School Story
I attended ALL my grade school and high school years at Fleming-Neon. It was a time that brings back fond memories for me. I really recall many good times during my first grade in Mrs. Walker's room, 4th grade in Mrs. Wojciechowski's room (except the hand paddling with a ruler which, I am sure, many of you who were in her room endured just the same as me). Mrs. Hall's 6th grade class was really good...she was a very good and sweet teacher. Mrs. Marjorie Mills 7th grade class was extra special!!! She instilled in me an enormous love of reading. I remember her having us lay our heads down on the desk and reading us classics such as Uncle Tom's Cabin and Huck Finn, among others. The trips down the Mississippi were really adventurous to me, since I had never traveled very much at that time. Jonelle Williams in 8th grade was soooooooo sweet. She allowed us to listen to Beatles songs on a record player during special times. It was also in her class that we learned that President Kennedy had been shot and killed. I can vividly remember that announcement over the intercom. High School brings more memories. My friends Terri Yonts, Pat Wright, Judy Little, Judy Tillie, Tim Rash (who was like a brother to me), Rosemary Branch who was in Future Homemakers club with me ( I recall the hat competition in Hazard... Rosemary won among all the competitors there!), Bonnie Warf was such a good friend (and a good majorette) and why the current majorettes or head band members do not have the desire to look GREAT and put on an air of regality is beyond me!!! All the band members always looked sooooooo spiffy. Anna Laura Caudill was really pretty when she was head majorette and the pom poms on her boots were so bouncy. It seems the kids who are in the band today just don't care as much about their appearance. I really had fun as a cheerleader during my Sophomore through Senior years. Daniel and I got married at semester break during my senior year and I had to give up being a cheerleader, due to school rules. I always hated that I never did get a school jacket for my cheerleader years, because I didn't finish those couple of months left that spring semester. (Oh well, I wouldn't have worn it after high school anyway!) And another special memory is the time Robert Kennedy came to visit Fleming-Neon. I remember him walking through the hallway within all our reach. Shaking hands and talking to us. He really was handsome. His hair had some really pretty silver streaks in it too!!! (Remember girls)!!!
Anyway, I also recall our home ec teacher (Madonna Quillen) made a great apricot punch for Mr. Kennedy. She was so proud to fix some munchies for him and his party. We really spiffed up the home ec room to show it off nicely, and the punch was a real special touch...in our opinion! I hope he appreciated the time and effort she put into that little get-together. And what would our high school memory be without mentioning Mr. Reasor. Who of us cannot forget the times he would walk down the hall with a little scowl on his face and we would quake in our shoes!?! I'm sure we all recall those times. His bark was really loud, but I was fortunate never to have been in his office for anything bad. Mrs. Blair was such a mild mannered librarian. She really helped me continue my love of reading and tried to get me to fill up my library card with books that I read. She loved a filled-up library card. Anyway, many more teachers and fellow students made such an impression on my high school years: Charlinda Harris (such a sweet girl), Mr. Roberts (basketball coach and English teacher), Terry Bentley and Jimmy McCauley (both of them had great parents), Debbie Presnell (she lived with her grandparents...we liked to walk the hall with our black skirts, white shirts and black ties so we would look like the English girls in the Beatle's movie), Mary Jane Lively (sweet personality and very pretty), Ravenna Collier (like a sister to me an really a sweet soul), Terri Yonts has really been sweet through the years and it is a pleasure to have fun memories also at her home in Summerville, S.C., and many more of you are part of my good high school memories.
