Schools are not just bricks and mortar; they are built by memories of how they changed people's lives.

We asked our readers to share their memories of the 22 Pittsburgh Public Schools that closed last week (read article).

Bon Air, Burgwin, Chatham, Clayton, Crescent, East Hills, Friendship, Lemington, Knoxville, Madison, Mann, McCleary, Morningside, Prospect and Sheraden elementary schools; Columbus, Greenway, Knoxville, Milliones, Prospect, Reizenstein and Washington Polytech middle schools.

If you would like to add your memories of these 22 schools, please send your story, name and home town to education@post-gazette.com.

Here are our readers' recollections:

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Bon Air
I attended Bon Air Elementary School for grades K-5 in the mid 1980's. I had a wonderful learning experience thanks to the teachers at the school during that time. Two teachers stand out in my mind and I have often thought of them over the years. Those teachers are Mr. Vereen and Ms. Hobson. Both teachers had a genuine interest in their students and wanted to help them to be successful learners. My favorite assignment in Mr. Vereen's class was when we wrote and mailed letters to Bill Cosby. Ms. Hobson always made science interesting and fun by allowing us to do hands on activities.

Bon Air was a fantastic school to attend. The class sizes were small and the students had good relationships with each other due to it being such a close community. I have many fond memories of the school that I will never forget. I am very sad to hear that Bon Air is closing and that other children in the community will not be able to have the valuable experience that I was fortunate to have at Bon Air.

Sincerely,

-- Angie Denham (Kurtz) of Mt. Washington

I was a student at Bon Air Elementary school from 1988-1993. I loved the fact that I was able to attend a neighborhood school. A lot of kids now have to get bused wherever they go, but we always walked to school. Aside from having great teachers that really cared and getting a great education, the walk to and from school was awesome. Even though it only took 10 minutes at most, that time with siblings and friends was our own little bit of freedom. And we always made it to and from safe and sound.

Burgwin
I have been a teacher at Burgwin school for the past 3 years. It has been the best experience of my career as a teacher. I have made some life long friendships that I will treasure forever. I have had an opportunity to grow as a teacher and work with a staff that is so awesome I can't even put it into words. Burgwin school isn't just a school that is closing, rather a family that is parting ways. I will miss all of the students very much. They all bring their own unique personality to the family which makes us all closer. I will miss the sense of togetherness the most. The students and staff at Burgwin school are exemplary. I have more than enjoyed my time at Burgwin, and will keep it in my heart forever! I love you guys!

-- Lisa Kreuger, Brookline

I am so sad to hear about the closing of Burgwin.

My fondest memory of Burgwin is the strong PTA carnivals and bake sales.

Another fond memory is the day we picked up Kennywood tickets....

That was the best.

I love the Red and Gray..

Good bye Burgwin... :-(

-- Michelle

I have fond memories of my years at Burgwin Elementary School. Mrs. Sylvia Schmidt took a group of 4 of us fifth graders to KDKA to be on the Saturday morning children's program, Happy Hour. She played the organ for the program. We sang. She also took us to the All City Choir where we sang songs like, "Froggy's Going A'Courting! I remember it well. Mrs. Schmidt went above and beyond her role as fifth grade music teacher! She took such great interest in all of us at Burgwin.

-- Nancy Stonick Reid of Beverly Hills, Mich.

