It’s 1963, Michael Jackson is only 6 and going to the Garnett Elementary School only 2 blocks away from his Gary home in Indiana.
The same school where he sang for the first time in public for the school talent show by performing “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” from the Sound of Music musical.
One of the rare school where Michael Jackson was just a kid but soon, his talent will be noticed and he will soon being doing schooling on the road with his brothers.
It’s 2020, The Garrett Elementary School still stands but abandoned, dilapidated, vandalized and emptied.
The school is today still standing at 2131 Jackson Street just a 5 minutes walk from 2300 Jackson Street where stand Michael Jackson’s childhood home.
In 2009, one of Michael’s teacher at the Garnett Elementary School, Felecia Childress recalled:
“I think I remember his eyes because he was so happy and he was almost bouncing around the room…and I remember Michael was the center of a lot of attention,”
“Michael had this stammer, but when he sang he would not miss a note and his pitch was perfect. He must have had an excellent ear because his little voice was just right on tune and everything you know and he was happy,”
“My heart ached for him because I remember the joy that he had mixing with his little friends, but it was so short lived. He didn’t have time to be a child. H e just had to leave all of that behind and go to the serious part of life. And, that bothered me because I felt you know that’s the way you learn so much about your relationships; is how you play.”
While the King of Pop did not stay long in the school, it is still sad to such HIStorical buildings disappearing.
[…] and the financial state of the town, Gary is in a very bad shape! Last week, we reported that Michael’s Elementary school was left in despair and this is the case for many other buildings in the city. Not to mention that reports show that […]