TAMPA, Fla. — Administrators at one Bay area school are preserving the rich history of the community. 

Teachers at Booker T. Washington Elementary, on E. Estelle Street, are adding street signs to the decor as part of a history lesson for the students. The signs were once posted next door to the school at Tampa Park Apartments.

Many of the students who once attended the school used to live at Tampa Park Apartments. Now, the affordable housing is being torn down and replaced with a mixed use development. Many of the students have moved away.

In order to honor the past, the teachers came up with ways to incorporate the signs into important school lessons for the children who still attend Booker T. Washington Elementary.

“We wanted them to remember where they came from,” said first-grade teacher Tanelia Walton. “We wanted everyone to feel welcome still. Know that we love them, care about them and are supporting them. So we just thought, ‘Why not go ahead and teach them about our community where we currently live and work?’”

Recently, students celebrated the first sign that was unveiled at the school. That sign pays tribute to the longshoreman. The first-graders learned all about that career and why many African Americans wanted to work in that field. 

Eventually, the principal hopes to have all the Tampa Park Apartment signs posted throughout the school.