CLEARWATER, Fla. — Those first years of school were carefree and innocent.

“It always brings back fond memories," said Tom Fox, South Ward Alumni. “This was probably the best period of my life.”

"You come and you sit, and you can hear the old teachers. You can hear the kids yelling. You can just hear the squeak of the swings," said Marvin Siple, South Ward alumnus. 

For over 100 years in Pinellas County, kids filled the rooms of the South Ward School in Clearwater. It's the oldest, standing school building in the county now. 

“It’s nice that we are able to paw through these," said Fox. 

He and Siple, along with Allison Dolan and Sam McClelland, looked through old pictures of the school. Fox and Siple attended the school in the early 1960s, and their parents attended in the 1930s. 

Quickly they are laughing and searching for old friends and acquaintances. They also chat about their old memories too. 

“Without question, and we laugh about it today. In the cafeteria, at least once a week - potato turbate," said Siple. 

“Looking out the window as I got three licks, after your pants and your underpants were down. In front of the class. So now with the pain came the humiliation," said Fox. 

Fox said he is better for it today. But more than discipline or the food, these alumni remember the impact South Ward had on their lives. They both are part of the Clearwater Historical Society now, along with McClelland. 

He often does the re-enactement of Robert Whitehurst, the original owner of the land and who built the South Ward School building in the 1880s. 

“That is right here, right where we are standing right now. It was an old wooden school house," said McClelland. 

Whitehurt's dream then was to bring people to Clearwater, and a big part of that was having a school. 

“The growth in this area was dreamed of by these people," said McClelland. 

From 1906 to 2008, kids learned in the very building that still stands. As if the building just couldn't stop teaching people, it's now a museum for the Clearwater Historical Society. 

“The history of a place, is the history of it’s people. So we keep these things, these buildings, and these artifacts of people, so that we can tell their stories," said McClelland. 

"Ya need to know how much change there has been. This, looking at these things, show you how much change there has been," said Fox. 

"I can tell ya, anybody that went to this school, and could come back, will really get a grasp, a feeling through their whole body, it transports them back to that era," said David Allbritton, South Ward School Alumni.

“Everybody has got a connection, and that is key a connection to history. We connect the history, the people, and an old school," said Siple. 

September 25th is South Ward Day, and the Clearwater Historical Society is South Ward Day is celebrating and reuniting former students, teachers and administrators that either attended or went to school at South Ward.