Chatham
I ATTENDED CHATHAM GRADE SCHOOL. I HAVE AN UNCLE, AND A GRAND DAUGHTER, WHO ALSO WENT THERE. MY UNCLE IS NOW DECEASED, MY GRAND DAUGHTER GROWN, BUT BEING ABLE TO COMPARE STORIES OF GRADE SCHOOL WITH THEM WAS ALWAYS A PLEASANT CONVERSATION. I REMEMBER WELL THE TEACHERS WHO INFLUENCED MY FUTURE IN VARIOUS WAYS. MISS HOFFMAN INSTILLED IN ME MY LOVE OF BOOKS. SHE WAS A WONDERFUL LIBRARIAN. MISS DAVIES TAUGHT MUSIC WITH GUSTO AND A STRICT HAND. SHE PREPARED US WELL FOR HIGH SCHOOL CHOIRS. MISS PEACH, YES, MISS PEACH, WAS A DELIGHT AS THE FIRST GRADE TEACHER. SHE INDEED, WAS A PEACH. MISS BUTTONS, WHO WAS CUTE AS A BUTTON, TAUGHT SECOND GRADE. MRS. KEARNEY INSTILLED A SERIOUS APPROCH TO MATH...OH LONG DIVISION WAS SO HARD. SHE WAS ALSO OUR ART TEACHER. MISS ADAMS WAS THE MOST WONDERFUL GYM TEACHER, SHE GOT GREAT RESULTS FROM US. I REMEMBER DOING THE MEXICAN HAT DANCE , THAT SHE TAUGHT US FOR AN OUTSIDE PROGRAM THAT WAS SO MUCH FUN. MR. ROBINSON WAS THE ONLY MALE TEACHER IN CHATHAM AT THAT TIME. I WONDER WHAT THAT WAS LIKE FOR HIM? MRS. LEE WAS A DEDICATED ENGLISH TEACHER WHO GAVE ME ENOUGH INSPIRATION TO BECOME EDITOR OF THE NEWSPAPER IN HIGH SCHOOL SOME YEARS LATER. OUR PRINCIPAL WAS MR. KELSO I BELIEVE. I WELL REMEMBER DR. JONAS SALK AND THE POLIO VACCINATIONS. WE RECEIVED OUR SHOTS IN LINE IN THE AUDITORIUM. I THINK THE BIGGEST BOY FAINTED WHEN HE GOT HIS SHOT.

CHATHAM WAS RIGHT IN THE HEART OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD. I WENT TO SCHOOL WITH MOST CLASSMATES FOR TWELVE YEARS. IT WAS AN ENCHANTING TIME IN LIFE. MEMORIES MADE FOR A LIFETIME

-- DIANA KRETZLER OF SHALER

My name is Eva Sayre, When I attended Chatham school my name was Eva Werner. I am ninety years old and I have fond memories of the school. It was newly built when I attended and I remember Mrs. Eckert was one of the teachers. I remember being on the volley team and traveling to different places to play volley ball. Mr. Porter was the head of the school at the time. He was the principal. A very meek little man. My boys both attended the school and then went to Perry High school as I did.

-- Eva Sayre

I was so sorry to hear Chatham is closing. I went to school there seventy years ago. There are lots of fond memories. Two of my children attended there, also. I remember Mrs. Grinder, who made a big impression with me. Miss Smith who was Mrs. Kearney when my girls went there. Dodge ball in the gym, holiday programs in the gym and recess in the gym when the weather was bad. Mr. Porter was our principal and we always made fun of his name, we called him Mr. Supporter, we thought we were so funny. We used to have assemblies in the auditorium cafeteria, lots of good fun. At my age I could go on for a long time but just wanted everyone to know what a great school CHATHAM was in the old days.

-- Ruth Barthel Schmandt of Middleburg, Fla.

Clayton
It is very sad to see Clayton Elementary closing, My daughter just had her 5th grade promotion from the school as did I many years ago. It felt very strange sitting in the auditorium and remembering when I was on that stage and how big the auditorium looked and now sitting in those seats how small it all really was. The last day was very sad and emotional not just for the teachers and students but also from former alumni.

-- Gail Hill, North Side

Crescent has a tiger with eyes that burn like fire.

He'll growl so loud you'll hear him...you'll hear him for a mile.

Pittsburgh has a panther; dandy hip hurray!

But Crescent has the greatest and intends to stay that way.

I loved Crescent School. I now live in Florida but will never for Mr. Wilbert Austin ... my music teacher. He was my favorite.

Class of 1969

East Hills
One of my best memories of East Hills Elementary School was being a member of the school choir during the late '70s. I will never forget my music teacher Mrs. Hudson.

Although I was the only girl singing in the alto section of the choir at that time, she never let me forget that I was special, helping to shape my voice with her extraneous faces she would make just so that I would know how to make the words come out just right.

She loved what she did, and she remembered each student by name as if they were one of her own children. Teaching us to be your best at whatever you do, she was a true inspiration to me.

-- Althea Martin of Penn Hills

Friendship
I had a wonderful student teaching experience at Friendship Academy. Usually when a new teaching candidate begins her/his hands on teaching experience, she/he is very nervous. My Friendship Academy co-op teacher, Mrs. Sly, was informative as well as sensitive to my initial classroom performance with the students. The students at Friendship were great and very receptive to me as a teacher. I will always remember Mrs. Sly, the students, and being a teacher at Friendship Academy.

