Gamboa Elementary School
We are loving all the classic cars in these school building photographs! This photo of Gamboa Elementary School is from 1959.
Did you or any of your family attend Gamboa Elementary School in 1959? So far, this is the only image of a school building on “stilts”. Why is this? Please share your memories and information about Gamboa Elementary in the comments section.
31 Comments
Robert Dixon Gordon
A very nice picture, back then. My farther in law, Mr, Canut Rodney used to be janitor for said school back then. I don’t remember when he retired, but he worked there for many years. Prior to the us invasion, “Operation just cause”, Panama in 1989, part of the school was used as a small shoppet for the us resident that resided on the hill. (Williamson street, the triangle on so on). During the invasion the soldiers used the school as their headquarters and after, and to this date, it is currently used by the Smithsonian institute. Across the street there is a large cottage, that was used by the former canal zone police, was then used by Pastor Wilbor, who resided there as he was, and still is, the pastor for the Gamboa Union church, located adjacent to the school. After the us invasion I was offered us quarters on Williamson street, as I lived next to Carl Morrow, (chief of floating cranes, Dredging Div) Mr, Dollar, Dredging Div, and to mention Mr, Jay Gibson, that to this date and time still lives in the corner on Williamson street, and stayed on with the Panama canal authority. (ACP) I lived at quarters # 164 B, until the u.s administration ceased to exist when the canal was turned over, in the year 2000. While I resided there, the Panama canal Commission took $19.00 dollars rent from my pay each month, and after the reversion, the Panamanian government sold said quarters for $150,000.00 base price, bid sale, in the year 2010. I left the cottage and bought my home in Las Cumbres, area. Pretty quiet. The Panamanian government received everything free, and then sold the entire place for big money. Eventually they just might sell the Gamboa bridge. Robert Dixon (Ret), sector supervisor, security officer, range master 1994, Canal protection Division, and awarded the special act and service award for valorous & exeptional contributions during said crisis.
Nina Brown Kosik
Your father-in-law was much beloved by the students. We always thought “Rodney” was his first name — I can see him as I type. Yes, beloved is the right word. Patient, joking, kind — a very, very nice man.
Peggy Huff
The correct spelling for “Carl Morrow, (chief of floating cranes, Dredging Div) is Karl Marohl.
Robert Dixon
Thank you. Dixon
CA Px
Man, that is the weirdest question I have ever seen in a place like this. The curator who came up with this needs to raise a couple thousand dollars and actually go to the former Canal Zone for 48 hours. If they can’t manage that, they should at least look at the other photos in their own collection. Probably 90% of the structures in the Zone were “on stilts”. The question, advanced as a sort of CZ trivia question, ought to be, why was Anything in the CZ on stilts? The answer, which I thought was common knowledge once upon a time, was that in the days before air conditioning, structures were elevated to catch the breeze off the Bay of Panama. A better question might be why exceptions were made for certain public buildings, like all the other schools.
ufpcmcollection
Hello CA Px,
Thanks for your reply! We’re sorry if the wording of the question was unclear– our bloggers were just noticing a pattern of schools in this photo series and wondered if anyone had some insight as to why the other schools did not share this stilted construction. Do you think it’s because they were built later and had air conditioning systems? This is the kind of information that can be helpful to our students who are interested in learning about the Canal Zone! Thanks again for your response!
Nina Brown Kosik
I always thought the tall stilts were for parking (see the 2-family up&downs on Jadwin in Gamboa, for example. For the housing close to the ground (a la the Flats in Balboa) stilts were short & were to keep most of the bugs from coming inside too easily. In those stilted houses in Balboa Flats (Las Cruces Ave), they were over dirt & we often played there (“under the house”) — boys played “trucks” & everyone tried to find doodle bugs. The Gamboa School stilts were, of course, built with the express purpose of providing us with a place to roller skate or ride bikes. Really, though, it may have been as a place to congregate during recess when it was raining. To my knowledge, that area was never used for parking until now — the current user, STRI (the Smithsonian) has enclosed it & some vehicles are parked there.
Lance Terrell
The old Margarita and Diablo elementary schools were also up on stilts, and they were much bigger buildings.
Lance Terrell
The reason all the buildings and houses were on stilts was because of the damp, humid climate, which would make the houses rot fast if they were on the ground. This was not a problem when the new masonry houses were built in the late 1950’s.
Dr. William Campbell
During the war we had our BOMB SHELTER under that school…..When the alarm sounded we all quickly filed out and down the stairs and into the shelter and stayed there until the ALL CLEAR siren was sounded…..
Omar Roos
Government housing in the tropics that was built before air-conditioning were on concrete stilts for many reasons, a bug barrier, parking and of course the flow of air beneath the house to help cool it. Look at government housing in Hawaii and The Philippines about the same time, i.e. in the 1930s. My family lived in Gamboa twice. The first time was in 1944 when my father was part of the construction crew that built the pipeline road that ran from Gamboa to the Atlantic coast. The second time we moved to Gamboa my father accepted a job with the Canal Zone Dredging Division and I was a senior at Balboa High School. I loved that town literally carved out of the rain forest and banking the Chagres River where we fished and snorkled, avoiding the cayman (small crocodiles) that proliferated the river. The Pipeline road was abandoned for use and my brother and I explored its length seemingly alone hunting and photographing the habitat. I have read somewhere recently that the Old Pipeline Road and the surrounding environment has become a world recognized and preserved biosphere of lowland rainforest. Finally, I can say that growing up on the edge of the rainforest was paradise to us kids.
