In 1928, the stock market was about to tumble. Prohibition, flop houses and gin mills were the rage. Calvin Coolidge occupied the White House. Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig dominated baseball with the Yankees.
And a new school opened on 83rd Street in North Bergen named after the forefather of public education – Horace Mann.
Seventy-five years later, the public Horace Mann School remains a centerpiece in the township’s educational process, serving as the home to nearly 1,300 elementary school students.
Last week, as the school year ended, Horace Mann School celebrated its 75th anniversary in grand fashion by turning back the clocks, a throw-back to the era when the school first opened.
As a way to close out another stellar school year, Horace Mann teachers and administrators put on a classic ensemble, featuring magic acts, musicians and costumes of the “Roaring Twenties.”
The women wore “Flapper” dresses; the men wore knickers.
The idea for a grand celebration was all the work of fourth grade teacher Charlotte Benson, who was the perfect person to coordinate the festivities.
You see, Benson has spent most of her life at Horace Mann. She was a student there in the 1940s, then returned to the school to teach upon graduating from Jersey City State College. All totaled, Benson has been a part of the school for 50 years – the last 42 as a teacher.
“I’ve been walking through the front doors of the school for 50 years,” Benson said. “When [Principal] Jorge [Prado] decided he wanted to do something special for the 75th anniversary, he asked, ‘Who wants to coordinate this?’ It was natural that I do it, because I’ve spent my fair share of time here.”
Songs from the era
Benson put together the assembly, which featured a little bit of everything from the era.
It started with a historical perspective of Horace Mann himself, the lawyer, statesman and educator from Massachusetts who fought for the right to have free public education.
“It was important for people to know about Horace Mann,” Benson said. “It was important to feature some of the history involved.”
After the historical perspective on Mann, there was a musical assembly.
“We tried to make it like a vaudeville show,” Benson said. “We had songs and music from the era. Girls in flappers’ dresses were doing the Charleston. It was a lot of fun, but there was learning involved as well.”
All of the school’s grades participated in the show, with more than 400 of the school’s 1,300 students taking part. Benson coordinated the efforts, along with fellow teachers Maria Maimone and Helen Primavera.
“We were a committee of three and we divided the work up well,” Benson said. “We also found slides to show that best described the era.”
Of course, the show meant a lot to Benson personally.
“People actually asked me if I go all the way back to 1928,” Benson said. “I might be here a long time, but I’m not that old. However, it seems like yesterday when I started here as a teacher. It makes me take the time to reflect on all the memories, all the people. It really was a step back in time.”
Benson even took the time to write new lyrics for “This Land is Your Land,” calling the song, “This School is Your School.” It went, “It’s been here from the Roaring ’20s, atop the hill it rises, all to see its beauty.”
Danny Alvarez was one of the students who sang the song.
“It was a lot of fun to sing,” Alvarez said. “It was a good feeling to be involved. I actually had no idea that the school was around for 75 years, but I was glad to be a part of the show.”
Alvarez said that the highlight of the show was when the entire student body sang, “God Bless the USA.”
“I’m proud to be an American,” Alvarez said. “That meant a lot to me. I’m proud of my country and proud of my school. It was a good feeling to sing that.”
Prado was especially proud of the assembly and the hard work of the student body and faculty.
“This truly was a special one for us,” Prado said. “It was really great. Charlotte was the best person to handle this day and it turned out to go beyond our wildest expectations. We wanted the students to learn about Horace Mann, the school, the time period. And we had the students and the faculty all dressed up in the clothes of the era. It really was something.”
Added Prado, “It was the culmination of an incredible year for us, a great way to close out the year. The kids learned a lot. An event like this does a lot for school spirit. We’re ending the year on a positive note. They learned about Horace Mann, they learned about the time period, and had a ball doing it.”
Benson had a great time putting together the show, but she’s a little disappointed that she didn’t receive a phone call.
“I wanted it to go to Broadway,” Benson said. “No one has called yet. If anyone has any contacts to Broadway, then they can let me know.”
It’s not known if Andrew Lloyd Webber will be contacting Benson soon, but she can rest assured that the tribute to where she has spent 50 years of her life turned out to be a smashing success.
“A big smash,” Benson said. “Let’s call it that.”