Then and Now!

www.GrapevineBook.com   I was showing many of the pages of the book, 'Grapevine, Aged to Perfection,' to a gentleman who grew up in Grapevine.  When he turned to the two pages of the Grapevine Elementary School classroom, he became transfixed. The 2 page spread shows a 3rd grade classroom from 1952 and a classroom of today. He wasn't in the particular 1952 photograph, but he knew most of the children who sat in Mrs. Wright's class and he began going through the photograph and pointing them out to me.
   There is a gulf between the two photographs of 60 years. Teaching is done very differently and also very much the same. The students in the Digital Classroom at Grapevine Elementary School are using computers, digital cameras and all manner of devices to do their schoolwork and learn to use today's technology.
   But nearly everyone who pages through the book stops at these two pages for a few extra moments, even if they didn't grow up here. There are several 'Then & Now' spreads in the book, but this one takes everyone back to an earlier point in their lives and causes them to ponder.  Our personal history is important to everyone of us.
   It is also important for our community to look back and to look forward. How will the photographs of today be looked on by our descendants in 60 years?  What kind of life will they be living?  What kind of community are we leaving for them and what will their values be?