Reflections from the Heart of a Small Community

What will you remember about your school once you have left it?

In the spring of 1999, Maple Falls Grade School in Washington closed. Nicholas Jacoby and other children in the area would attend the newly constructed Kendall Elementary School. But Nicholas's mom didn't want him to forget about the old Maple Falls Grade School, so she made him a "memory book." 

As it turned out, it became a memory book for the whole community. With the help of her friends, Mrs. Jacoby published Reflections from the Heart of a Small Community: Mount Baker Foothills and Maple Falls Schools 1889-1999. The book included photos, stories, and memories of community members.

Nicholas's great-grandfather, Galen Biery, also helped create the memory book. Even though he died before the book was produced, the photographs that Biery collected were the inspiration for the book. He began collecting old photographs of the area in the 1940s and he interviewed people about life in the town. When he died in 1994, his family donated his collection of more than 35,000 images to the Whatcom Museum of History and Art.

Why not make a "memory book" of your school? Ask your teacher for help.

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