Cynthia
I believe my father-in-law, Lloyd Creary, taught at this school, probably in the early 50s. If anyone had him as their teacher, you were most fortunate. He was a much beloved man who never stopped being an educator to his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. He passed away at the age of 93 in March 2022.
Carolyn Holmes Morris
I attended Gamboa Elementary from 1950 to 1953. I used to run (and sometimes slide) down the hill behind my house to get there!
Nancy Reynolds Zuck
I did my student teaching in third grade in the spring of 1975 at Gamboa Elementary School. This was through Penn State University. There were 13 students in my class. My co-coperating teacher’s first name was Joan [Holmes ???], I think. My time in Panama was a wonderful experience.
A man [whose name I have forgotten] student taught fifth grade at the same time. He was also a Penn State student. Daily we rode the train from Balboa. Eventually I was an English As Second Language teacher for 15 years in Pennsylvania after also home schooling for 6 years our four children.
Doris Ehrman Monaco
I don’t know exactly when the school was built. But I do know they added to it when I was there.
Lower grade classes were towards the back of the building with upper grades at the front near the flagpole. You entered the school by your grade. In this way you were closer to your classroom & there was less confusion in the single center hall.
Later with the addition, we had a big room we called the music room at the back of the school.
Our janitor and handyman was named Rodney. I don’t know if Miss Starr was the first principal but I do know we had Miss Lemoine after her.
We had plays under the school. And during the summer we would skate under the addition part because the cement there was smoother than the old part near the circular driveway.
I tend to think there were 6 classrooms. a boys bathroom and a girls bathroom, then the big room for music classes. There were, (I believe) two water fountains. There was also a storeroom.
Some of the boys my brother (Henry)’s age would know, because they climbed thru a window and got in one Halloween and set the alarms to go off after they had time to get out and climb the hill where they had told the girls to go sit and wait until they joined us. We did, and all watched as the police arrived and went in to catch burglars who were by now sitting next to us giggling and shushing each other.
During recess we had softball and playing fields on either side of the schoolyard.
The swings, seesaw and monkey bars were away from the school toward the tennis court. We had our baseball field, gym, tennis court, and pool nearby, within walking (running) distance. Everything a kid needs.
A great little school & a great little town — isolated, but having everything to keep children happy.
That was GAMBOA !!!
Robert Dixon Gordon
As I read your additional, comments , I noticed that doctor William Campbell commented on the bomb shelter, alarm situation at said school. If he’s referring to the siren, warning system set for emergencies in Gamboa, I remembered that while working at the station with the canal protection division headquarters, prior to the reversion of the canal, every wendsday at 12:00 hours, we would activate the alarm, from our station in Balboa, for approximately 10 or 15 seconds to ensure that the alarm was heard at all four sectors. (Balboa and all of it’s confines, to include, the Miraflores locks, Pedro Miguel locks, the Madden Dam hydro electrical complex. to include both, the Gatun community, and the Gatun locks. As the above time mentioned expired, we would shut it off. Right after, each sector guard supervisor, from all four sectors on the pacific sector, would call the station to let us know that they had received, or heard the alarm activation loud and clear, and such info would be logged. If the alarm wasn’t copied by a specific sector, The situation would be reported to the electrical division, who would proceed, and repair the alarm or, siren, and a incident report would be submitted at once. After the reversion of the Panama Canal, such activity ceased. That activity should be reinstated at once, since no one knows, when the wolf is coming!!!. All vital installations are essential, for it’s normal, or current operation. Robert Dixon, security officer, (ret).canal protection div.
Michael Plucker
My mother-in-law, Louisa Duffus taught 2nd grade in this school. for several years. The best time she had was when she had her grand daughter as a student. Some of you may remember her. Sorry to say she passed on in 2001, I miss her dearly.
Jennifer Annis Marquardt
I went to 4th grade here in 1964. I remember that the 6th grade teacher/principal was a Mr. White. To the right of the building was a small (un-airconditioned) gym/group activity building. I remember learning square dancing in it. Behind this building was a field that led to a large gym with wood floor, climbing ropes, bleachers, etc. On the right side of this field was a glorious length of golden bamboo. We were all bused (I lived on The Ridge) – or walked- home for lunch. I don’t remember whether the school was air conditioned at that time or not.
Michael Plucker
If you look close, you will see a thin piece of metal on the top of each post or column, that is bent down on all four sides. This piece of metal was used to prevent the termites and any other creepy crawly things from entering the homes and other buildings in the Canal Zone. The tropics are notorious for the number and size of termites. I can remember having maintenance come into the homes and replacing termite infested floor boards.
Lyla Lou Womack
Lyla Lou Womack
Stories were written by the Gamboa students in the early part of 2000. Many recorded their remembrances. The time covered was from the early 1940’s and on. We all lived there during the Second World War.
SCHOOL DAYS
School days, school days
Dear old golden rule days,
Reading and writing, arithmetic,
Taught to the tune of a hickory stick
You were my queen in calico
I was your bashful barefoot beau
You wrote on my slate ≥I love you so≤
When we were a couple of kids.
Gamboa Gold Elementary
by
Dick Shobe
My 5th Grade Report Card
That was my best year! I was on my best conduct and got my best grades. The
longer I stayed in school the better my grades, a legacy from each and every
teacher. Helen Starr scored me low, and taught me well.
Penmanship and…I’m Left Handed≤
Dick Shobe
Go to a table and sent down. Pretend your at your 5th grade desk but all the
desks at the school are for left handers. So you slip into the desk chair
from the right instead of the left. This leaves you with no place to rest
your right hand. It time for penmanship drill. Place a piece of paper on
your left hander’s desk so that a line drawn from the upper right corner to
the lower left corner points to you. Now try using your Palmer skills to
write a line starting at the right margin progressing to the left margin.
