David and Kathaleen Hughes
David and Kathaleen Scott Hughes met and started dating when he was a McCallie student and she was a Girls Preparatory School student who also became a McCallie cheerleader.
The love affair continued not only with each other, but also with McCallie. Although he ended up transferring to another school and they initially went off to separate colleges, they would later marry. They would also end up back at McCallie as he began helping with boarding admissions beginning in the late 1980s.
As they would settle on or near campus, Kathaleen also helped the school off and on in a variety of ways, including as a teacher. And before they realized it, 37 years had passed.
Now in their mid-60s, they have decided to retire, marking the end of an era for them and the school.
But they say they leave with much gratitude from their time spent at the independent boys’ preparatory school at the foot of Missionary Ridge.
“I would never have changed anything,” said David. “I have loved being a part of kids’ lives, and this has been the perfect avenue for it. And to raise our family here has been great.”
Added Kathaleen, “I was always raised that it is better to do things than have things. We have been on the receiving end of so many experiences we would have never experienced at other places.”
As the two recently sat down and reminisced in Founder’s Dorm in their historic apartment that they believe had once been the residence of former co-headmaster Dr. Bill Pressly, who later led Westminster Schools in Atlanta, they were full of nostalgia and contentment.
Both through reflections imprinted in their minds and through photos that were still hanging on their stairway walls as they were making plans to move to their new home in Rising Fawn, Ga., they recalled a variety of aspects of McCallie life. Those included everything from meals and Mt. LeConte climbs for countless dorm students, to an annual social gathering for the faculty at the beginning of the school year.
But early on, it seemed unlikely they would enjoy such an experience. Kathaleen had gone from Bright School to GPS as the daughter of a Baylor alumnus, the late W.D. “Bill” Scott Sr. from the Class of 1951. She was also the older sister of Baylor student Bill Scott Jr. ‘83.
But she found herself having more male friends at First Presbyterian Church and elsewhere who attended McCallie, so she naturally gravitated toward there. She eventually used her gymnastics skills she had fine-tuned as a youth into becoming a McCallie cheerleader.
David, meanwhile, had come from Memphis as the son of then-new Girls Preparatory School headmaster Dr. Nat Hughes. Dr. Hughes wanted to be diplomatic, so he sent oldest son Frank to Baylor and middle son David to McCallie back before Baylor became coed.
While Kathaleen remembers hearing a story that Dr. Hughes had a mental list of GPS girls he would like to see David date, and she was one of them, David simply remembers meeting her on the track at a football game at Spears Stadium in October 1975.
“I thought she was cute. She sure was spunky,” he remembered with a laugh.
They started dating, but David was admittedly not as serious about his schooling as he should have been, so his family made the decision to send him to Blue Ridge School in Virginia. It was also a time when he felt he needed to grow in his Christian faith, he said.
While he remembers as a contributing football lineman having to break the news to a disappointed then-head coach Pete Potter, the situation turned out well for him.
And he would eventually still be able to contribute back to the McCallie sports program, but in a different way from football. While at Blue Ridge, he was introduced to lacrosse. He would go on to start a lacrosse club at Wheaton College near Chicago where he attended and would later introduce the sport at McCallie and be involved in the first team as an organizer with fellow faculty member and coach Hank Lewis in 1989. Since then, McCallie has enjoyed several successful seasons in the sport.
As they both continued new journeys far and wide before returning to McCallie, Kathaleen went on to William and Mary after graduating from GPS in 1978 and after tying for first in her class ranking academically. After three years there, she transferred to Wheaton. Since he had gotten a late start on college after going to Blue Ridge, Kathaleen as someone long interested in literature got a master’s degree in literature at Northwestern in only one year while he was finishing up.
Along with all that, they had also gotten married in December 1982.
David remembered working some and going to some Chicago Cubs games as well after finishing his degree work and waiting on her to complete hers. But it would be another blue-colored team that would eventually call them home, of course.
However, first he wore the scarlet and gold of the Marines for three years after going through an officers’ program in college. He served for three years in the artillery branch in Camp LeJeune, N.C., and the couple lived at nearby Emerald Isle.
No serious or large-scale military conflicts cropped up during that time, so they safely returned to Chattanooga, where he worked for First Federal Savings and Loan for two years after talking with executive John Guerry.
