When Lettie Smith started as Basin School custodian in the spring of 2022, she was immediately entranced by the history of the building, wishing the walls could talk, wishing she could hear those conversations shared by the students who first walked its hallways.
Soon enough Smith would find out, but it wouldn’t be the walls that told her – it’d be the attic.
“The top floor was filled to the ceiling with stuff,” she said. And it was her job to start the summer-long process of cleaning the space out.
Some may consider this a daunting task, but not Smith.
“It was really fun exploring the past,” she said, “and there was a lot of past to explore. It’s 127 years old. Some say it’s the oldest running school in the state.”
Decluttering the attic led to many discoveries for Smith: old historical maps of the nation and the world, a planetarium, a framed constitution, a dictionary, hymnals, bells and an old Montana flag, most of which date back before World War II. The maps, Smith said, even further back to 1885.
Some of the school photos – findings Smith considers a highlight – are more than 100 years old.
“Here’s a photo dated back to 1908,” she said, lifting a class photo taken by the Basin School’s front doors. “It says here on the back of the photo that ‘third row from the right is Isabell Lowry, and leaning by the post is Ned Lowry.’”
Along with the many artifacts, Smith also found a connection to her father, who was a custodian in her hometown of Cedar City, Utah. In 2019, the same year Smith’s son enrolled at Basin School, her father passed away. Finding herself taking on a similar role to her dad, Smith felt a kinship, a closeness.
“It’s kind of funny how you go back to your roots,” she said.
This healing journey also brought Smith closer to her mom. When not doing the cleaning at the school, Smith runs to Boulder Elementary and picks up the food for the Basin students, a role that her mother – who turned 80 in March – can certainly relate to, as she spent many years working in a school cafeteria.
As a mother herself, Lettie said she’s also found a lot of joy working at the school with her daughter Makya, who assisted in the classrooms as a paraprofessional. It meant a lot for Lettie to work with her daughter in this capacity, to share their skills and help students have a meaningful experience at the school. This is another reason, Lettie said, that Basin School has become such a special place for her.
Whether working with students such as Landyn Wilkerson (who helped her discover some of the old photos), her daughter or working in solitary, each day at Basin School brings something magical, Smith said, especially considering the work she’s doing follows in her parents’ footsteps. Finding so many heirlooms, she said, only enhances her positive experience at Basin School. Bringing the school back to life, uncovering yester–year has awakened old spirits, Smith said, ones that bring her comfort, and it is her hope others at the school – students and faculty alike – feel the same.
