Plains graduate is last Paradise student

High school graduation was a historical event for the 24 students who received their diplomas from Plains High School last week, but it was also a different kind of history for graduate Brenden Vanderwall.

The 17-year-old Vanderwall is the last student that left Paradise Elementary School before it closed its doors in 2013, when he was merely a first grade student. His older brother, Josiah, attended Paradise School from kindergarten to sixth grade, and older brother Conrad went through the school from kindergarten to fifth grade, but both have already graduated from Plains High School.

Chloe Youde was in Brenden's first grade class, but moved out of the area shortly before Paradise School closed, along with her brother, Caleb, a fifth-grader at the time.

Vanderwall's last teacher was Karen Willoughby, who taught at Paradise for 20 years, and said Vanderwall was a good student, a smart first-grader and always respectful. "He was a fantastic kid. His whole family was great," said Willoughby, who also taught Conrad and Josiah. Two weeks ago, she had a photograph taken with Brenden, Marcie Halden, and Kevin Meredith, both former Paradise students.

Zach Vanderwall, Brenden's father, liked that his children went to Paradise School. "We liked the small student to staff ratios, dedicated staff, high standard of values, and home cooked meals," said Zach. They lived in Paradise when their children started school, but moved to Plains before the school closed. He added that it was sad to see the end of an era.

Brenden Vanderwall doesn't have a lot of memories of his time as a kindergartner and first-grader, but he has fond memories of Willoughby, who presently teaches at Plains School as a substitute teacher. "I cared about my education enough to go the extra mile to help me understand," said Vanderwall, who routinely helped put away the risers in the Paradise School gymnasium after school events.

One of his happy memories is the playground merry-go-round, getting bubblegum tape after clearing the lunch tables, and getting picked to ring the school bell or take down the American flag. He also remembers the cafeteria's "no thank you" rule where the kids had to try at least one bite of everything, and if he or she didn't like it, they could leave the rest.

"This is historical because he's the youngest person to ever attend Paradise School. There will never again be any person who can say they were the youngest student at Paradise Elementary School," said Karval Pickering, the clerk at the school for more than 20 years. It was Pickering as chairwoman of the Paradise School Board who signed the paperwork that turned the school over to the Paradise Center. Pickering was also a student at the school from 1944 to 1952. Initially called Paradise Grade School when built in 1910, it was later changed to elementary school, said Pickering, who also noted it went from first grade to eighth grade until kindergarten was added.

"In 1964, before the state mandated kindergarten, the parents of Paradise kindergarten students paid a private person to teach the class. The school district provided the materials and space for the class," said Dave Colyer, who went to Paradise School from 1962-1970 and is now president of the Paradise Center.

Vanderwall recalls that as a first grade student he was in one of the classrooms on the first floor, which has been converted to the railroad room and the Glacial Lake Missoula. Teacher Shana Smith, who left the area, sometimes taught Vanderwall. He said he is pleased that the schoolhouse was transformed and repurposed for historical preservation and education and not left to rot away. He especially liked that they left the fire escape.