I can attest to the need in the community for the new Ganns Middle Valley Elementary School that is now under construction. In 1941, at the age of six, I was a first grade student in the school and Mr. Rawlston was the principal. I returned there in 1956 as a teacher, and taught in the building for 37 years and 4 months.
At that time, we didn't know what air conditioning was. We just raised the big sliding glass windows and, yes, we had the birds fly in and splatter our walls and chalk boards. During those years roofs leaked, the wood floors creaked, and water fountains were rusted. I can speculate that the only person to spend more time in that old building would be Mr. Gary Waters and his maintenance crew.
Now that Mr. Waters is retiring, he is leaving the Middle Valley community with a beautiful new school building that many grandchildren of some of my former students will be attending in the near future. Congratulations to the Middle Valley community – you have waited a long time for this.
Many thanks also to County Mayor Jim Coppinger and the County Commission who made this possible.
Finally, congratulations to Gary Waters for your significant role in the construction of this new school, and for your many years of outstanding service to the Hamilton County Department of Education. I hope you have a long, happy, healthful, and well-deserved retirement.
Bonnie Gravitte
Hixson