When The Doors Close

[Unchained]

When Wise County does what it has to (and it is coming folks)and closes the doors of my alma mata, I may lock myself in my room and cry a bit. God, I love that school. I get misty-eyed when I hear it's fight song. I can be tough on our kids there, but they all KNOW how I feel about them all. We may consolidate, but I am Indian, and will be until I take my last breath. It's all that I ever wanted to be, all that I am, all that I will always be. I have given my heart and soul to that school, spent thousands of hours volunteering, and thousands of dollars supporting it. It's mascot is proudly carved into my flesh. I spend alot of time looking at our trophy cases, looking at the planks at Shupe Field. I know what these schools mean to their communities, the pride, traditions, the spirit. I remember well the hurt in my dad's eyes and the tears in his voice when he said goodbye to his beloved alma mata (Pennington).

I also know that I have 2 sons. As a parent, more than anything else I want my children to succeed to the maximum in life. In order to do this they have to have a good education. This cannot happen in a school where the windows break, the walls crack, and it is sweltering in the summer/frigid in the winter. My sons can't learn if they can't concentrate.

I also understand that it makes no sense to pay to rennovate these schools. Doing this delays the inevitable. Our schools are 50 years old. How fair is it to have to turn around in a decade or two and make our kids pay to do what should have been done years ago?

Usually the first thing that pops up in discussion about consolidation in our sports-starved region is sports. Way too much stock is put there folks. I would rather walk into my son's office looking at his degrees than have folks talk about what a ball player he was. We always hear folks use the exception of the rule Lee High when they talk about the woes of consolidation. That fiasco could have been avoided with more thought and planning. Ask the folks in Letcher County about how it is working out for them. Maybe I would see it differently if I wasn't a dad, but there's bigger and better things than Friday night lights (as special as they are, and as much as I do love it).

[imported_Counts]

Work with two ladies that went to school at Elkhorn but there kids go to EastRidge and while they had reservations on the consoladation at first they both agree that it has worked out better than any of them dreamed.

DC schools are in crappy shape as well (Haysi has a crack that would make me think twice about walking into it) Clintwood has a Building that is so old that the windows were made to not open (No A/C either so think sona in the summer) Ervinton is in reasonably good shap which is probaly why that group is as anti consoladation as they are.

[cavsxc]

My parents school back in West Virginia was consolidated in the mid 1990s. My cousins went to school there when it happend. As it consolidated to one county school, many rival schools came together. However, my parents did not feel like their school had died. It was just reborn to a bigger better school. I know all of us will miss our schools when consolidation occurs, but we should all hold on to the fact that our schools aren't really dieing they are just being reborn in a bigger and better form. I also feel that when it occurs we all should forget our past rivalrys and just embrace the fact that our kids will have a great environment to learn and become great citizens of this wonderful country. I think that is the most important thing. As a former high school athlete myself, athletitics are all well and good, but Academics is the most important thing, and I sometimes think we've lost focus on that. All I ask is that when consolidation happens, that all communities embrace one another and strive for the best learning opportunites for our kids.

[starbuck]

I still think smaller classrooms = better learning.

That was Basham's last straw- his study. ALL the county classrooms are 2/3 the size needed for todays classes.

[imported_Sportsman]

This is a can of worms that needs to be opened, but everyone should enter this with an open mind. There are lots of valid arguments both ways for and against.

If we do consolidate into 3 county high schools, these will still be small schools.

As Indian Dad said, I don't want to pay for very expensive renovations now, and have to pay to build new schools again in 10-15 years......but.....I don't want to lose my school either. We have to look at the opportunity costs involved. Is what we spend our money on going to provide our children and taxpayers the best value for their money over the long haul, 30-50 years?

As for athletic opportunities, I think there would be far greater opportunities for student-athletes with consolidated schools than there are now. For one thing, just go out now and watch your high school football team play Friday night and count how many on the coaching staff are actually trained teachers that are doing the coaching. There are so many teams now for such a small population that you can't find qualified coaches. Several county schools are still advertising for coaches for this school year. Bottom line....schools can't find qualified people to coach our young people for the activities that we have. I do think consolidation would help this situation.

It's hard to let go of our history and tradition of our schools and sports programs, but who's to say we have to if we consolidate.

We are all very proud of our schools and accomplishments, especially of the state championships.....but I'll tell you this.....under the current VHSL set-up, state championships are going to be fewer and farther between for our county schools. If every two years, you have traditionally strong programs dropping down to single A, then they are going to squeeze us little guys out of state championships. A perfect example are Virginia High and Dan River dropping down next year. These guys are competing and winning state championships in softball and baseball, two areas that we have traditionally been able to compete in. We're not going to beat either of these schools in state competition unless we have a once-in-a-lifetime group in either of those two sports. Yes the system needs to be changed, but think again if you think things are going to change with the VHSL.

Maybe we should study Lee and see what went on down that way. We can consolidate into a couple of "hardship "schools and still compete at the single A level. [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Unchained]

If the adults will step back and think about what is best for their children, there will be no problems making a smooth transition. The adults are the problem, not the kids. Take JJK and Pound for example: The parents complaining about the folks from the other town, yet there is respect amongst the players leaving that field. The kids from rival schools getting together and playing ball after school and so forth. The "grown-ups" need to have some maturity and lead by example.

[imported_TheGMan]

This is the best discussion on consolidation I think I've ever seen on this board...well done folks!

Like it or not, consolidation is going to take place in every county in this end of the state sooner or later. The sooner everyone gets on the "same page" with the idea, the better it will be for ALL the kids. As someone said, its not necessarily "losing" a school, its a "rebirth", a fresh start. I just wish people would think with their heads and not their hearts on consolidation issues...would make things a lot easier for everyone.

[starbuck]

my opinion of the subject.
Yes it will happen. How would I like to see it happen? Well, don't make one huge county school. I still think bigger isnt always better. If they close down Appalacha and put them with the Powell Valley school they need to tear down the school, change the name and colors. Since the schools being out of date is a concern and the fact that a new name would go a long way in making it an "Our School" instead of "it is my school / their school that we have to share".
I guess Norton would be left behind since they are a City school? Coeburn and St Paul? Wise & Pound? how would it go? They could have 3 bigger new schools, I just don't want to see one big school calle Wise Co. High.