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DENVER (AP) — Like many in the rural towns of eastern Colorado, people in Karval have seen their friends, neighbors and family members move away, leaving empty store fronts and vacant lots. There is no diner, no gas station, no traffic.
Just a handful of people remain in Karval, and most live on farms and ranches spread through Lincoln County.
In shrinking towns like this, schools are the stitches that hold together the patchwork quilt of the community. The school is far more than a place where kids go to learn. It has become a community center, a place where people gather to celebrate or even mourn the loss of a neighbor.
Today, Karval School has 35 students — kindergarten through 12th grade — all under one roof in a building built in 1956. The building hasn't changed much over the decades, but for the first time since it was built, a school year ended without a graduation.
Instead, in May 2015, Nelson Taylor watched his grandkids compete in the field day activities in a gym full of families also there to watch. The crowd sat on wooden bleachers that looked like they were pulled from the set of the movie "Hoosiers," while students competed in three-legged races, sack races and other games. It was the last school event for the 2015 school year. There was no graduating senior, no class of 2015.
Taylor has lived all but two years of his 74 in Karval, reported The Denver Post (http://dpo.st/2bafbD2). Painted in the school's colors on the wall behind him reads the word "Home." Further down the wall to his right, the word "Visitors" is also painted.
"I always sit on the home side," Taylor said, joking.
These days, there aren't many visitors. It has shrunk so much that students have to drive to neighboring towns to play in activities — basketball, baseball, volleyball and football.
In 2016, five students, including one foreign-exchange student, walked down the aisle to get their diplomas.
"This is a big day for me . I didn't think I'd ever get here," said Clay Mayo, a senior who was putting on his cap and gown before walking into that same gymnasium to graduate with his four classmates in 2016.
The graduates all had different plans for their futures, but Mayo was among a small group who planned to stay. The day after graduation, he went to work on his family's ranch.
Mayo hopes someday to sit on those very bleachers and watch his own kids graduate. In 2017, only one student will be graduating.
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Information from: The Denver Post, http://www.denverpost.com
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