Using ink will and pen makes it an order of magnitude more difficult.That’s
the left handers burden. It is doable though still difficult if you are
allowed to position the paper for a left hander’s convenience. That is what I
did. We ended up playing a game where she would never look at me during
penmanship drill. The few times she did seem me I would move my paper
to the correct position.
Itπs bad enough to make a kid stutter, and stutter I did until I got in
Jr.High School where penmanship was not on the curriculum.
Nevertheless I had no problem in getting accepted into Auburn in 1953. None
of the three Shobe brothers got good grades but, I never say the job we
could not do with David and myself watching Jim.
—————————–
The Teachers for the
Gamboa Gold Graduating Class
of 1947
Dick Shobe
Thank you one and all
Kindergarten 1 1939 – 1940 Viola Stephens
Kindergarten 2 1940 – 1941 Viola Stephens
First Grade 1941 – 1942 Norma Helton
Second Grade 1942 – 1943 Mildred Edson
Third Grade 1943 – 1944 ?
Fourth Grade 1944 – 1945 Mowry
Fifth Grade 1945 – 1946 Helen Starr
Sixth Grade 1946 – 1947 Helen Starr
—————————-
The Spanking
Lou Womack
(written for first and second graders)
I wasn’t always quiet in first grade but I learned how to be very quiet. One
time I brought home my report card with a bad grade by whispers too much.
Itπs funny how times have changed because nowadays if a student whispers
thatπs a blessing for the teacher, but in those days whispering was not
permitted.
My mother told me, “Lyla Lou, you will bring home an A next time won’t
you? (meaning I didn’t whisper any more) If you don’t you will get a
spanking!”
Well I worked a little bit harder on “not whispering too much” and I
received a B…not and A. I looked at my motherπs eyes while she
reviewed the grades on my report card. I distinctly remember the place where
the grade “whispers too much” was…..even to this day. I could see her eyes
scanning quickly and suddenly they stopped on the B for whispers too much.
My stomach was in knots as she said, “This is not an A”. And you know the
rest of the story……”Whack! Whack! Whack! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!”
For the next nine weeks I was a very, very quiet student and I came home
with a great big A. Wow! That kiss and hug from my mother was wonderful. I
no longer whispered in class. What a way to learn.
Gamboa Gold Elementary
Kindergarten~Mrs. Banton
Carolyn Tyssen
I remember Kindergarten was in a room at the bottom floor of the Club House.
We vied to get the best instrument to play in the percussion band. The
triangles were good but the sticks were not. One boy, Allen Bartholemew,
must have had juvenile diabetes because he would always have some kind of
“spell” and the teacher would have to give him orange
juice. Later, I heard that he had died in his 40’s or 50’s.
Jessee Crawford
Hey, do you remember the blankets we carried to kindergarten to take our
naps on during the afternoon.Mine was black and white and I have pictures
of me on the way to school holding it my arms. I actually remember the darn
thing. We kept it for years my mother even used it in her nursery school in
Gamboa. Ahh, the memories there will never be another Canal Zone in the
annals of time.
First Grade~Miss Moomaw
Forget Me Not
Lou Womack
Jimmy Suddaby! Now that rings a bell! Why we were in first grade together. I
blush to say this but I think he was my first boyfriend and now I shall tell
you why. After class was over for the day we used to walk up the hill
together and he would pick forget-me-nots along the way. As we strolled
along he would pick the petals off of the flower, one at a time and say,
“She loves me, she loves me not”. If the last petal picked was “She loves
me,”he would lean over and kiss me on the cheek. However if the last one
was, “She loves me not,” he would put his hands up to his eyes and rub them
and cry, “Boo! Hoo!”….He had to be my first boyfriend!
Second Grade~Mrs. Edison
Third Grade~
Fourth Grade~Mrs. Murray
Fifth Grade~Miss Starr & Miss Hubbard
Sixth Grade~Miss Starr
Vera Jones~ What Grade?
Jim Shobe:
When I think about Gamboa certain things evoke happy memories. Sitting in
Miss Starr`s 6th grade class and looking out the window daydreaming as I
watch the rain coming over the hill and marching into town.
J
ake Baker:
I sure remember Miss Starr, she was stern and sure commanded respect. My
memory is fuzzy but doubt I was a model student putting it mildly. Suspect
she was glad to see me move on to 7th grade in Balboa.
Bill Campbell:
It seems I was forever having to stay after school for Miss Star. She had
all of those wonderful long division problems for us to do. If it wasn’t for
Rodney the janitor helping , many of us would still working to find the
answers.
Lou Womack:
I too can remember daydreaming in her class. Miss Starr, even though she
was very petite, had complete control plus order of the whole class. When
she spoke with very soft voice, “Now people.≤ all “the people,” fifth and
sixth graders included…listened up! E. F. Hutton would have to take a
second to Miss Starr. Years later when I was teaching I would use the same
expression, “Now people,” but for some reason or another, I just wasn’t as
effective as Miss Starr.
An interesting tidbit…
One of the gang was a teacher there.
Don Conner:
After my active duty I returned to work in Gamboa as an elementary school
teacher. I was also in charge of the gym and pool at that time.
Lou Womack:
Remember the names Mrs. Edison and Mrs. Murray? Which grade did they teach?
Was it second and third? Also remember those timed tests we had in the
morning for addition and subtraction in second grade I believe. If we didn’t
miss the problems we didn’t have to come back to school in the afternoon.
How about the inkwells and those scratchy pen points we put into the pen
holder…before of course ballpoint pens were invented.
