open to the public and will include a dedication of the new outdoor classroom and guided school tours.

"We're wanting it (to be) just a big celebration where people can reconnect, share past memories, share the great times," Stuckey said.