Butch Asks Former Students About Their Old School

In 1988, I wrote a book about my old school, and in one chapter I included comments from former students in which they compare the old “small” schools to the larger consolidated schools today. My four kids attended Sugar Creek Elementary, an outstanding school, which they enjoyed very much. When they attended North Montgomery High School, they received a good education and were involved in many activities, but I noticed that several of their classmates seemed to become “lost” in a class size of 130 students. In my opinion, these “fringe” students would have had more success and would have liked school better if they had attended one of the old smalltown schools. Education has certainly changed in the past fifty years. Here are a few comments from former Darlington High School graduates….

“When a teacher knows every student in a small school, and has taught most of them, she is involved with them personally. She knows about their problems and can help the parents. She is a friend and a counselor.” (Sharon Hankins Lough)

“We had a small class; therefore, I got to be in sports, glee club, class plays, yearbook staff, etc. Each student had an opportunity to be in just about every activity.” (Max Lough)

“We had a special closeness and received an excellent education, with manners and a regard for others being stressed. We had role models with good values. We were taught by example.” (Kay Cox Norton)

“The big advantage of attending Darlington was the personal help you were given. You weren’t afraid to ask the second time if you didn’t understand.” (Janet Hampton McClaskey)

“I had respect for my teachers, but the respect was not only for their ability, but also because they were older and deserved my respect. This was in my upbringing. That is not the case today.” (Tom Thompson)

“It was like a big family. After all, many of us lived together for 12 years. We’d do anything to help a fellow classmate. We knew everybody’s background, brothers, sisters, parents, habits, etc.” (Diana Branstetter Binford)

“There are far too many students getting out of high school today who cannot read, cannot work common math problems, and have no basic knowledge of American history…Today it seems that big fancy buildings and activities are more important.” (Ralph Budd)

“One way that school has changed is that in my time if we got into trouble at school, we got into worse trouble at home! Now the teachers can hardly discipline the children because many parents side with the child.” (Zelah Binford Crull)

“When I went to college, I thought I would be behind other students who had graduated from larger schools. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that my background education was as good, or even better, than the majority of my classmates.” (Rosalie Mennen Carter)

“We had a minister every Friday morning, alternating from the churches in town, to conduct a 20-minute service for grades 7 through 12.” (Ralph Maxwell)

“I will always remember going to Darlington School as the best years of our lives…We didn’t have anything, and thought we had everything. The kids today have everything and think they don’t have anything!”

And this from two of Darlington’s greatest teachers, Ramona Ainsworth…”I am sorry to see the community lose the school, which I view as the heart of the community.”…and Lucille Cox…”I will always remember my teaching at Darlington, and I treasure all the memories of my children I’ve had in the classroom. I feel like a grandmother to all of the school…the school that I love.”

When all of the little schools in Montgomery County closed, it was a sad time for those of us who attended those schools. Time marches on. Change happens. But as former student Jim Shelton stated, “The good days, the friends, the tears, the laughs…are all remembered.” Yes, Jim…I agree. I feel very fortunate to have attended “little” Darlington High School.

John “Butch” Dale is a retired teacher and County Sheriff. He has also been the librarian at Darlington the past 32 years, and is a well-known artist and author of local history.