Carolyn Tyssen:
The only thing I remember about the first through the third grade was
penmanship. We had to write letters and practice ovals and straight lines
for hours. This was the ≥Palmer Method≤. I still have the book.
Jake Baker
Vera Jones, was another teacher in Gamboa, she was my favorite. She and
Alton, who were good friends of my parents lived close to me here. I
visited with Vera, a short time before she passed away. I sure remember
Miss Starr, she was stern and sure commanded respect. My memory is fuzzy
but doubt I was a model student putting it mildly. Suspect she was glad to
see me move on to 7th grade in Balboa.
Bob Ross
This brought back a lot of memories. Vera Jones was my math tutor, after
school I would report to her home and each time she would be exercising
before we got started my that was so long ago. It must It must have been
about 1943. I just turned 71 and still remember her slim figure. Thanks
Jake Baker for bringing it all back.
SCHOOL….NOT A FAVORITE CHOICE
Jim Shobe
School was not my favorite choice, it interfered with my playtime. I
remember when I was in Miss Hubbard (Jones) 5th grade class we had an
exercise book with math problems that were to be done each day before you
were allowed to leave. I quickly realized that she was not checking on them
so I would write any numbers that came to mind, show her that I had
completed the assignment for the day, and out the door I went.
Towards the end of the year we were told to turn in our exercise books.
Alas the day of recking was upon me. My mother was called in and shown what
I had done and that she (Miss Hubbard) had no choice but to fail me. My
mother asked that if I were to redo the whole exercise book in the coming
week would that suffice? Miss Hubbard, bless her, said if it were done in
the coming week she would accept it.
Needless to say I was woke up at five o’clock and erased and worked on
problems until it was time for school. At lunch time I worked until it was
time to return to school and after school I worked until bedtime. The work
was completed in the alloted time, but it wreaked havoc with my playtime.
I believed I learned more math in that one week period than I have in the
rest of my life.
The only other trouble I got into was in Miss Starr`s sixth grade class. At
that time we still had ink wells and real pens. You girls liked to bring
coffee roses or some kind of flower and put hem in the ink well and they
would turn blue, this has nothing to do with this story, just trivia.
It was one of those days that you do something dumb and don`t really know
why you did it, but for some reason I looked at that ink well on my desk and
put my mouth on it sucked up a mouthful of ink and spit it back in the
inkwell. I waited patiently for Miss Starr to look my way and when she did I
gave her the best smile I could possibly muster. You have no idea how
quickly I was out of there and on my way home, again hellfire and brimstones
was waitng for me. Punishment was swift and just.
Taught to the Tune
of a Hickory Stick
Skip Rowley
Just a few tidbits of info this time.Back in those early days of our
schooling and before that, it was permissible to smack a child with a hickory
or a pointer or ruler if they either misbehaved or were just not paying
attention. I used to get smoked a lot. I especially remember Mrs. Graham
in BHS, smacking me with a ruler in her Algebra, Geometry classes. She’d
leave welts on my hands and forearms. My Mom didn’t care for that, and
went to complain to Mr. Holtz. You cannot do that today in schools. Touch
one hair on any child, and your b~*^+ will be history. I truly think that
is one of the major problems with the modern school system. No class
discipline
The next is very interesting. Mrs. Moomaw was my principal in Cristobal
Grade School on Colon Beach. I can still remember her to this day. Mrs.
Godwin was my first grade teacher. Tell Dick that he is a brave soul to
show is report card on the air. I’m to embarrassed to show mine. Lots of
red marks on it and they weren’t stars. If it was bad, there was a check
mark on the right side for me too. But then after the third grade when I
got hurt and had to withdraw from school because I was in the hospital, my
grades went down even lower. So I repeated the third grade, still missed
more school that was allowed, but was passed on trial for the next several
years.
Finally my Mom asked that I be held back again in the 8th grade. This time
they sent me to a military school in New Bloomfield, Pa., where I got a lot
of personal training and brought my math and what not’s up to par and was OK
after that. So you see, I started out in Cristobal with the class of
“57”, was with the class of “58” for several years. and finally graduated
with the class of “59”. What a bonfire that was.
The Gold Elementary
Lou Womack
Ah yes, the Gold Elementary, that place where I spent seven years of my
life. Starting with Miss Moomaw in first grade and having her a second year
because I failed the first grade, ≥because I couldnπt read.≤ How
embarrassing it was for me during those years especially when my friends
were passed on to the second grade and I stayed behind in first. Each grade
had one teacher except 5th and 6th. For both of those grades we had Miss
Starr. Now Miss Starr had total control over both grades, all she had to say
was, ≥Now people,≤ and she had our undivided attention.
It was named the Gold Elementary because in the days of the construction of
the Panama Canal, I am told, the white people were paid in gold and the
black in silver. In our town we also had a Silver Elementary where all the
black children went to school. In fact our town was divided into areas where
we, being white, lived and the black people lived in their designated area.
I found out a few years ago from my cousin that a lot of southerners went to
Panama during the construction days and that was probably why we had Jim
Crow Laws in effect. Needless to say, no black children went to our Gold
Elementary.
On our weekends all of the Gamboa Gang would ride their bicycles under the
school. Concrete pillars supported the school above so it was an ideal race
track for us to use. Those pillars can sometimes get in the way though if
one is not watching carefully. I ruined a bike by running into a pillar
under an apartment building at another time.
