We love sharing articles about the history of Redlands...heres one about @Valley Preparatory School... Valley Preparatory School’s first secretary and founder recalls school’s early days Mary Jane Auerbacher founded the school in 1957 and Kathryb Vander Lugt was its first secretary from 1957-58. While Kathryn Vander Lugt, left, was Valley Preparatory’s first secretary and Mary Jane Auerbacher its founder, the two never worked together. By Kristina Hernandez, Redlands Daily Facts POSTED: 01/02/15 REDLANDS >> “Oh, I remember you. You look the same.” Kathryn Vander Lugt greeted Mary Jane Auerbacher inside Venezia Pizza Redlands on Friday for the first time since they were associated at Valley Preparatory School in the 1950s. Vander Lugt, 96, has lived in town for decades and served as the school’s first secretary when it opened in 1957. Auerbacher, 92, founded the school to provide students with the opportunity to be exposed to a world of language arts, history and social studies, math, science and world languages. “There was no landscaping at first, just dirt,” Vander Lugt told Auerbacher during the meeting, where the two women recalled stories of the school’s early years and their lives now. Both Vander Lugt and Auerbacher never met personally when Vander Lugt first came on board with Valley Prep in 1957. She served as the school’s first part-time secretary for one year before having to move on with another career. The school wanted a full-time secretary. Vander Lugt was only willing to work part time as she was raising a young family and learned of the open position from an advertisement published in the paper. “(The ad) was first in the Green Sheet. I know this because that is the way that our head mistress, Ms. Cross, found the school. She was looking for a picnic table in the Green Sheet and saw an ad for the school,” Auerbacher said of Vander Lugt. Vander Lugt’s job at Valley Prep was her first after her youngest was old enough to attend kindergarten. The part-time opportunity allowed her to bring in some extra cash while caring for her child after school hours. And in addition to her secretarial work with the school, the longtime Redlander also supervised its study hall. “I had this noisy, noisy typewriter ... and the kids would say they couldn’t study because of it,” she said with a chuckle. While Auerbacher founded the school, she didn’t teach at the site until years after it opened. “I wanted to be a mother to my children,” she said. Friday’s meeting happened by chance after Karen Johnson, Valley Prep’s director of admissions and school relations, met Vander Lugt at The Village at Redlands. Johnson’s daughters, Hanna and Melissa, meet with residents at The Village once a month to interact with them and learn from those who grew up in a different time when technology was just an afterthought. Vander Lugt said she had not thought of Valley Prep for decades after leaving the school until its choir came to perform at The Village. That’s when the memories started coming back and she began to interact with Johnson. “I had never met someone else who had been connected to the school before,” Johnson said. “I mean, what are the chances?” Friday’s meeting was planned for Vander Lugt and Auerbacher to connect and discuss their best memories. After lunch, the duo went back to Valley Prep to tour its grounds where they recalled more memories and shared laughs. “It’s all very different now. (Karen) had to point out the school’s first building to me,” Vander Lugt said. “My youngest daughter said she doesn’t know anybody who had the opportunity she had while attending Valley Prep,” said Auerbacher, who has only missed one Valley Prep-related activity, due to a broken hip. “What I am really so grateful for is everybody knows why Valley Prep is there.” Added Vander Lugt, “And they have the cooperation of parents.” redlandsdailyfacts/social-affairs/20150102/valley-preparatory-schools-first-secretary-and-founder-recalls-schools-early-days#at_pco=cfd-1.0
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 03:38:12 +0000
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