-- Terry (Dietz) Polczynski, O'Hara

Greenway
i was the first 7th grade class at the school when it was open class room . wow !!! some thirty years later no more school.

but think the schools are heading in the right direction for the future of our children.

I loved being in the open style classroom and back in the 70';s the visions were different they would never work for the children of today.

many memories i have were ovt at the school and learning how to cook, learning braille , the jukebox in the cafeteria, and having a gymnastics competition one evening at the school.

-- Bessy Daniel Miller

Although I never attended Greenway Middle School, my younger brother and sister did. There was a lot of turmoil at the school and many parents walked the halls to help keep the school safe. My parents were two of the many that walked the halls. My dad even became the first PTO president of the school. I saw my parents change right before my eyes because of their experiences at Greenway. My father not only looked like "Archie Bunker" but acted like him before he became involved with Greenway. And after just a short period of time, my parents had friends that were black. The school not only educated the kids in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades, but the parents that walked the halls of the school, both black and white. Many of these black friends of my parents had never had a white friend before this. As a high school student, it taught me to be more tolerant and I have been able to pass that on to my children. I can honestly say that my daughters are not prejudiced by the color of a person's skin. In fact they get upset when others make comments that show they are prejudiced. They don't understand how someone can hate just because they are different. So Greenway went beyond its walls to teach many in the community to not hate and its legacy lives on in the children of those that were impacted by Greenway.

-- Mary Gnipp of Bellaire, Texas

As a second year teacher, I remember opening Greenway Middle School in 1974. Most of the staff was new in the profession, and all of the teachers were in their mid-to-late 20s. This was our first experience teaching in "open space", a concept developed in California and moved to Pittsburgh. We teachers had viewed countless films showing the benefits of open space, and we were expected to duplicate that miracle in sixth, seventh, and eighth-grade students who came from closed classrooms for their previous educational years and who would move on to closed-room high schools after their brief stint at Greenway. With a very large area separated by moveable low cabinets only, we taught English, math, social studies and reading every day. It was early that year that my lungs developed into inhuman form and my off off off Broadway talent was honed to a fine point. To be heard over the constant din surrounding us, we had to speak louder than our immediate teaching neighbor and 'perform' our lesson plans in a way that would capture and hold the attention of our charges. It was not an easy feat, but somehow we survived the barrage of erasers, the projectiles of choice from other classes, and overcame the attempt of non-academic clientele in their never-ending attempt to sabotage learning. We taught in 'teams' and the bonds that were established among those teachers never did diminish, though many of us are now enjoying retirement!

We did the impossible -- we helped our students to grow intellectually while reigning in and holding under check their raging hormones. Many of our students grew to be productive members of society. The diehard anti-academics achieved their own fame and misfortune by finding themselves published in The Pittsburgh Press's 'Crime Roundup' section of the newspaper. We grew along with our students and one thing was sure -- no day was like the previous!

One of the greatest shocks I faced in my own career was moving on to teach high school English and having in my class the children of my former Greenway Middle School students. That was a lesson in facing my own mortality! How, I wondered, could so many years have passed without my full grasp of their passing? But pass they did and now Greenway is closing. The only constant in life is change, and this is what Greenway's closing represents. I formed my roots as a teacher in that beautiful fourteen million dollar (a huge sum of money in 1974) structure and I met wonderful people, both youth and adult, who had sustained me in the thirty plus years I put into the profession from that early beginning. Sometimes fortune is not recognized immediately; with age generally comes wisdom and recognition of how fortunate we were. I am grateful for my early experiences at Greenway and for the friendships I made and still enjoy these many years later.

-- Rose Haverlack, former Teacher of English at Arsenal, Greenway, Peabody and Perry in the Pittsburgh Public Schools, now living in The Villages, Florida

Knoxville

if nothing else everybody remembers mr (hack) wilson, mr young & mr laudise (rocky)

also i remember the following teachers: mrs mcnam, miss quigg, mr. hickman, mr dotts & mrs fox.

coach evans & coach bassett. it was a nice school & great neighborhood.

In your list of schools that are closing, you name "Knoxville." Do you mean Knoxville Junior High School, in the 300 block of Charles Street, once the "Jewel In the Crown" of city schools? (This is the location of the now-closed Knoxville Middle School.)