The war years were scary for us because our open area for riding bikes was
sealed off with sandbags from concrete floor to ceiling for an emergency air
raid shelter. Those sandbags were always gentle reminders of the strategic
location in which we lived. During the war I vividly remember the many ships
that came through, the blackouts, and the air raid drills at school. With
anxious hearts, when a drill was called, all of the students and teachers
from the first story level which was supported underneath by concrete
pillars, would run down the outside stairs to the ground level shelter made
of sandbags.There we would wait until the ≥all clear≥ signal was given,
needless to say, never soon enough for me! Those were scarey days for me as
a child.
We were always having music programs at Christmas time. I can always
remember Nina Bates singing so beautifully, ≥in a Little Village of
Bethlehem≤. Occasionally I got to sing a duet too which was such a joy for
me. All my childhood Mom and Dad and I harmonized songs while riding in the
car to Balboa for our corvina at the Balboa Clubby so singing was something
I really enjoyed. Our music programs were held in the hallway between the
classrooms which was wide enough to hold everyone. Later, after the Second
World War was over our music program were done at the Civic Center. We
couldn’t use it during the war since the GI’s used it for entertainment.
Before going into class we lined up for water and the water fountain in the
hallway. One time I drank some water but held it in my mouth so I looked
like a chipmunk when I went into the classroom. Before I sat down some
student came up to me, saw my face and slapped both of his hands on my
cheeks and water squirted out all over him. I can’t recall if I got in
trouble or not over that. All I can remember is the gusher of water
squirting on him.
While living in Gamboa, my dad would bring home all kinds of animals from
the jungle plus be given animals because he had gone to veterinary school in
Ames, Iowa for two years and was known as the neighborhood vet. We were
given a macaw that a friend had almost lost because of a opposum attack. In
the fight for her life one of her legs was broken so I am sure thatπs why
she was given to us. She was named Taca after the Taca Airlines. You might
say she fulfilled the expression “as free as a bird” because she was never
caged and was always allowed to fly all over Gamboa. One time she followed
my brother to school, kind of like Maryπs little lamb. When he went up the
stairs and into the hallway, Taca decided to follow him and flew in one
entrance and down the long hallway and exited out the back door. No Bub, so
she flew home to her tree that was next to our cottage.
I donπt believe we had a library for the school so each room had their own
library. Cafeterias weren’t in existence at that time so we had sack lunches
in elementary, junior high and high school years.
I can always remember penmanship practice sessions, “Oval, oval, oval, up!”
Then those up and down strokes we would make as the teacher would say,
“Push, pull, push, pull.” Hopefully we didn’t have to do them in ink and
only pencil. Ink wells, scratchy pen points and blotters didn’t enhance
writing lessons. However, later on in life I became a calligrapher and the
thing I detested I thoroughly came to enjoy.
We weren’t even allowed to whisper in class. If we did our report card would
be checked, “Whispers too much.”
We weren”t allowed to chew gum in Miss Starrπs class or any other for that
matter… but I did one day. I sure hate to admit all of these childhood
antics that I did…but I imagine some of you reading this might be able to
identify with me? Dick Shobe at the same time was chewing gum. I wonder if
this was after the war years because I know that during the war we never saw
any bubblegum and it might have been true for gum as well. Anyway, the two
of us got caught…big time! So Miss Starr made us put our gum on a piece of
paper and told us we would have to stay after school. The chore we had was
to number our paper from 1 to 100 and beside each number we would have to
put a piece of gum. Now I had one stick of gum, but Dick had two sticks in
his mouth when he got caught but the rules were still the same. Piece by
piece I tore that sticky gum from the wad and placed it diligently on the
paper. While I was doing it I looked over at Dick to see how he was doing
and he was pulling the gum apart into a long thread then cutting it by each
number. I thought, ≥Now why didnπt I think of that?≤ When immediately Miss
Starr glanced back at us. I froze but Dick kept on until her shadow was cast
upon his desk. Then there was an abrupt stop! Miss Starr told him that he
would have to take all of that gum off of the paper and start all over
again. I think I got through before he did and I know that I never chewed
gum in school ever again.
We had no playground equipment but I do recall having so much fun during
recess playing baseball and probably kickball that I didnπt want to come in.
Later on some equipment was set up when my brother started school nine years
later.
Sometimes I would be so bored in class that I would love to look out the
window more than listening to the teacher…you might say I loved to
daydream. So if it became too monotonous I would escape to my own little
dream world for a while. The canal was so close to our school but I canπt
quite remember if I could see the ships passing by and if so wondering what
their destination was…the South Pacific to the war or California or some
tropical island in the South Pacific. The emblem I always remember that was
engraved on my senior class ring stated, “The land divided, the world
united.” So who knows where that ship was headed in the Atlantic or Pacific
Ocean. In eight hours it would be heading out into one of those mighty
oceans.
In front of our school was a lawn that made a complete circle and right in
the center of the circle stood the flagpole. We were taught in the upper
grades how to unfold the American flag and hook it to the flagpole each day.
I think we all gathered around it but it’s been so long ago it’s hard to
remember. We would have said the pledge of allegiance the first thing in the
morning. This was a practice I continued every day of my twenty-nine years
of teaching. At the end of the day we brought the flag down being very, very
careful for it not to touch the ground in the process, then we folded it
into a triangular shape and put it away in the storeroom for the following
school day.
Oh, if only I had kept a journal in those days…how much richer in detail
my writing would be now. Seven years at the Gold Elementary and this is all
I have to show for it.
My how time can change a person! Failed the first grade because I couldn’t
read and my most favorite subject that I taught was…. reading.
