JimBlackBooks.com
1970 - 1979 (Cont'd)
As a high school cheerleader, the beginning of the school year meant football season!! It also meant for us as cheerleaders, the decorating of the 3rd floor halls and stairwells. Mr. Adams was always such a faithful supporter of our job to get the halls looking spirited and supportive of the Wildcats! There were countless hot hours involved in painting signs and banners and taping up streamers and a few hours before school would never have been enough so Mr. Adams allowed us to go by his home and get the keys to the school to accomplish all this hard work well into the night. We would always drop the keys off after we were done for the evening. We did this before school was in session at the beginning of fall classes. The high ceilings (there was no air conditioning at this time) were so majestic! The cement floors were always cool and shiny. Of course, his office was air conditioned, and maybe once or twice, we did "sneak" in there to cool down. :) He had respect for us and trust. We never crossed that line. I will always remember dear old Archer High as the most beautiful red brick building ever!!
We are neat
We are Great
Senior Class of '78!!!
Cathy Morrison Dobson - Class of 1978
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My favorite memory was when I was in the 8th grade and had Mrs. Trent for English. Back in those days there was no A/C and our teachers really dressed up back then. In the late part of May it would get so hot. She always kept a vase of flowers on her desk and at times she would pour that water from the vase down her cleavage.....the menopause years. I loved her to death. She was so funny.
I also have so many great memories of Mrs. Hornady in Home Ec. One day we were making baked Alaska and she reached into the oven to pull one out without remembering to put an oven mitt on first. She threw that thing in the air and shouted the worst obscenities you have ever heard! Another teacher I loved to death. When she would leave the room, some of those less behaved than me would go into those kitchen areas and turn on the water and use those hoses as sprayers and have water fights. Mrs. Hornady would come back into the biggest mess. We also had a stabbing during sewing season when one of my friends (Karen Hoff) stabbed another friend (Mary Beth Gage) in the hand over a nasty comment Mary Beth had made over Karen's sewing. Today they would probably put you in jail for such things.
Once we were in high school and reached the third floor, the teachers would leave the room and return to always find someone locked out on one of the ledges.
My other favorite memory was in Mrs. Smallwood's class. We would start those timed typing tests and Bev Crow would always reach down and unplug Mary Beth's typewriter right before we would start and then when it was over she would plug it back in. I don't think Mary Beth ever figured out what was wrong with her typewriter.
Also Mrs. Smallwood was actually very small. I bet she wasn't 5 feet tall in heels. Remember, we didn't have air conditioning, and the windows would always be open, so Bev Crow would come into the room before Mrs. Smallwood would get there and she would pop those shades to go all the way to the top. Mrs. Smallwood couldn't have reached them on a ladder.
Do you see a pattern of the trouble makers in my class?
One day in band, Debbie Abshire was talking and we were all laughing because she was a hoot. Mr. Dooley stopped us and he looked at Debbie and said, "Debbie, do you think you are funny?" He was steaming mad. Debbie said, "Well, Mr Dooley, I DO think I'm funny!" Off she went to JB's office. Of course he told her she would never amount to anything.
Another funny story about Mr. Dooley. . . When he was hired, he was very young. Daddy was president of the school board so he decided to pop by Mr. Dooley's house to introduce himself. Mr. Dooley came to the door and my dad said, "Is your dad home?" Mr. Dooley had to explain that he was the new band director and my dad felt a little foolish. When I was in junior high, I HATED band. I played the clarinet, the sound was awful to my ears and of course Mr. Dooley was always getting on to me for being so awful. I'd come home and slam that clarinet on the dryer that sat just inside the door and would yell to my dad, "I HATE Mr. Dooley, Can't your fire him?" Of course the answer was no and I would beg to quit which was also not an option to my dad. In his wit, as you know my dad had, he said, "I tell you what. I'll just get even with Mr. Dooley and make you stay in band. That'll get even with him" Then in high school I switched to tenor saxophone which I loved and to this day I thank Mr. Dooley for teaching me discipline, teamwork, and integrity.
When in high school, I was the head basketball cheerleader. Sometimes during a time out, Fuzzy (Coach Ray) would scream at those boys at the top of his lungs in that high pitched voice that he had. Cora Ann would look at me and say, "Start a chant, start a chant!" in our best attempts to drown him out.
And then there's my Mr. Gray story . . . in high school I just happened to be a pretty good prose and poetry speaker. And of course, Judd was in charge of the math team. Jud would always drive the bus to the UIL meets and every year before the Lubbock trip he would call me up to his desk and say, "K Lynn, I'm sorry, but you're not going with us to Lubbock." I would be horrified and ask why. His response was always the same, "You're just like a little puppy. You're either peeing or puking and I don't have time to make all those stops along the way." I'd have to go get Mrs. Crowley to fuss at him so I could go.
I remember on pep rally days how the band would always march thru the halls and the drumline would be loud and the students would leave class to follow us over to the old gym for the pep rally.
Speaking of pep rallies, one night Arlina Campbell, Lori Stubbs, and I were up at the old gym painting signs for the pep rally. It was about 9:00 p.m. in the fall, so it was dark. Ricky Graves and Jackie Mueller snuck in through a window in the coaches’ office and turned all the lights off to scare us. And it did for sure! With all the windows painted in, you could not see your hand in front of your face; it was pitch dark. We had to find the lids to the paint, and then somehow make our way over to the door which was always locked when we were up there late. We had to get down on our hands and knees because we always threw the keys in the floor when we came in. We found the key ring. It had so many keys but we finally found the right one, got out of there and ran to Ruby Campbell's house as fast as we could. We were scared to death.
I would be remiss not to mention Janet Stubbs. She took care of every kid that came through that school. I remember being in grade school going into the cafeteria; we'd stop and she would punch a hole in our lunch ticket and if a kid didn't have any money or a ticket, she'd say, "Go on through, it'll be fine."
Those are the best memories I can think of for now. It was certainly a place where we felt safe, had great teachers for such a small southern town and our teachers not only taught us subjects, they taught us values. I will always be grateful to every one of those teachers. They were like other parents to us—great people—all of them.
K Lynn (Lewis) Martin - Class of 1979