If so, that is the school that was built to attract Knoxville Borough to become part of the City of Pittsburgh in the 1920s. At that time, Knoxville Borough was such a flourishing community, the city wanted it as part of its tax base. So, the funds to build a school were offered.

And not just any old school. This one would be built of _white_ brick (a great luxury at the time); it would have...a swimming pool! and its interior walls would be faced with _pink_marble_.

The borough burgesses, and the Knoxville Land Company, which had built Knoxville on what was once the 100-acre Rev. Jeremiah Knox Farm, could not resist. And so the school was built -- on the most beautiful, desirable piece of property in the community. This was the former site of the Knox homestead, where the Knox family who owned the farm lived, and who were succeeded in residence there by the Grimes family (after whom Grimes Avenue was named).

It was a lovely, 19th century home, and every year at Christmas there was an open house celebration to which the community was invited. During the warmer months, community residents were invited to play tennis on the lawn near the house.

Across Zara Street rose the beautiful YMCA building, with its Greek Revival porch and columns -- while indoors were game rooms, sleeping rooms for residents, a basketball court, and a swimming pool.

Across the other street -- for the Knoxville School took up an entire block -- was the Byron King School of Oratory.

And now it's over. "Our revels now are ended," as Shakespeare said. If those old burgesses, and those old gentlemen of the Knoxville Land Company who had such high hopes for their new and beautiful community, and those "old residenters" (as dwellers in Knoxville called themselves) who loved Knoxville so much, could see what Pittsburgh has allowed their beautiful home community to become, their hearts would surely break.

Even those of us who formerly lived there, who attended Knoxville Junior High School, who loved Knoxville, feel that terrible cracking, breaking, shattering feeling in our hearts as the "Jewel In The Crown" dims and darkens.

(To know more about the story of beautiful old Knoxville, check the Carnegie Library for "Knoxville Borough, A History, second edition 1995," and "Let the memories live again."

-- Jean Mackintosh Goldstrom, Hawthorne, Fla.

Milliones
I graduated from Herron Hill June of 1960 and want to take this time to thank several teachers who taught me that learning is the best thing you can do for yourself.

Mr. Johnson my science teacher; Mr. Watkin my homeroom and math teacher I think; Mr. Paris the sharpest dressing and coolest man in Herron Hill; Ms. Evan I sew very well thanks to her (I did not win the Crisco award that honor when to my classmate Janice Graves).

And to the cafeteria staff thank you for such wonderful home cooked meals. I will always remember Turkey Day; turkey over biscuit or mashed potatoes. Lunch tickets were ten and eight. I spent thirty-eight cents per day; three hot plates usually rolls; main course and dessert and eight cents for a drink. They were the best meals all home cooked food and rarely did we have food fights like today. I am retired now and substitute teach in Prince George's County, Maryland and what a mess. There is no home cooked food; the food pre-packaged and very little variety; the cafeteria is over-crowded.

-- Ann Bernadette Hilton, The Hill

Morningside
I went all the way through. I had to stay in kindergarten an extra year as the school had ended mid-year graduations and I didn't make the age cut-off. I remember the teachers always seemed ancient to me. But best of all I remember the air-raid drills. The students had to go to the basement, sit on the floor and face the lockers. I wonder how much safety there would be in this during the Cold War. One time I especially remember, was when we had a substitute teacher and an air-raid alarm was sounded. We joked and told her it was a fire-drill. There we went right in front of the Civil Defense wardens outside to the playground single file. Then we were raced back inside. I am sure were written up on that.

-- Howard Borovetz, Philadelphia

Reizenstein
I graduated from Reizenstein in 1984. I had a couple of excellent English teachers ?Ms. Klimasara, who went on to become principal, K. Betty Blake Qualls, who liked to say, "E.T. is calling home" whenever anybody goofed off, and Dan Wise. I went on to get a graduate degree in creative writing and am now an English professor in Boston at the New England Institute of Art.

