Three Generations Say Farewell to Gunther

Jacob Gunther Elementary School, will close its doors in June after serving as an educational facility in North Bellmore for 55 years. These are the stories of people who hold Gunther dear to their hearts.

Carol Conza attended Jacob Gunther Elementary School with her siblings and years later her children went. She is saddened that her granddaughter, Anna, a first grader at Gunther, won't be able to do what generations of her family has done--graduate from the school.

Gunther will close its doors this month, ending a long-standing tradition in Conza's family.

"It's heartbreaking and I would have loved to see my granddaughter graduate from Gunther," she said. "Everyone in the family graduated from the school."

Corinne Kudel, Conza's daughter and Anna's mother, completed Gunther in 1991.

"It's really disappointing," she said. "It's a home to these kids and now they are being separated. It is disappointing that they won't finish where they started."

Conza remembered watching the school being built when she was a little girl.

"I was about three or four and I watched the school go up and I saw the trees go down," she said. "It was literally in my backyard."

Conza and Kudel said that they had wonderful memories at the school.

"I remember playing on the playground and during the summer we would go the school and make straw baskets and crafts," Conza said.

"I loved the sixth grade weeklong trip to Huguenot, NY," Kudel said. "It was great spending the whole week with my teachers and friends."

While reminiscing about the school she adores, Conza started to cry.

"To know that it is closing is very upsetting," she said. "It has always been a part of my life."