School renovation unearths blackboards and 98-year-old lessons

Workers upgrading classrooms at Emerson High School in Oklahoma City find lessons preserved from 1917 on blackboards.
June 8, 2015
Add Us On Google
KFOR-TV
A 98yearold drawing of a Thanksgiving turkey was preserved on a blackboard that had been covered over in a school renovation in Oklahoma City
A 98-year-old drawing of a Thanksgiving turkey was preserved on a blackboard that had been covered over in a school renovation in Oklahoma City.

For some reason, teachers decided not to erase the blackboards at Emerson High School in Oklahoma City, Okla., before a long-ago upgrade of the facility.

So when workers were removing the green chalkboards from classrooms during a recent renovation, lesson plans, drawings and assignments from 1917 were still on the blackboards that were uncovered.

KFOR-TV reports that educators were amazed when they saw the old lessons underneath their walls, they could not believe their eyes.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God,’ and then I got goosebumps and then I had tears in my eyes,” Principal Sherry Kishore said.

VIDEO from KFOR-TV:

About the Author

Email

Mike Kennedy

Senior Editor

Mike Kennedy has been writing about education for American School & University since 1999. He also has reported on schools and other topics for The Chicago Tribune, The Kansas City Star, The Kansas City Times and City News Bureau of Chicago. He is a graduate of Michigan State University.

Sign up for our eNewsletters
Get the latest news and updates

Related