Reizenstein was a tough place to go to school, but one with a lot of spirit. My friends and I used to get beat up occasionally, but there were good teachers who took their work seriously. I remember the OVT teachers Mr. Debolt and Mr. Gurgley breaking up fights in a playful manner and kids duking it out with protective goggles on. I also remember what a great voice Billy Porter had in the school musicals. Many of my friends had attended East Hills Elementary School -- kids from East Hills, and also kids from Squirrel Hill and Point Breeze who had been bused in. At Reizenstein, you stayed friendly with the kids from your feeder high school. The year I graduated from East Hills there had only been one or two fights, so Reizenstein was an adjustment. When I hear about how bad Reizenstein got, I wonder if it had really gotten so bad. Maybe parents had become more influenced by Yuppie ideas of class and become over-weaning. Sometimes life there was harsh; but sometimes life is harsh. I'm glad I went to Reizenstein. I was really happy when I heard Ms. K. had become principal. She was such a good, stern and fair teacher.

-- David Blair, Medford, MA

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Our request triggered the memories of others who have seen their schools close in past years.

Here are some of their recollections:

Gladstone, Pittsburgh

The memory that has stayed in my mind of my years at Gladstone Jr. High is of the day that I saw (student crossing guard) John Minadeo give his life for other students as he pushed them aside as the car came out of control into the crowd. There was hardly standing room at his funeral as we all came to remember him. I was so glad when a school was named in his honor.

-- Nancy Stonick Reid of Beverly Hills, Mich.

Dormont schools

Imagine my dismay when, fifty years after leaving Pittsburgh, I went back to see Kelton Elementary School and Dormont High and found them gone. I remember Miss Ross, the Kelton principal, with her severe grey bun, standing at the head of the entry stairs every morning to make sure no one came in chewing gum or wearing skirts too short -- when we were on our knees, the skirt had to touch the floor. One morning my sister Carol Ann, who hated eggs, still had some in her jaw when she reached Miss Ross' inspection, and had to spit them out before entering school. I remember there was a glitch in the paint on the inside stairs that looked like a map of Africa. Miss Wilson played the piano accompanying our singing, and when she played records of famous symphonies, we had to identify the symphony and composer. We also had to memorize a poem a week and recite it in front of the class. When "A Tale of Two Cities" was assigned, I was so mesmerized I read it in a couple of nights with a flashlight under the bedcovers.

Miss Smitten was a tall, rangy woman who got her point across with loud volume and severe threats -- by the time I reached sixth grade and could go upstairs to classes, I was scared to death of her. She really was a gentle soul who didn't want the class to get away from her, and used what was then a newfangled device, the tape recorder, to have us record "A Christmas Carol" done as a play. I was the Spirit of Christmas Present.

We were taken on field trips to the Sealtest Dairy to watch them make ice cream, to the Clark factory where we watched huge swathes of chewing gum cut off the roller and thrown on the floor -- torture in those days to see good gum go to waste. We had lunch at the Heinz plant and ate canned spaghetti and dill pickles, did plain aire art while sitting outside, studied geology by observing the rocks we found on the ballfield, and tortured the teachers by taking our lunch to school on rainy days ; one of them would have to monitor us and couldn't join the other teachers at lunch.

At Dormont High, the Musicale was the highlight of spring, and our glee club was the best in town. The "Varieties" was so popular and well-done, people came from all over Pittsburgh and it was sold out. We made gigantic scenery to befit each year's theme, and half the school was in on the show.

When music and art and science are given short shrift in schools, I recall the incredible grounding we got in the basics, along with Latin. After I moved to Seattle for my junior and senior years of high school, I only needed one credit to graduate in my senior year -- I'd already taken the required subjects at Dormont High. ( I remember Mr. Mann, who taught algebra and geometry, and trying to get him off the subject and talking about World War II. ) Some of my best years were lived in Pittsburgh, and in the last year, I've reconnected with an old friend I hadn't seen since we danced at the Dormont Rec Center at the pool. It was a different world then, and I feel sorry that the current crop of students can't relive that time, when coke was a nickle, the Harris Theatre was a quarter, and we went roller skating in Beechview and looked at the Christmas displays in Kaufmann's downtown window. When Horne's Department Store was on West Liberty Avenue and my aunt Ann sold women's stockings and garter belts in lingerie. When we rode the streetcar downtown and went to Kennywood Park in the summer, to South Park to ride horses and have picnics, to Highland Park Zoo to see the exotic creatures, and Carnegie Hall to listen to the Pittsburgh Orchestra play "Peter and the Wolf" at Thanksgiving. Taking the entire school to view "The Diary of Anne Frank."

I miss it, I loved it, and I remember it still.

-- Sue LeMontre (nee Sue Eaton) of San Diego, Calif.