After the blog was posted last Friday, we spent much of the day at Gunn Junior High School Fine Arts and Dual Language Academy loading display cases that were either new or old ones that had been empty for two years. While the building was under destruction, construction, and renovation, all the plaques, national and state awards, athletic and academic trophies, and kudos were boxed up and almost forgotten. The current 8th graders had never seen any of those items, certainly not the 6th and 7th graders. The building was somewhat stark as the new school year began, but that changed Friday. 

We filled the display cases with mementos and pictures we brought from home, plus items from storage at the school to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Gunn and the recognition of its future. There were letters of recognition from state education associations, pictures that current administrators had never seen, the first school yearbook that was presented to Dad, and national acknowledgments of educational excellence. One display case bulged with trophies for cheerleading, volleyball, basketball, and football. 

Another held two plaques dear to the Gunn Family. Mom and Dad created the Gunn Gator Award for excellence and leadership in the classroom and the community. Each year they presented one to the young lady and one to the young man who best typified those traits. Mom and Dad are gone now, but they charged their children to continue the award. Over the years, we have had to add another plaque, but the two identify every award-winning young lady and young man since that special recognition began.

Last Friday we worked feverishly between scheduled lunch times for the kids, but as the display cases began to fill, the students slowed their pace to enter or exit the cafeteria. It was as if a gigantic student magnet was switched on. Kids crowded around the displays, and the “oohs” and “aahs” were joined by “wows” and “look at that!”  The history of the school touched them perhaps for the first time. Floyd Gunn touched them. 

I can still hear him say, “Welcome to the Swamp, the Home of the Gunn Gators.”