Franklin Kids Poem by Doug Gunderson

Both my kids are Franklin kids
And that they’ll always be
Even though he’s twenty six
And she’s almost thirty.
Franklin’s where they started school,
And learned to read and write,
Learned how to make a friend
And how to avoid a fight.
And now the school is coming down.
Those bricks are everywhere,
And memories come rushing back
Released to the open air.
Amie’s wide and toothless grin
On the way to the first grade,
Jeremy gleaming with the pride
From the artwork that he made.
Helping them with homework,
Or watching the whole class sing,
Joining them for a school lunch
Or just hearing that bell ring.
We live just a block away
Franklin always was in view.
Soon it too will be a memory
As they build up something new.
This richly diverse neighborhood
That sent its children there
Watched how our kids all got along
And how they learned to share.
White kids, Asians, mixed race and black
That mattered not at all.
For they all became Franklin kids
When they stepped into the halls.
I hope the new school has the chance
To do what the old one did.
Hear the echoes of adults
Saying “I am a Franklin Kid”.