Dear Old Pierson High School

I imagine that we each have our own Pierson High School stories - and no two would be exactly the same - but there was, and still is, something special in those hallowed halls that holds fast in our hearts and remains a part of us to this day.

It was a pinnacle time in our young lives, preparing us to be good citizens and go out into the world knowing how to diagram sentences and name the elements on the periodic table. It took a long time for me to understand that education was a gift rather than a chore - that I was there to gain knowledge, fortify my own reserves, and walk into a brighter future - not merely pass the next test and shore up my report card. Education felt like a have-to rather than a want-to, something imposed rather than bestowed.

Back in the 1960s and 70s, we lived through Pierson prior to its renovation. We stood over clanking cast-iron radiators with gloves on, trying to stay warm; ran down rusty fire escapes during fire drills; and watched paint chips from the old gym ceiling fall onto our hamburger buns during school picnics. Food offerings were exclusively five-cent half-pints of milk, and brown-bag lunches were eaten at tables rolled out onto the Old Gym floor.

The slate stairs were smoothed and timeworn by generations of students before us, and the passing bell led us up and down the aging steps in droves to our next class. Passing by the large first-floor bathrooms, wafts of cigarette smoke billowed out each time the door was opened. Funny, when I think back, that bathroom offered a genuine sense of peace in the midst of daily high school angst and challenges.

Once housing all grades from kindergarten through twelfth, the original building was constructed in 1908 from a gift of $102,000 donated by philanthropist Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage and remains the heart of the Pierson Middle School–High School complex. I often wonder what the world would be like if everyone with the means were so kind and generous.

The Class of 1976 started kindergarten in that very building, attending morning and afternoon sessions with the lovely Mrs. Edwards at the helm. She welcomed us to our first formal educational experience. We moved directly from mud pies and afternoon naps at home to the first-floor corner classroom at Pierson, learning to twirl a baton and play the triangle for our unforgettable, show-stopping kindergarten graduation.

In 1967, the New Gym was built and brought the community together on old wooden bleachers, stamping and cheering for our basketball teams - “We’re the Whalers! We’re the best!” That building housed all happenings where two or more were gathered: rainy graduations, athletic events, awards ceremonies, concerts, and plays. It became the heart center of both Pierson and the village, and I think if we all close our eyes for a moment, we can remember exactly what it felt like to be there.

Some of the finest productions of the Pierson Harlequins took place in that gym under the direction of Mr. Al Heckert, whose artistic soul brought such life and love to Pierson. Our musicals and senior plays were some of the highlight of the school year, with tryouts for much-coveted leading roles and daily rehearsals that led deep into the night - costumes, sets, and creativity that captivated our young hearts. The New Gym building also housed the band room, where sound bounced off the steel-beamed structure as we learned our scales and fingerings and prepared to march down Main Street in parades wearing our white pants and red captain’s jackets.

Sports captured the spirit of the school - especially basketball - its energy carried us through the long winter months as the gym filled for weekly games against neighboring rivals. Yet our plays, choruses, marching band, and art shows also expanded our minds and nourished our souls. It was a school that, at its best, encouraged us to move forward and stretch our dreams.

The campus was open, and even as elementary school children we could walk off in any direction at lunchtime. My friend and I often sat on the split-rail fence across from the school to visit Mary, our crossing guard, and eat our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. My mother packed an extra snack for Mary each day, and she in turn gave us My Mary Makeup Kits for Christmas. During many of our elementary years, the campus emptied at lunchtime and we all went home for the hour. Hard to imagine that in this day and age. Today you would most likely need a note and special permission.

Until the late 1960s, girls were required to wear dresses or skirts to school. No pants were allowed. Even in snowstorms, dresses were the expectation, carefully tucked beneath our snow pants.

As the student body and school offerings increased our class was moved into the relocatables in 5th grade and in 6th grade we were the first to move into the Sacred Heart Academy once it was purchased from the church and prior to its renaming to Sag Harbor Elementary School. Artifacts from the prior occupants were strewn about the building-with dorm rooms and showers upstairs – religious statues and books and remnants of the past in boxes here and there and a once working kitchen and cafeteria downstairs.

This summer the class of 1976 celebrates fifty years since we walked down Pierson hill and into our future. The class of ’76 celebrated the bicentennial and handed out 76 diplomas-75 for our classmates and a special diploma for Miss Gregory - our memorable English teacher - as that was the year she retired.

It is humbling to feel the weight of those years upon my shoulders and to realize how quickly they have passed. Yet more than anything, I am grateful -to still be here, to reminisce, and to never forget the time we shared in…’ our dear old Pierson High School’.