Someone the other day asked several questions about Ball Camp Elementary School. Several people responded with answers and new topics of discussion. I put my “two-cents” in on one of the questions. I graduated from Karns High School, but I might just be prouder to have spent those first years as a BC Bulldog.
The school’s beginnings came around the time of the Civil War. Different buildings have served as the school, but the permanent site became the one at the intersection of Ball Camp Pike, Middlebrook Pike, and Lovell Road. The building was erected sometime in the early years of the last century. A fire in 1963 Led to a major overhaul of the school, and the school has undergone several more changes.
We who are older loved the school. It was our home for eight years, That’s right; back in the day, Ball Camp taught students in grades 1-8. Those of us who reached that final year before high school were always proud to be Bulldogs.
Before the fire, the school had two front entrances. Classrooms sat at the front of the school, and the office was also there. The gym was on the other side of the hall, and it was the place for exciting basketball games. The girls played half-court ball, and we had one of the best teams around with such players as Brenda Wagner and Mary Ann Jones, who gave other teams problems guarding them. My mother, who began her teaching career the year Jim and I entered first grade, sold small brown bags of the best-tasting popcorn during the games.
Students who attended Ball Camp Elementary lived in the small community. Some of us went to the same churches. The key was that Ball Camp Elementary was the focal point of the community. It had tough teachers who prepared students for high school. Mrs. Slusher was the hardest, meanest teacher in the school. She’d swat bottoms of students who failed to do homework. Although her grammar and pronunciation of words might not always be perfect, she insisted that her students be perfect in their homework. In high school, students who had Mrs. Slusher as a teacher encountered few problems with language arts in high school.
Before and after school, games of softball always were underway. Back then, the field in front of the school seemed so large, but now I wonder how games could be played in the cramped confines of the play area. High school students waited for buses to take them to Karns High, and they hung out at the edge of the school driveway. Fights broke out, but no one hurried to break them up for fear of being harmed themselves.
Dan Strange was principal. He had a rim of graying hair and wore glasses. Mr. Strange talked out of the side of his mouth. One year, an outbreak of hepatitis hit, and Mr. Strange was charged with talking to boys about hygiene. He cocked his mouth and gave a talk on how we should flush urinals with either our feet or elbows. I can still vividly see him as his elbow made a striking motion to simulate the act of flushing.
Unfortunatley, Cedar Bluff opened during out 8th grad year. It marked the beginning of huge changes in Knox County Schools. Middle schools took students from their regular elementary schools. That hurt the children who had close identities with those other schools. Since then, much of the closeness of communities died as children were sent to middle schools in the generally vicinity of their homes.
Yes, we older folks have much fonder memories of our elementary school years because we spent them with our close friends. Perhaps a return to community schools could help students to like school much better and might lead them to perform better in classes. Some of life’s best memories come from the years I spent at Ball Camp. I’m thankful to have had that kind of educational experience.
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