Go Westside!

I'm reading Greg Mortenson's book, Three Cups of Tea, an account of how he came to devote his life to building schools in the remote regions of Pakistan. There's a local angle in that the first check for the first school in Pakistan came from pennies collected by students from Westside Elementary School in River Falls (where Greg's mother was principal). Westside is a few blocks from the TerMaat homestead and has some Distinguished Student and Staff Alums. (Remember to click on images for a better view).

I didn't attend Westside, which wasn't built until after I was elementary age. Instead, I stood on a corner a block from the site of the future school, knocking my knobby knees together in subzero weather, waiting for the bus to take me to the illustrious Greenwood Elementary across town.

(Above) Mom compresses herself into a kid-sized desk to enjoy breakfast with Westside second graders. The date on this is unclear.

Below, Mom with Vietnamese refugees in 1983. Not sure what happened to the other two kids, but Mom had a motherly relationship with Khiem for a few years and one of these days I will dredge up a picture of Khiem visiting Deer Lake. I believe there may even be some artwork of Khiem's on a wall in our basement which may need to be scanned at some point.

Below, Pete's spelling bee triumph. As best as I can recall, the first and second place winners aren't depicted because they were actually junior high school students, making Pete's achievement especially impressive. Or maybe first and second went to the superior Greenwood team, which would not surprise me, of course. Westside does seem to have good p.r., though.




I will have to dig up a full-color slide of Peter in the glossy psychedelic shirt depicted here. (I had a similar Mom-made blouse). Gotta love those '70s!!!