THE 60th celebration of the Reekara school site and its 25th anniversary as a community centre attracted a large crowd over the weekend – a proud moment for retired teacher and the Lions project driver Linda Payne and all those involved in saving the school building from deterioration and demolition.
“Over the 200 years, there have been 11-12 schools on the island, starting with the lighthouse keepers who taught their children at home,” Ms Payne recounted
“Over time, there were one-room schools out in the country areas and later more substantial schools were built. The Currie school used to be on Fraser Road and moved. It has been on the same Currie site for 100 years. Jenny Marshall has written a book that is about the King Island schools.”
Decommissioned and closed by the education department, the Reekara school sat waiting to deteriorate, until Ms Payne decided 25 years ago that the school needed saving.
“I’d seen too many old schools on the island fall to bits. We needed to keep this building on the north end of the island,” she said.
The school was built on the boggiest site on King Island, with no insulation and no waterproofing and about eight years into the restoration, the King Island Lions Club agreed to take over the project and had to find between $100,000 and $250,000 for repairs and building works.
“But it was worth it. Seeing all the people here today and all the groups that use the school, it’s been well worth the effort of writing grants and finding the money,” Ms. Payne said.
Around 200 visitors attended the anniversary fair, which included food vans and stalls.
Children had pony rides, putt-putt golf and games and were able to run riot around the grounds where the older residents, and visitors who returned for the event, played as Reekara students.
Alumnists Tom Shaw and Andrew Bowden started at Reekara in kinder together in the 1980s and went through to Grade 6.
Watching the kids running around they talked about the rough games they played like British Bulldogs. “It was banned when a few got hurt, but we just changed the name to Aussie Dinko and kept playing,” they said laughing. There were about 36 students during their time and by the time their siblings started the number had dropped to 20.
Jenny Payne started in 1963 when the Reekara school opened, along with 69 other enrolled students. She still has vivid memories of the smell of the dry tea tree and of building cubbyhouses in the back lane. After spending many years in Argentina and returning to King Island Jenny Payne said she’s glad it was preserved.
“I’m really proud that my school, our school, is still vibrant and still has a place in the community.”