Schools

How many of your high school memories can you come up with from yesteryear? If you attended high school in Beaumont, no doubt you have numerous tales to tell. Recently, I enrolled in a very fascinating social-networking group on Facebook. The group is called “You’re Probably from Beaumont, Texas if you remember…” If you are interested in Beaumont’s “living history,” you should ask one of your Facebook friends to add you to that group.
Anyway, I entered the group and made the following request: “Since school days are with us once again, share your name, school, year of graduation, and share one memory from your high school days that stands out in your mind. I’ll share the memories in one of my guest columns.” I received 116 responses. Try putting that in your pipe and editing it.
Here are the abbreviations used for each school: Beaumont HS (BHS); Beaumont Charlton-Pollard HS (BCP); Beaumont Christian HS (BCHS); Central Catholic HS (CCHS); Forest Park HS (FPHS); French HS (FHS); Hebert HS (HHS); Kelly HS (KHS); South Park HS (SPHS); St. Anthony HS (SAHS); Touch Christian Academy (TCA); West Brook HS (WBHS);
• Elaine Kandeler, SPHS ’68, I remember the ever so popular “Juke Box” that was in the cafeteria.
• Ann Andrus, FHS ’76, Freshman year homecoming parade (aka The Pots and Pans Parade) and going to the bonfire that night. Going to the football game, homecoming mum, just a real memorable experience.
• Terry Roy, HHS ’78, Pep Rallies were some of the most spirited rallies you could ever attend. Only people that were there could tell you about them.
• Joan Crumpler Deggs-Chahan, FHS ’78, Streaking! You probably wouldn’t print some of my memories.
• Lester Dixon, SPHS ’77, the students didn’t see “black and white,” we were all “green”- that’s the mentality us guys on the football team had and it melted over to the entire school. I think I was the first black class president that came through South Park. President of the freshman class ’74, the sophomore class ’75 and the junior class ’76. Didn’t run for office in ’77 but put time into baseball to get a scholarship.
• LeRoy Feist, HHS ’76, We Panthers have an amazing sense of pride and community. School Motto “Whatever Hebert does, it must be the best!”
• Tommy Ellison, SPHS ’72, Friday morning pep rallies in the stadium, tons of school spirit.
• Lindy McAnulty, KHS ’91!! THE TWIRLERS!!
• Kim Glaze Perry, SPHS ’78, All 4 years in band were the best. “We’re so good; we’re so great; we’re the CLASS OF ‘78”
• Russ Evans, FPHS ’79, Graduation!!! lol, thank goodness I made it!
• Debra Lynd Pearson, SPHS ’86, I graduated in the last class of this wonderful high school.
• Sandra Curtis Livingston-Harper, SPHS, I remember being the only girl in the “Boys Choir” because I could sing tenor.
• Bridget Teare, KHS, One thing that has really stayed with me is the closeness that the whole school shared with each other. Most were like me. Three of my siblings graduated from SAHS, one from CCHS, and one from KHS
• Joey Schoen, SPHS ’71, Surviving Jerry Hentschel’s PE Class. To this day I have the utmost respect for the man.
• Patti Davis Trimm, SPHS, Loyalties ran deep! On Friday afternoons, my daddy, owner of “Murel’s Corner,” barber shop & filling station, would post a sign, “Closed Early-Gone to watch Greenies play.”
• Ron Berwick, SPHS, Seemed that all the girls in high school were short compared to junior high. Guess I had grown some.
• Dewayne Norris, SPHS, I remember the freshman initiation haircuts. The SP in back of the head.
• Kevin Cowen, BCP ’84, Two things I’ll never forget: My grandmother walked the same halls in 1944, and the smell of creosote from railroads during 2-a-days!
• Toni Tanner Scott, HHS, First day of school for me at Hebert meant wearing my “old” clothes. I’d wait a few months until I’d seen everybody’s new clothes and then I’d break out my new “rags” when everyone else was wearing “re-runs.”
• John C Byerly, SPHS ’72, summer band marching practice. The mosquitoes were bad, but it was standing at attention in the broiling sun for minutes on end only to realize too late that you have been standing on an ant bed. Those fire ants loved to crawl up your pants legs by the hundreds and wait for some signal to attack you all at once!
• Scott P. DeRouen, WBHS ’85, Winning state championship certainly helped the strain of the merger of FPHS & HHS. Very fond memories.
• Djwana Eldridge Butler, WB ’84, I remember this strange feeling attending a new school integration (HHS & FPHS) for the first time in 1982 after leaving Hebert High, an all African-American school.
• Marsha Davis Wall, FPHS ’72, Senior class would make the freshmen bow down to Egor, the Trojan mascot.
• Wendy Toups, FPHS, Smoking in the field while the principal watched us from the planetarium platform…BUSTED!
• Harley Rush, FPHS ’69, Mr. Stansbury, History teacher. Best teacher I ever had.
• Erica Cooper Patrick, CHS ’87, Going to the state football championship in 1984 as French High School and marching on the big star in Dallas stadium. Was part of the first graduating class of Central High Jaguars.
• DeWayne Norris, SPHS, Mr. Nevilles was our driver’s ed instructor. To pass the class, he had us drive over the Rainbow Bridge. You refused, you failed. Simple as that.
• Chris Sawyer, BHS ’67, We learned the formula for LSD in chemistry class. I seem to remember an explosion too!
• Margie Martin, HHS ’62, We had the best football team in town. Coach Ozan was one of the best.
• Stephen Blanton SPHS ’71, My favorite back-to-school activity was checking to see how much the girls had grown over the summer.
• Laura Souders, FPHS, I remember working on the school newspaper (Populi Verbum club activities editor), Journalism classes (Ms. Minerva), Trojan Marching Band (Mr. Janacek), volleyball, and hanging out with my best friends, Ann and Becky.
• Janie Sherman Alley, KHS ’80, Won State Football Championship that school year.
• Eugene Cambre, FHS ’71, The distant sound of the band practicing for a cool, fall evening of football.
• Jennifer Morris Sarah, BCH, Loved Mrs. Rao’s fall pilgrimage, dressed in character for the Canterbury Tales.
• Danny Richard, Touch Christian Academy ’87, Being the one school that almost no one knew about.
• Leah Scott, WBHS, Always loved being in band and marching into the stadium home games! We marched 308 members back then and completely took over the track.
• Elaine Kandeler, SPHS ’68, Mr. Lively made you stick your gum on your nose and stand in the trash can if you got caught chewing it in his typing class.
• Bridget Teare, KHS, I remember the closeness that the whole school shared with each other!!! I had (3) siblings graduate from St. Anthony and (1) from Central Catholic, and (1) from Kelly. Also my mother and all her siblings went to St. Anthony. A wonderful Catholic High School where friends were made for a lifetime. I loved the Bulldogs.
• Melissa Ellis Frederick, SPHS ’77, Freshman homerooms were in the west wing of MacArthur Jr. High and really hard to make it on time to class in the main building SPHS 3rd floor on time…long way in a short time.
• John C. Byerly, SPHS ’72, I don’t think they allow teachers the freedoms they once had. I’m not so sure that that is such a good thing!
As so many have proved here, our memories of school are among those favorite reruns we love to watch time and time again.

Winston Hamby
winhamby@gmail.com