BLUEFIELD —
Yet another two high schools in our region will be closing their doors in just a matter of days.
It was just two years ago when Pocahontas High School was closed by the Tazewell County School Board. That controversial decision led to a firestorm of outrage in the greater Pocahontas community.
Next week, the doors to Big Creek High School and Iaeger High School will be closed. Big Creek High School opened in 1931. Iaeger High School is an even older facility having opened in 1918. Both are being replaced by the new River View High School in Bradshaw.
Folks in War and Iaeger have known for years that their two high schools were closing. In fact, the decision to close the two schools, and to build a new high school, actually dates back to about 2001. However, it has taken school officials years to build the new schools that were announced more than a decade ago as part of a flood-proofing agreement between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the McDowell County Board of Education, and the state Board of Education.
That agreement ultimately led to the construction of several new schools, including Mount View Middle School, the new War K-8 School, the new Bradshaw Elementary and now the new River View High School.
Saying good-bye to an old school is never easy. And there is rich history surrounding Big Creek High School. As many long time readers know, I too am a product of McDowell County Schools. I’m a former Anawalt Comet and a Golden Knight. Although I never attended school in War or Iaeger, I have in recent years been moved by the story of Big Creek High School, and the Rocket Boys of McDowell County. And I’m not alone. I understand viewing of the 1999 motion picture “October Sky” is now considered almost mandatory in some schools across America.
Katy Coil — the newest member of the Daily Telegraph’s reporting team — tells us that the movie “October Sky” was mandatory viewing in her classroom in Tennessee. In fact, she was apparently required to watch the movie several times, and tells jokingly tells us she can recite most of the lines from the movie by memory.
That’s a powerful statement. The fact that school children across our great nation are still watching this movie more than 11 years after it first appeared in theaters is pretty incredible. Youngsters all across the country are familiar with Big Creek High School, and the Rocket Boys of McDowell County.
Who can forget the story of Homer Hickam, Billy Rose, Quentin Wilson, Jimmy O’Dell Carroll, Roy Lee Cooke and the late Sherman Siers, and of course their inspirational teacher Miss Freida Riley. It’s a good, clean and uplifting true story that the entire family can enjoy. It’s a movie you can pop in the DVD player and let your children watch without fear of inappropriate content or language.
But most of all, it’s a timeless story that will continue to be played in classrooms across the nation, not to mention on cable.
Hickam told me last week that his popular “Rocket Boys” memoir was just recently released in Vietnam. So even Vietnamese children are now familiar with the story of Big Creek High School, and the Rocket Boys of McDowell County.
I’ve had the great privilege of covering this story — and working with Hickam — since day one. It’s been a honor to share this story with readers across southern West Virginia and Southwest Virginia. And it’s important to emphasize the story is far from over.
Big Creek High School may be closing, but the legacy of this old school will most certainly live on through the various Coalwood memoirs, movies and memories of former students, staff and proud parents.
A story more than 10 years in the making is finally over. It’s time for school officials in McDowell County to close up shop at the old Big Creek and Iaeger high schools. As the old schools are closed, the race continues to ready the new high school for students in Bradshaw. Although the new River View High School is still technically under construction, School Superintendent Suzette Cook assured me last week that it will definitely be ready for students this August.
As one story ends, another begins. Good-bye Big Creek. Good-bye Iaeger. Hello River View.
Charles Owens is the Daily Telegraph’s city editor. Contact him at cowens@bdtonline.com.
Columns
June 2, 2010
Closing of Big Creek: ‘Rocket Boys,’ other memories will live on
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