NANKIN – For kindergarteners, 100 days of school feels like an eternity. The concept of 100 years is almost unfathomable.
So when Bernice “Bunny” Wachtel came from The Good Shepherd to visit Mapleton Elementary School Tuesday, she may as well have been a celebrity.
The school’s three classes of kindergarteners gathered in Kristen Leiby’s classroom, wearing capes they had decorated to celebrate the 100th day of school.
They sat enraptured as Wachtel, who will turn 100 later this year, talked about her life.
“We are very excited and thankful for her visit,” said Leiby, who got the idea to invite Wachtel from one of the school’s cafeteria workers — who also works at The Good Shepherd.
School was very different when Wachtel was the students’ age.
“We had an old, old school with wooden floors that wouldn’t be allowed now, and an old sink that would shoot up in your face,” Wachtel said.
If kids behaved badly, they had to put their noses up against the blackboard.
The school had two outhouses rather than indoor bathrooms, so Wachtel (who will turn 100 in August) and her peers had to run outside in the cold or the rain if they needed to use the outhouse.
Wachtel talked about historical milestones she remembers, like The Great Depression and World War II, as well as about milestones in her own life, like her marriage and the birth of her kids.
Among her more recent memories, Wachtel was named the Senior Fair Queen at The Ashland County Fair in 2017.
Wachtel also shared stories and facts about Abraham Lincoln, as Lincoln’s birthday was also Tuesday. Wachtel has always enjoyed studying and talking to others about Lincoln, and she told the kids she once had 300 books about the 16th president.
