Two kindergarten teachers at Cedar Hill Elementary School have worked at the school for much of its existence, but it is present relationships that get them to stay.
Cedar Hill celebrated its 50th anniversary Saturday with food, fun, memorabilia and tours of the school.
Amy Dutcher has worked at Cedar Hill for 25 years - starting as an aide in the learning disability room and then teaching kindergarten, third grade, fourth grade and then back to kindergarten.
"We're both 50," Dutcher said Friday. She, like the school where she teaches, was born in 1969.
She loves that she's been at Cedar Hill half the time it's existed, but "the reason I stay here is because of the families."
She's taught children of students she once taught, and said she always sends high school graduation cards to all of her former students - even the ones outside of the Jefferson City School District, if she can.
Dutcher said students last week celebrated the anniversary with themed dress days for socks, hats, tie-die, 1950s costumes and school spirit - along with having a float in Jefferson City High School's homecoming parade.
Fellow Cedar Hill kindergarten teacher Jessica Long was on that float with one of her children.
Long has taught at Cedar Hill for 12 years, 11 of which have been teaching kindergarten.
She considers her room to belong to Jamie Proctor - her kindergarten teacher who taught in it - but having been at Cedar Hill for about a quarter of the time it's been there, Long does say, "I'm rooted in the tradition."
"It means tradition. I think back of when my family went here," Long said of what the 50th anniversary means to her, along with the friends she made, changes to the building over the years and the thousands of people in the community who've been involved with the school.
"I think it's great to just reminisce and remember," Dutcher said
"It's important because it keeps traditions alive. It boosts morale" and focuses attention on the good things offered at Cedar Hill, Long said of the anniversary celebration.
"The reason why I like it (at Cedar Hill) is because it's like home to me," she said.
She spends more of her waking time at Cedar Hill than she does at home, so "You should love wherever you're going every day."
Long said the school does have a time capsule buried in the ground, maybe out under a grassy hill, and though she doubted it would ever be dug up, "that would be something really cool to find."