“From Sandbags to a Pool”
Don Conner:
I enjoyed your piece on Gold Elementary and got a kick out of the air raid shelter part. I remembered one day we were headed out to the playground and passing by the sandbag shelter and some kid in our group said he was going to blow down the shelter and proceeded to take in a big breath and blow… and at that point the whole side of the shelter fell in. He was one scared kid, I wish I could remember who it was but I can’t. I also remember the shelter of sandbags being replaced with 55 gal. drums filled with sand stacked on top of each other when the shelter was rebuilt soon after.
Lou Womack
During the war I vividly remember the many ships that came through, the blackouts, and the air raid drills at school. With anxious hearts, when a drill was called, all of the students and teachers from the first story level which was supported underneath by concrete pillars, would run down the outside stairs to the ground level shelter made of sandbags.There we would wait until the “all clear“ signal was given, needless to say, never soon enough for me! Those were scary days for me as a child.
An air raid siren blew one time while I was at the swimming pool. The rules were “stay put wherever you are”. My mom was frantic because she knew the ruling and she was at home. As her eyes glanced across a large field by the swimming pool she could see in a distance a little brown-haired girl running as fast as she could, picking them up and laying them down. I’m sure I ran into her arms for safety. (At that time we lived in a twelve family in the dustbowl….now no longer there.)
The Gold Elementary
by
Lou Womack
August 2001
Tonight as I looked out of my window I could hear children playing the slide on the playground near my home. It reminded me of a picture I saw on internet of my elementary school in Gamboa called the Gold Elementary. In the paragraph written about the school it stated the year might have been around 1940 when it might have been taken. As I looked at the picture I was drawn by the little specks on the playground which turned out to be children. Immediately I thought, “Why one of those children could have been me.”
Years ago my mother and I were in an art studio looking through the array of penciled prints for sale. Mom was in the back of the store and I came running to her with tears in my eyes. She took one look at me and questioned why I was so teary eyed. I told her to come and see the print that had caused my sadness. An old schoolhouse with a broken down steeple, which apparently rang to call the children to school, was nestled in a meadow of beautiful wildflowers. Dancing around in a circle could be seen little schoolchildren, probably playing, “Ring Around the Rosy.” The one particular thing that had caught my attention was the fact that the children were transparent and one could see the mountains in the background through them. The title of the print was, “When the Then and Now Hold Hands”. The following was article written to describe it:
There is a place in the open meadowland near Melville, Montana, where stands what remains of the old Wheeler Creek School which the townspeople of today attended, as did their parents before them. It has weathered the weather but shows signs of the many hard, windy winters.
The painting echoes all those generations of lovely, playing, laughing, sun-wrapped children who attended its one-room class, whose spirits must still be not too far away to come and play now that class is out, forever.
This picture is a simple one…
as is the story…
and the land…
and the life.
How frustrated I was when I saw the picture of my school in Gamboa because no one looking at it would know about the people, the time and the different places that were a part of my childhood for twelve years. With that in mind my hands on the keyboard I have decided to speak for all of us…now that class is out, forever.
Ah yes, the Gold Elementary, that place where I spent seven years of my life. Starting with Miss Moomaw in first grade and having her a second year because I failed the first grade, “because I couldn’t read.” How embarrassing it was for me during those years especially when my friends were passed on to the second grade and I stayed behind in first. Each grade had one teacher except 5th and 6th. For both of those grades we had Miss Starr. Now Miss Starr had total control over both grades, all she had to say was, “Now people,” and she had our undivided attention.
It was named the Gold Elementary because in the days of the construction of the Panama Canal, I am told, the white people were paid in gold and the black in silver. In our town we also had a Silver Elementary where all the black children went to school. In fact our town was divided into areas where we, being white, lived and the black people lived in their designated area. I found out a few years ago from my cousin that a lot of southerners went to Panama during the construction days and that was probably why we had Jim Crow Laws in effect. Needless to say, no black children went to our Gold Elementary.
On our weekends all of the Gamboa Gang would ride their bicycles under the school.
Concrete pillars supported the school above so it was an ideal race track for us to use. Those pillars can sometimes get in the way though if one is not watching carefully. I ruined a bike by running into a pillar under an apartment building at another time.
The war years were scary for us because our open area for riding bikes was sealed off with sandbags from concrete floor to ceiling for an emergency air raid shelter. Those sandbags were always gentle reminders of the strategic location in which we lived. During the war I vividly remember the many ships that came through, the blackouts, and the air raid drills at school. With anxious hearts, when a drill was called, all of the students and teachers from the first story level which was supported underneath by concrete pillars, would run down the outside stairs to the ground level shelter made of sandbags.There we would wait until the “all clear“ signal was given, needless to say, never soon enough for me! Those were scarey days for me as a child.
We were always having music programs at Christmas time. I can always remember Nina Bates singing so beautifully, “in a Little Village of Bethlehem”. Occasionally I got to sing a duet too which was such a joy for me. All my childhood Mom and Dad and I harmonized songs while riding in the car to Balboa for our corbina at the Balboa Clubby so singing was something I really enjoyed. Our music programs were held in the hallway between the classrooms which was wide enough to hold everyone. Later, after the Second World War was over our music program were done at the Civic Center. We couldn’t use it during the war since the GI’s used it for entertainment.
Before going into class we lined up for water and the water fountain in the hallway. One time I drank some water but held it in my mouth so I looked like a chipmunk when I went into the classroom. Before I sat down some student came up to me, say my face and slapped both of his hands on my cheeks and water squirted out all over him. I can’t recall if I got in trouble or not over that. All I can remember is the gusher of water squirting on him.
