by David Cook
posted August 22, 2005
 David Cook |
Whether or not the vandalism was done in premeditated anger or warped teenager humor does not matter. What does matter is that both the vandals, who will soon be arrested, and the public realize that the stench surrounding Red Bank High at the moment will not last. It is essentially impossible for it to last.
Red Bank High will always be known for something, or someone, else.
At the top of the list, consider the Reverend JD Carnes, one of Chattanooga’s great wise men. In 1952, he graduated from Red Bank, only to return to become teacher, assistant principal and beloved principal of his alma mater. He was Red Bank’s town mayor, served as secondary education director of Hamilton County Schools and, in retirement, became pastor of a Sale Creek church. He is a poet, scholar and a gentleman; I’d wager that hundreds of Chattanoogans would name him one of the best men they have ever known. American schools need more people like JD Carnes.
Consider Dr. Diane Grob Schmidt, class of ’63, the chemist who patented Pert Plus’ shampoo and conditioner formula and the first woman ever to be selected as the Distinguished Scientist of Cincinnati. And remember Dr. Laura Witherspoon: Chattanooga’s first female general surgeon.
There’s Patrick Butler, former presidential speechwriter and president of Newsweek Productions. And Becky Farmer Browder, class of ’71, who has worked in the Hamilton County government for more than two decades. And, above all, she’s a devoted mom.
There’s the Wheeler family: sisters Teresa, Pam and Sharon Wheeler, who is deeply involved in American politics and, after graduation, became chief counsel to Senate President Pro Tempore, Lowell Barron. And their mother, Carolyn Wheeler, wife of former elementary principal Kirk Wheeler, who, as Red Bank’s long-lasting secretary, is perhaps the kindest face to greet anyone walking into a high school office in Tennessee.
And Tom Weathers, a coach among coaches. Weathers, who followed Frank Cofer, came to be known as the man many consider to be the greatest football coach in the Chattanooga area. More importantly than his many Friday night wins and the state championship in 2000, Weathers shaped the boys he coached, and gave them an example of how to be kind yet tough, strong yet understanding.
And the athletes: most recent, last season’s state champion softball team. Footballers JP White, Mike Kelley, Gerald Ware, Marty Lowe, Corey Simpson, John Becksvoort and Weather’s state championship 2000 team. Susan Hill Whitson, the first female from a Tennessee public school to win the state tennis championship. Basketballers Lance Posey, Jason Brown, Craig Oliverius, Gary Priest, Rob and Mark Preston, Jared Thompson and the 2000 team, first to reach the finals of the state tournament in nearly four decades. Cross country champ Nathan Pugh. Jennifer “Curly’’ Williams, now mother of two and recently named Middle School Teacher of the Year at GPS.
High school sweethearts: Jonathan Cleghon and Stacey Merritt, married for more than ten years.
And, above all, the teachers and administrators. Brenda Myers, George Hamrick, Russ Grier, Susan Thurman, Jerry and Donna Shannon, Pam Boaz. John and Nancy Crane and Bumper Reese. Bobbie Dedman and Francis Hysinger. Betty Woomer, a devoted English teacher. Veteran principal Don Bishop. Rob Ware and Jerry Cotter and Ken Thomas and Bobby Milam and Buzz Morrow. And the wonderful Joel Brewster. Red Bank’s veteran librarian Barbara Sorrow, whose heart is bigger than all the world’s libraries put together.
Finally, three personal favorites: Linda “Link” Sparks, Peter Hampton, and Scott Cook.
More students than can be counted made their way through Mrs. Sparks’ English classes, and besides learning how to read and write and think in far superior ways, they learned something of utmost importance: that they were cared for. They had value. They were utterly important, and their lives had deep meaning. And no lesson on earth is worth more than that, and few teachers are better at teaching it.
Peter Hampton graduated Red Bank in 1987, and, 13 years later, graduated from UTC with a 4.0 magna cum laude degree in Economics. Hampton, who was born with cerebral palsy, wears the color orange like a second skin each Saturday afternoon, cheering for the UT Vols. Yet even the toughest Vol would have a hard time matching the courage, compassion and conviction of Peter Hampton, who, several years ago, once told several hundred Red Bank students: “Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you cannot do something!’’ He received a standing ovation. Appropriate, for he is, in my opinion, Red Bank’s finest.
And Scott Cook, who for more than two decades taught and coached at Red Bank, and, above curriculum trends or testing methods, placed the golden rule of kindness as his ultimate pedagogy. The loneliest student or most popular seemed to always get a pat on the back, and all were treated the same - with sincere significance. He will now pass those same lessons down through his family once again, this time to the newest Cook - his five-month old grandson, Jackson.
A list like this is never complete, and more names belong here than room to print, especially at a school like Red Bank, with its current crop of noteworthy students and faculty. And perhaps that is the lesson:
There is not enough waste in the world that can drown out the tens of thousands of accomplishments of the men and women who have walked the blue and white halls of Red Bank High School. Let it be their fragrance that we remember.
(David Cook, a Red Bank graduate, is a former journalist for the Chattanooga Times-Free Press. He currently teaches American history at Girls Preparatory School and can be reached at dcook7@gmail.com)
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