We’ve Got Spirit, Yes We Do — We’ve Got Spirit . . .

Did you know this week is dedicated to celebrating public schools? Well, if anything ever deserved a tip of the seed corn cap . . . this sure fits the bill.

Too many times we do little other than gripe and moan. Our taxes are too high. They don’t teach cursive writing anymore (yeah OK, that one bothers me a little bit too). Schools go too easy on kids these days. Kids don’t have to walk five miles to school (say it with me now) . . . uphill . . . both ways!

But good gosh there’s an awful lot right with our schools, isn’t there? For a lot of us, our school years are some of the very best memories we have. For the really lucky among us, those school chums turned into life-long pals who we can still share memories, laughs and a secret or three with.

So let’s celebrate our local schools this week . . . and before going any further, let me be fully transparent. I did not go to Crawfordsville, North or South (nor did I go to Ladoga,

Darlington, Linden or Coal Creek Central). Truth to tell, I’m a proud Noblesville High School grad – a grad from the time when we played Crawfordsville in the Sagamore Athletic Conference. That’s back when the conference consisted of the six original members, CHS, NHS, Brownsburg, Carmel, Frankfort and Lebanon. I spent plenty hours over those four years (and two in junior high) coming this way to play Tuttle and Crawfordsville.

Little did I know back in the early 1970s that I would end up right back here as the still-wet-behind-the-ears sports editor of the Journal-Review. It became pretty doggone easy to go from athletic rival to big fan.

I still remember so many of the great coaches and administrators I got to work with. Bruce Whitehead, Bob Tandy, Steve Williamson, Chuck Streetman, Rick Schavietello, Dwayne Rater, Ron Henricks, Rich Clouse, Ed Stuffle, Anita Rupar, Terry Bartell, Elena Perez, Charley German, Dave Williamson, Dewayne Minch, Gail Pebworth (yes, I know she wasn’t at a public school, but she coached swimmers from every public school in the county), Marvin Walters, Dave Duncan, Steve Macy, Ron Hess . . . and more. (And I KNOW I am leaving some out. I apologize. The brain does not work like it used to.)

They were great to work with and they were good people. And before anybody gets all butt-hurt about anything, that is not a disparagement of anyone before or after, alive, dead, past or current. These were just folks I knew and looked up to.

After my sports writing days, Southmont hired me to coach in three different sports — baseball, basketball and tennis. I still remember so very fondly the kids from those teams and the great folks I had the pleasure to work alongside in our public schools. 

Let’s not forget school pride, right? How many of us in our 60s, 70s or ahem, older, still remember our school’s fight song? How many remember “We’ve got spirit, yes we do. We’ve got spirit, how about you?”

It meant a great deal to us to earn a letter sweater, a jacket. School pride was and still is a living, breathing part of being a teen-ager. Thank God for it.

If you think about it, public schools probably have more to do with making this country what it is than any government agency does. Principals, teachers, coaches and others shape kids as much as, if not more so, than some parents. I bet you still remember those special teachers or coaches or band directors or choir directors. I know I sure do.

It’s not complicated. Teachers and schools are special.

To be fully transparent, my oldest daughter is a teacher in a public school in Johnson County (and she used to teach at Northridge). I say this next part without the least bit of bias – she is one of those special teachers we all remember. How do I know? I’ve been with her when full-grown adults come up and tell her exactly that. Talk about busting a few buttons!

So let’s all celebrate our public schools this week. Cheer on your favorite team. Attend a concert or play. Heck, send a card to the office just saying thanks.

They deserve it!

Two cents, which is about how much Timmons said his columns are worth, appears periodically on Wednesdays in The Paper. Timmons is the publisher of The Paper and can be contacted at ttimmons@thepaper24-7.com.