While living in Gamboa, my dad would bring home all kinds of animals from the jungle plus be given animals because he had gone to veterinary school in Ames, Iowa for two years and was known as the neighborhood vet. We were given a macaw that a friend had almost lost because of a opposum attack. In the fight for her life one of her legs was broken so I am sure that’s why she was given to us. She was named Taca after the Taca Airlines. You might say she fulfilled the expression “as free as a bird” because she was never caged and was always allowed to fly all over Gamboa. One time she followed my brother to school, kind of like Mary’s little lamb. When he went up the stairs and into the hallway, Taca decided to follow him and flew in one entrance and down the long hallway and exited out the back door. No Bub, so she flew home to her tree that was next to our cottage.
I don’t believe we had a library for the school so each room had their own library. Cafeterias weren’t in existence at that time so we had sack lunches in elementary, junior high and high school years.
I can always remember penmanship practice sessions, “Oval, oval, oval, up!” Then those up and down strokes we would make as the teacher would say, “Push, pull, push, pull.” Hopefully we didn’t have to do them in ink and only pencil. Ink wells, scratchy pen points and blotters didn’t enhance writing lessons. However, later on in life I became a calligrapher and the thing I detested I thoroughly came to enjoy.
We weren’t even allowed to whisper in class. If we did our report card would be checked, “Whispers too much.”
We weren’t allowed to chew gum in Miss Starr’s class or any other for that matter… but I did one day. I sure hate to admit all of these childhood antics that I did…but I imagine some of you reading this might be able to identify with me? Dick Shobe at the same time was chewing gum. I wonder if this was after the war years because I know that during the war we never say any bubblegum and it might have been true for gum as well. Anyway, the two of us got caught…big time! So Miss Starr made us put our gum on a piece of paper and told us we would have to stay after school. The chore we had was to number our paper from 1 to 100 and beside each number we would have to put a piece of gum. Now I had one stick of gum, but Dick had two sticks in his mouth when he got caught but the rules were still the same. Piece by piece I torn that sticky gum from the wad and placed it diligently on the paper. While I was doing it I looked over at Dick to see how he was doing and he was pulling the gum apart into a long thread then cutting it by each number. I thought, “Now why didn’t I think of that?” When immediately Miss Starr glanced back at us. I froze but Dick kept on until her shadow was cast upon his desk. Then there was an abrupt stop! Miss Starr told him that he would have to take all of that gum off of the paper and start all over again. I think I got through before he did and I know that I never chewed gum in school ever again.
We had no playground equipment but I do recall having so much fun during recess playing baseball and probably kickball that I didn’t want to come in. Later on some equipment was set up when my brother started school nine years later.
Sometimes I would be so bored in class that I would love to look out the window more than listening to the teacher…you might say I loved to daydream. So if it became too monotonous I would escape to my own little dream world for a while. The canal was so close to our school but I can’t quite remember if I could see the ships passing by and if so wondering what their destination was…the South Pacific to the war or California or some tropical island in the South Pacific. The emblem I always remember that was engraved on my senior class ring stated, “The land divided, the world united.” So who knows where that ship was headed in the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean. In eight hours it would be heading out into one of those mighty oceans.
In front of our school was a lawn that made a complete circle and right in the center of the circle stood the flagpole.We were taught in the upper grades how to unfold the American flag and hook it to the flagpole each day. I think we all gathered around it and said the pledge of allegiance the first thing in the morning too. This was a practice I continued every day of my twenty-nine years of teaching. At the end of the day we brought the flag down being very, very careful for it not to touch the ground in the process, then we folded it into a triangular shape and put it away in the storeroom for the following school day.
Oh, if only I had kept a journal in those days…how much richer in detail my writing would be now. Seven years at the Gold Elementary and this is all I have to show for it.
My how time can change a person! My most favorite subject that I taught was reading.
Donald marlow
I went to Gamboa elementary in 1957, 2nd grade and ended with 6th grade, with Mr. White. My family and I left for Texas for 2 years during that time and I’ll never forget the first time we literally, what I felt busted out of the house on our return to go play, do whatever we wanted. We had a 36 ft cabin cruiser that we would go thru the locks with, go to Taboga island, deep sea fish, catch red snapper, grouper, yellow fin, and more. My dad had an unlimited horsepower license for diesel and steam. A chief engineer that went all over the world. A workaholic My brother and I would spearfish all around where you put your boat in at the Yacht club, shooting bluegill, a snook on time. I’ve lived on the ridge and 2 different homes. My favorite was a duplex up by the bachelor quarters. My father had a cinderblock room built for my brother and I and the maid with a cinderblock wall between us. We would sneak out on the cloudiest nights to catch crocodiles and cayman, yes crocodiles! It’s easy to tell the difference. We learned to swim at the pool downtown and immediately joined the swim team, catching the train to compete against all of the other small towns. Including balboa and Panama City . I was invited to the junior olympics in1961. There was a list in the pool area outside of the office, I bet it’s still there it has all of the times for the 1 mile. I beat them all doing it in 28 minutes. On one of our croc hunts we took a cayuka with a slow leak and sank in the middle of the chagres laughing hysterically. Two sets of brothers. We just shoved the cayuka forward and reverse until the water was out stuffed part of the gunnysacks in the hole and proceeded to the other side. The reason we wait till the clouds cover the moon is that our flashlight holds their attention much better. Try on a moonlit night, you swirl the water to loud even a ways away, gone. To go to the other side where the abandoned docks are on a dark night is very intimidating. We only catch small ones no longer than 2 feet. We ended up getting chased off after catching a small one that barked and emitted a huge splash from shore. We threw the croc while paddling. Prior to that I brought us up on a small one, I was stern man, Steve waved me off. I thought he had finally lost his nerve. It was the head of a very large croc or cayman. I’ve been upriver to casaya, a creek carved in bedrock, beautiful, you have to be shown where it’s at. I was in anchorage Alaska doing the pipeline and met 2 fishermen from Costa Rica told them I grew up in Gamboa, went to balboa high. They asked me do you know where casaya is, yes I told them and said even when you find it it’s hard to tell it’s so over grown on the river you can’t tell. They came and took my picture the next day. Many treasured memories, want to write a book
Raymond Hignett
I attended Gamboa Elementary School from 1951 (Kindergarden) to 1959 (Sixth Grade) before going to boarding school in England. The reason for the concrete stilts was to keep the termites away from the wood structure of the buildings. Anyone who saw the destruction they could cause like eating away a chair or table leg from the inside will know why.
