Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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March 15, 2010

Owls, Cubs will soon hear final school bell

By CHARLES OWENS Bluefield Daily Telegraph

WAR — The final day of school has been set for the Big Creek Owls and the Iaeger Cubs. The last classroom day for students at Big Creek High School and Iaeger High School will be June 8, according to School Superintendent Suzette Cook. Both schools will then be closed and consolidated with the new River View High School. The class of 2010 — the final graduating class of Big Creek High School and Iaeger High School — will accept their diplomas on May 28. The Big Creek Owls and Iaeger Cubs will be relocated in August to the new high school where they will become the River View Raiders. The new high school remains under construction along a 17-acre site near Bradshaw. It will be located adjacent to the new Bradshaw Elementary School that opened last fall. The new schools are being constructed as part of an ongoing flood-proofing project between the McDowell County Board of Education, the West Virginia Board of Education and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Cook said Iaeger High School will be demolished in the future to make way for a new Iaeger Elementary School. Big Creek High School, which opened to students in 1931, gained national attention in 1999 courtesy of the motion picture “October Sky,” which chronicled the true story of the Rocket Boys of McDowell County. With help from their teacher, the late Freida Riley, Homer Hickam and his fellow Rocket Boys pursued their dream of rocketry at Big Creek High School following the launch of the Soviet Satellite Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957. School officials at Big Creek High School have already announced plans for an alumni prom for all alumni and friends of the school. The prom for students will be on Friday, May 7, and the all-alumni prom will be Saturday, May 8. According to a press release from the school, the prom will be Saturday, May 8, from 7 to 11 p.m. in the Big Creek Fieldhouse. The theme of the event is “A Sweet Goodbye.” Music will be provided by a disc jockey. The dress will be semi-formal and refreshments will be served. Photographs also will be taken for those who are interested. The admission to the alumni prom is $20 for singles and $30 for couples. The school is requesting that checks be sent to Big Creek High School, attention Tammy Sparks, Box 790, War, W.Va. , 24892. Participants are asked to indicate on the check that it is for the prom. The deadline to sign up for the alumni prom is April 15. — Contact Charles Owens at cowens@bdtonline.com

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