NEENAH (NBC 26) — Packing Day in the Neenah Joint School District is all about filling boxes when teachers have finished the majority of their lesson plans.
However, on Friday, the NJSD Packing Day was larger than usual.
"I don't think the district anticipated quite how many boxes we were gonna have," said Erica Cates. "That's OK."
Cates has worked at Alliance Charter School in Neenah for 13 years. But it's come time for her to wrap up her career's worth of supplies ahead of a very big move.
"Just this morning I packed 32," Cates said. "Just this morning."
There is a grand reshuffling within the district in the upcoming school year. Some buildings are closing, while others are set to open their doors for the first time.
But because teachers need their materials until students head out for the summer, the heavy-duty packing couldn't start early.
"Today is really the first day that we are like seriously packing packing, because we can finally pull the materials off the shelf and put them in boxes," Cates said.
NJSD Communications Director Jim Strick said that a neat side effect of the large undertaking was poignant moments of discovery throughout the day. Decades of history were unearthed in all the packing.
"One of the fun things is they've been finding all kinds of treasures and, you know, unusual things… like a shark," Strick said, turning to point to a teacher baring a cardboard cutout of the carnivorous fish.
Shattuck Middle School 7th grade science teacher Chris Jones said he found a lot of odds and ends as well.
"There were a lot of science equipment from prior to the time I was here, so, definitely pre-2000s. And everything from Bunsen burners to glassware that's been here a long time," Jones said.
After eighteen years with Shattuck, Jones said leaving isn't easy.
"Kind of a sentimental day today; obviously a lot of memories here at Shattuck," Jones said.
Shattuck Middle is one of the schools in the district that is closing and will be sold. No sale has been finalized yet, so its exact future remains uncertain.