nancy DeLorenzo Wardwell
I attended gamboa 60-61 mr garber I believe was my teacher.I lived on the ridge and the zorn brothers sand out in my mine.nancy delorenzo
América Mite
América Mite on March 6 2016 at 7:04 a.m. said: attended to gamboa Santa Cruz Elementary School from 1963 – 1969 (kindergarden to sixth grade) mrs. HERRERA was my kindergarden teacher and mrs. Henry (I believe) sixth grade teacher. I lived on bldg.317 & moved over to 312 around the club-house.
I will like to view more pictures and name list of friends and teacgers name. Thanks & have a nice day
K Fearon
I am the youngest of three kids in the Fearon Family. I also attended the Gamboa, Elementary school in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. I remember all my teachers, Mrs. Keeper, Mrs Duffus, Mrs Clark, Mrs White, Mr. Combs and Mr. Fugelburg. The most memorable was the gym teacher Mrs. Norris. I also remember the nicest man at the school Mr. Rodney as we called him. He was the Janitor at the school when I was there and even when my mother attended the school in her child hood. He would always ask how is you family and tell them I said hello. I remember the school on stilts as well. Under the school was where all the benches were that each class would set and store the things until the class had to line up at the stairs to go to class when the bell rang. 1st second and third grades on one side of the school and 4th, 5th, and 6th on the flag side of the school. While waiting for line up we would play marbles on the side of the school, all winning were kept in a sock tied to you belt loop. Do all of you remember being a patrol guard? we raised the flags every day we were cross walk assistants with the cross walk guard Mrs. Walker. We got to wear should harnesses with badges, plain silver, all the way to captain (blue). I would walk to school from our house on Jadwin ave through the Bachelor quarters, through Dr. Sensors yard down the hill pass the kissing hole to the school. You all remember that place in the small wooded area behind Dr. Sensors house half way down the hill (LOL). then pass the under road drain with the steel bars that we would have to stop and look for flying bats, passing the union church to the school yard. And when we learned to ride bikes we would get to ride the bike down the hill to the school.
Nancy Reynolds Zuck
I did my student teaching as a Penn State University student spring of 1971 in third grade at Gamboa Elementary School and had about 13 students. Another young man from PSU was in the fifth grade class student teaching. Each morning we took the train from Balboa and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the canal. My co-operating teacher was wonderful [I don’t recall her name] and I enjoyed my students. There were very few teaching jobs in the US and my first class a few years later had 32 students. I married and then home-schooled our four children before then teaching as an English as Second Language teacher for 14 years. When applying for the ESL position, human resources assumed I was fluent in Spanish [did not know any], but my time in the Canal Zone opened the opportunity for me to gain a full-time teaching position 25 years after I received my degree. I just retired, but think often of my time fondly in Panama and the Canal Zone-specifically Gamboa.
Nancy Reynolds Zuck
Ed Johnson
I remember running amateur radio phone patches for several of the 13 Student Teachers from PSU in 1971 while I was stationed there during 1970 and 1971. I was friends with one of the teachers named Chris there at the time. I wonder if you knew her? You were all staying at the Canal Zone Hotel overlooking the Panama City/Balboa border.
Thanks
Timothy Gore
I am oldest of four Gore Children who lived on Jadwin Ave across from the Fearons in Gamboa. Lived there June 1968 thru June 1970
I had MR White for 6 th grade at Gamboa Elementary and had Mrs Norris for gym class / PE. Bill Keepers was our Scoutmaster
My twin brother Tom and I went to Curundu Jr High for 7 th grade
We have a sister Sylvia and younger Brother Lamar
I have very fond memories of life in Canal Zone
Attending Chagres River Baptist Church with Lee family , Stewart Family , Walker family
Pastor Ortiz and family , Call family and the Wicks family
Great Memories !!!!!
Bertha Josi
Is there any one who went to Gamboa school between 1934 – 1940s?
Ed Johnson
I remember running amateur radio phone patches for several of the 13 Student Teachers from PSU in 1971 while I was stationed there during 1970 and 1971. I was friends with one of the teachers named Chris there at the time. I wonder if you knew her? You were all staying at the Canal Zone Hotel overlooking the Panama City/Balboa border.
Thanks
kerry eckert
I lived in gamboa and attended this school from 1962 to 64. gamboa was a magical place for a young boy to live in. the wildlife and forrest were amazing. the bats at dusk, the sloths hanging around in our mango tree, the howler monkies, and the funny tucans. i cant remember any facaulty names but i do remember seeing an iowa class battleship coming through the canal from our classroom window. We could not actually see the canal so the ship appeared to be floating through the jungle. so many fond memories of the old movie theater, the oneway bridge with the giant signal light on the hill, the hercules tug craine, the swimming pool were i learned to swim, the archery classes by the gym in the summertime. We lived at 118 jadwin almost at the end of the road. Gamboa will always be dear in my heart.