1996: Jim Mathiott on Ohlone at 20
May 14, 1996
Dear Ohlone Friends,
How dearly Janet and I wish we could be with you for the Ohlone Twentieth Anniversary as part of the annual Spring Picnic. We will be in Olympia, Washington, attending Janet's high school reunion and also visiting our older daughter and her family, including our three grandsons.
We would like to be with you for many reasons:
because Ohlone people--parents, staff, and children are so much fun to be with, especially at spring picnics
because the activities sound like such fun
because the food will be great!
because returning to Ohlone always brings back happy memories of the 18 years when I was privileged to work at Ohlone.
I mentioned memories. Perhaps the most massive memory was the designing and construction of the first wooden playground structure. Ohlone's structure was the first for Palo Alto schools, and it lead to many others throughout the district. And it provided hours and years of fun for children of many ages. It was always interesting to drive by on a weekends or during a vacation period and to see children, teenagers, and even adults enjoying the slides, the rings, the cargo net. And oh yes, a lot of dogs, cats, rabbits and other pets have experienced the playground structure. When the school moved from East Charleston to Amarillo, the structure was sawed off at the ground level, and remounted on the new playground.
I also remember the night the staff and I went to the School Board to ask that a minimum amount of funding (I think it was about $3000) be budgeted for staff development in something called "open education" a new (at that time) approach to individualizing education and encouraging teachers and classes work on projects and activities such as gardens--an idea which literally grew into the Ohlone Farm. So many of the ideas which today are commonly accepted as sound practices in elementary education came from the three years of learning together about open education.
You mentioned creating memory book, and so am enclosing a short description of how Ohlone got its name, for the book.
Have a wonderful picnic and anniversary celebration. Wish we could be with you!
Jim Mathiott