Let the rivalry begin

Posted by ( FightingAmish ) on August 22, 2008 at 11:51 am

As a newcomer to Culpeper County, I am amazed at the disparity between the two High Schools.  Eastern View H.S. is state of the art, beautiful architecture, lovely grounds and a seemingly new and revitalized student body will fill the spacious and vibrant classrooms.  The hallways are large and bright, and when I walked through the doors I saw faces beaming, pride shining through these kids faces as they walked in to their new gymnasium for picture.
Now contrast that with Culpeper County High School.  What words can one use to describe the decrepit and rundown persona that is CCHS? 
I can recall 22 years ago walking down the hallway of my alma mater a High School that was actually the remnants of a World War II training facility and barracks (Weldon Spring, Missouri).  I graduated back in 1986 so allow me to provide a bygone era experience.  I attended this High School because I was unfortunate enough to live in the school district where this High School was deemed as satisfactory by the Missouri Department of Education. 
The campus was large and sprawling, had two buildings that were condemned and had 11 buildings where academic classes were actually held.  The paint peeled off the walls in every building, the ceilings were all stained with present or past drips, water stains seemed more prevalent than our school colors; blue and gold.  If the disrepair of our interior were not enough to make us unique we had student made trails between buildings that made any walk to and from classes and experience unto itself.  The paths that were worn between the buildings lacked grass and trash lined these thoroughfares, they were muddy during the autumn and icy and hard during the winter, spring brought weeds up along the edge and if nothing else added much needed color. 
Each room had its own odor, an eclectic array of chemicals, cleansers, sweat and perfumes from lovelorn young ladies, and on occasion the smell of Dad’s cologne.  Our lockers were located on the second floor of the main building, this was not good logistics as the main building only housed administration, band, chorus and drama.  Students lacked the time to actually utilize the lockers as they scurried from class to class in buildings that were more than 100 yards from where their lockers were.  In the three years I attended that school I never used my locker so I never had to memorize the lock’s combination.  Although we were housed in a pathetic arrangement we still felt collectively like we were a part of something.  Maybe it was the fraternity of the underfinanced abyss where school funds never managed to make it out to our High School, or maybe it was the fact that all schools in our district were in pathetic shape. 
This was the High School where uniforms for sports had to be purchased by parents of the athletes.  That is why the uniforms for each sport were a different shade of blue and gold.  And fund raising for every sport, club and activity was a yearlong effort.  Car washes, candy sales, dance-a-thons, marathons, bake sales, Christmas wrapping, candle sales, book clubs, raffles, haunted house, reading for dollars, pizza delivery, and even white castle’s (burger place) allowed us to grill hot dogs in their parking lot so we could afford athletic and band equipment. 

It was incredible, and we thought it was normal, we had nothing to compare ourselves to except for our rich neighbors in budding school districts.  So when we stepped off our buses for athletic events at other High Schools across Missouri we were blown away by the uniforms, the campus and the fields.  When other schools played us at home, we were embarrassed by what our campus looked like and had to make up for it with outstanding and competitive play. 
The staff loved the student body and the students focused on things we could control like sports, the arts, drama, choir, band, and had a highly decorated 4H contingency (we laughed at some of them back then but as adults are proud of the “aggies” we know today). 
That was over 20 years ago, and so we come back today in Culpeper County….  Why has CCHS been abandoned?  Why are they so underfunded and why didn’t someone think about the ramifications of an investment in a Bentley when a Model T Ford is in the garage?  So CCHS is left to wallow in the success of classes of a bygone era?  I could understand if the kids would all be housed at Eastern View while CCHS received the facelift it deserves, but what has happened will surely place an emphasis on Eastern View while CCHS is left to bleed blue and gold.

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