Pickett Elementary collecting memorabilia

Pickett Elementary (Photo courtesy SJSD)

Pickett Elementary is setting up a display case this weekend and asking the public for any memorabilia connected to the school or its history.

John Davison, Pickett’s Principal said when he and his wife were antique shopping they thought it would be a neat idea to collect items from students who attended Pickett in the past and display the items at the school.

“I feel like Pickett Elementary is rooted in tradition in this community and we would love to honor and display its history and help our students feel like they are part of something very special,” Davison said.

Items he’s searching for include things like banners, pictures, pins, report cards, etc.

“Anything they have kept in boxes that they would like displayed.” Davison said. “We’re taking all of these whether they want to donate them to us or I will simply display them and if they want to come back and get them at any time they are perfectly welcome to do it. We just really want to display the rich history that we have here.”

Original Pickett from the Public Schools of St. Joseph, Missouri: A Chronological History, by John Foley, Beery Johnson and Don Lentz. The photo was supplied for the book by Tom Corcoran, from the 1953 Annual. (Courtesy SJSD)

Donations have already been coming in. This weekend Davison said he plans to start putting some of the items up on display.

“I’m just going to continue to add pieces together until December and then I want to have a dedication in January,” Davison said.

Pickett has a lot of history behind it. The St. Joseph School District said the original Pickett School was located at 3923 Pickett road, across the street and to the south of the current school. This school housed first through twelfth grade, and burned down in 1953. Despite Pickett belonging to the county, students were temporarily housed in the old Hosea school building, which was set to be demolished, and high school students were bussed to Central High School.

Today’s Pickett Elementary School was built in 1955 as part of the county school system, and was enlarged in 1958. At one point, enrollment was as high as 680 students. When the county school organization was dissolved in 1965, the St. Joseph School District took over Pickett and began building Skaith to handle overcrowding in the school and prepare for rapid growth in the Deer Park area.

Memorabilia is being accepted through December. Davison said anyone wanting to donate can contact the school at (816) 671-4330 or e-mail him at [email protected]. Donors can also bring items to the school.