FREDERICKTOWN — A little bit of history went on the auction block Saturday when the Fredericktown Local Schools sold off some surplus equipment and furnishings. Anything that one can imagine in a school was up for sale. Wooden desks were some of the vintage articles up for grabs, and televisions and electronic equipment were some of the more modern items sold as auctioneer Larry Moore and his associates kept things moving through two separate sales rings.
High school principal Gary Chapman said preparing for the sale was no easy feat. Ever since graduation, he said, teachers and administrators had been sorting through materials. Each building had items, equipment and furniture that was slated for sale, storage or relocation to another room.
“It’s been quite an ordeal,” Chapman said.
Dan Humphrey, superintendent, said the number of things available for the auction was amazing.
“The old buildings have a lot of nooks and crannies that we were aware of,” he said, “but we didn’t realize how crammed full they were.”
He said eight custodians and six student workers worked hard to meet the sale deadline. Items had to be moved out of existing rooms in the intermediate building and high school; some were moved into the appropriate new rooms, some moved into the primary commons area and still others went to the sale site. Even sale items had to be sorted. Some went to the playground and some to the inside location.
“Our custodians have done a wonderful job,” Chapman said. “We’ve been under time pressure, and they have been fantastic.
“It’ s been kind of bittersweet seeing some of the older items go,” Chapman continued, “but it’s been kind of exciting, too — the anticipation of moving into a new building and the change, the transformation of the district that is taking place.”
Humphrey said the money from the sale will go into the permanent improvement fund, which pays for things like buses, computers and textbooks.