The circuitous journey of this part of his life, however, would eventually work its way back out to Missionary Ridge. Rather than following the opportunities of the business world that might be more financially rewarding, he decided to find a job that was more emotionally fulfilling.
Thinking he would enjoy working with young people after participating in the YoungLife program growing up, he was able to get on at McCallie in the admissions office beginning in 1988 after learning of an opening through then-admissions director Steve Hearn from the class of 1974. “I have been in admissions the whole time,” he said. “I didn’t want to go up the administration ladder. I love working with kids, but I am not an academic person.”
He said he was in charge of boarding admissions and had a territory looking for prospective students in North and South Carolina. This required sometimes being on the road for several days at a time and returning home late some nights.
He eventually began overseeing the Michaels-Dickson Scholarship merit program. With 15-20 scholars in a class every year, that has upped the academic quality of the class, he added. Along the same line, he also helped with the leadership camp.
Early on, he realized a great way to find potential scholars was through the former Duke Talent Identification Program for middle and high school students. It was at a time when other prep schools also looking for good students had not tried that idea.
He also tried to rely simply on his own instincts. “I am a guy who doesn’t like to hear no,” he said with a chuckle of his recruiting style. He added that some of these boarders and scholars he helped bring in and their families ended up being good recruiters as well for future students.
Kathaleen, meanwhile, was following her own heart in education as well. She had begun teaching at GPS in 1986 after longtime former GPS administrator Rickie Pierce asked her if she wanted to teach English. David’s father was still the headmaster, and she jokingly said he might have been behind giving her the difficult schedule of teaching three different class levels – resulting in three different preps. She also helped oversee May Day.
In 1990, she then began doing tutoring mostly of upper school students at McCallie, often into the evenings. The needs seen there led to another job at McCallie beginning in 1992. “They wanted me to start the learning center in the middle school,” she said. “And I did teach a regular class and administered the entrance exam and tested kids coming to McCallie. I had a ball. I got to meet all types of kids.”
It seemed to fit well this person known for her ability to energetically multi-task, but she said she missed teaching fulltime. So, after she was offered a teaching job at the now-closed David Brainerd Christian School off Igou Gap Road, she went to work there.
She then taught at her elementary alma mater of Bright School for three years and then at Chattanooga Christian School before returning to McCallie in 2019. At McCallie, she helped upper school students with their writing before moving into fulltime English teaching as someone who has always loved the written word and whose husband says is a natural writer.
Recently, she has taught Southern literature and wilderness literature.
“I’ve loved interacting with boys,” she said of her recent teaching and work that now spans 20 years off and on as a fulltime employee. “And the class sizes are small.”
All the while, she had also continued to help McCallie in other supportive roles, even while at other schools. She and David had first become connected with the school more after hours after moving into a faculty home at McCallie Place No. 5 in 1995. They lived there until moving into their current apartment in 2019.
“Truly It became a ministry because we were connecting with the kids,” said David of that era.
Even while their time at McCallie was winding down, Kathaleen as the dorm mom was making sure during the interview that the birthday of a student was properly noted. She had also kept snacks for students and prepared after-hours dinners for them over the years.
It has all been quite enjoyable, they said. “It’s been kind of fun. I didn’t imagine working here,” said David, adding that he had no idea he would follow in his father’s footsteps of being involved with independent preparatory schoolwork.
They also raised their two sons in the McCallie environment and both graduated from there. Son David from the Class of 2006 has gone on to be a design engineer for the Mueller Co., while Scott ’09 worked for Coyote Logistics before starting his own firm, Topo Logistics Co.
Both sons are in Chattanooga, and David and Kathaleen have four grandchildren.
They plan to spend some of their time in retirement with them and initially just want to catch their breath in their log cabin they bought 11 years ago and take a couple of vacation trips. Kathaleen said she might also try to do some writing.
“We want to plug into the new community and our church there,” she added, jokingly saying she has mostly retired from going to McCallie sporting events after giving in to countless students asking her if she was coming to their sports event each day.
David added that they also hope to develop new acquaintances and better cultivate current friendships, since even their weekends in the past have focused primarily on the needs of their McCallie dorm community.
They also no doubt hope to take a little time to reflect contentedly on their decision of many years ago to focus on the world of education and the opportunities they experienced at McCallie.
“The richness of McCallie are the people,” said David in summation.
Added Kathaleen, “It’s not a job, but a life. And this has been a family.”
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Jcshearer2@comcast.net