Triangle Elementary gets a face lift

"Fantastic" is the best way to describe Triangle Elementary School's ribbon cutting ceremony and tour that were held recently.

A throng of 500 excited parents, children, former Triangle students, administrators and elementary school principals from across the county filled the school's gymnasium and two overflow rooms.

Eager families began arriving well before 5 p.m. for the program which was scheduled to start at 6 p.m., many anticipating their first close look at the new building, that replaced a structure built in 1959.

The ceremony inside held after the ribbon cutting was part nostalgia, as speakers and a creative video touched on milestones in the school's history.

Among the many officials and former principals in attendance, one in particular stole the hearts of the crowd, Oless Gherke, the school's first principal.

Covington also introduced Gherke's wife, who was a teacher at Kilby Elementary when Covington was principal at that school. Covington recounted the history of Triangle Elementary's renovations and the unanimous vote of the school board to approve the construction of the new school.

Former Triangle principals Wayne Ralston and Carolyn Haley were also introduced.

Those most excited were the children who had already spent the entire day performing on stage under the direction of music teacher Alicia Boniakowski.

The Potomac High School Navy JROTC Color Guard opened the ceremony. Superintendent Steven L. Walts and School Board Chairman at large Milton C. Johns gave congratulatory remarks.

Collin Davenport, aide to Rep. Gerald E. Connolly, D-11, presented Marinoble a flag that was flown over the U.S. Capitol. Former state Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick and County Supervisor Maureen Caddigan, R-Dumfries, gave the school the state and county flags, respectively.

Carol Phillips, a second-grade teacher whose classroom was on the tour, said the parents "absolutely loved" the school and many said they wished they were back in the second grade. They were most impressed with the Smartboard and the bathroom in the classroom. "They were in awe," Phillips said. Her students were streaming into the classroom with their parents and exclaiming, "Look, Mom, there's the Smartboard!"

Second-grade teacher Elisa Jackson, who has seen several renovations and additions over her 21 years at the school, started out teaching in a doublewide trailer before new classrooms were added. She liked the closeness and the "family feel" of the old school, but loves the new school.

Jackson told her students to "make the most of this; do your best and appreciate what you have been given."

-- Prince William County Schools