ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 18, 1996 TAG: 9604190003
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: E-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARY JO SHANNON SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES
Most school reunions involve alumnae. But last Saturday at Breckenridge Middle School was "reunion day" for faculty and staff. Organized in 1961, the school, then a junior high school, moved into the building on Williamson Road vacated when William Fleming High School moved to its current location.
When Lois Hopkins, a former Breckenridge teacher, learned the middle school was scheduled to close for renovation at the end of the current school year, she began plans for a reunion of those who worked there during the past 35 years.
About 80 attended - some from quite a distance. English and French teacher Martha Gray Saunders Bates came from Phoenix, Ariz.; Jo Oliver, still recovering from a stroke several years ago, came from Beaufort, S.C.
Memories of the past 35 years bubbled through the cafeteria as co-workers caught up on events, or met those who preceded or followed them at the school. Yearbooks were opened to pictures of coaches in tu-tus "tiptoeing through the tulips" and "Rockettes" in fishnet hose and black and red skimpy costumes. They were "Professionals in Greasepaint," who raised money to refurbish "the dungeon" - a scroungy basement room that served as the faculty lounge.
Former maid Elizabeth Hale, who signed the register as "maid of honor," recalled the day she lost her keys and the principal found them - but let her worry until the end of the day.
Ann Jackson Whitlock came to the school as a student teacher in 1967 and stayed until 1982, when she left teaching for a business career. Jackie Boeh taught Latin, English and history from 1961 until her retirement in 1989, and Rebecca Karnes, nicknamed "sweetheart of the faculty," taught English from 1977 until her early retirement in 1989. She continued to work part time for five years, organizing a writing program.
For former student Meredith Brewer, who is now a senior at Longwood College her studies at Breckenridge "were the best years of my life."
"The teachers cared," she said. "They pushed you to do your best. You felt so supported. "
Paul Foster, the first principal, spent four years at Breckenridge before moving on to William Fleming High School. He recalled the challenge of beginning a new school.
"We had to make so many decisions," he said. "We had to start at the very beginning,. We had 920 students, but no colors, no band uniforms, no yearbook
However, the school did have a name - Breckenridge Junior High School, for Gen. James Breckenridge, resident of neighboring Botetourt County, who served in the Revolutionary War and as representative to the House of Delegates from 1789 to 1824.
Breckenridge Junior High School received national distinction in 1985 when the U.S. Department of Education named it one of the best secondary schools in the nation.
Four years later, it became Breckenridge Middle School when Roanoke adopted the middle school educational model.
"Breckenridge has always been a community-oriented school," said Hopkins, who taught there from 1961 until she retired in 1986.
"Our students' parents went here when it was Fleming and the population was more stable [than some other areas of the city]. The faculty and staff were close and shared each other's joys and sorrows."
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