| Hammerhaid: Schools, like Mitchell-Neilson, still meeting community’s needs |
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Posted: Sunday, August 2, 2009 8:15 am
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It’s been a long time since ol’ Hammerhaid clamored up and down the halls of Mitchell-Neilson School.
Well, actually, he found himself wandering the classrooms last school year as an “honored” alumni.
He discovered many changes at the much-expanded Murfreesboro City School during a visit arranged by another M-N “graduate” Linda Arms Gilbert, who’s now an associate professor at MTSU after serving as the associate director of schools in charge of instruction and professional development in Murfreesboro City Schools. Linda was also the 1998 Tennessee Teacher of the Year.
He was surprised, despite already knowing it, that the school had greatly expanded since his day.
And the despite the many years, the school was modern and up-to-date just like any school in Murfreesboro.
Back in the day, it was one of a handful of schools in Murfreesboro: Mitchell-Neilson, Hobgood, Crichlow, Reeves-Rogers and Bellwood.
The late, and great, Baxter Hobgood was superintendent of those grade 1-8 schools. There were no public kindergartens in those days and black students were segregated at Bradley elementary school and Holloway High.
That was only one of the things, Mr. Hobgood helped change.
Young Hammerhaid was certain that he was a visionary because his mother, Sara West, said so.
The young Sara was a math teacher at Mitchell-Neilson and invariably would run into Mr. and Mrs. Hobgood while shopping at Murfreesboro’s only Kroger’s grocery on Main Street right downtown. (My mother always dressed up when she headed to the grocery just in case the Hobgoods were there.)
Anyway, Mr. Hobgood was a genius, but like most of today’s Murfreesboro residents he wasn’t a native. He arrived at old State Teachers College in 1926 from North Carolina and never really left.
He launched his teaching career at old Central High School in 1930 and over the decades that followed he embraced posts of teacher, assistant principal and principal of the high school, followed by stints with the State Department of Education and as a geography professor at Middle Tennessee State College. He hit his stride when he was named superintendent of Murfreesboro City Schools.
The city's population has increased 53.2 percent from 44,922 in 1990 to 68,816 in 2000. Murfreesboro now has, by special census, a population of 100,575. Back in 1946, the city had slightly more than 12,000 residents.
It was after World War II in 1946, when the “younger generation” took control of our local government. At the time, Murfreesboro had neither a public park nor a public library.
Look at us now.
In the last couple of decades, the community of Murfreesboro has grown mightily, but we shouldn’t forget the lessons of the past and the razor-sharp minds of people like Mr. Hobgood. And because of the thoughtful contributions of people like Mr. Hobgood and my late mother, our schools remain strong despite still being divided into two school systems since 1891.
When Mr. Hobgood became superintendent in 1946, Murfreesboro had only two schools, Crichlow with 726 white students and Bradley with 385 black students. All white Central High and black Holloway High were operated in a joint agreement by the city and county systems.
Now there are 12 city schools and the system is completely integrated.
During this period, Rutherford County Schools has grown even more with 43 primary, middle and high schools.
Wow, things have certainly changed since ol’ Hammerhaid’s day. Youngsters and teens are learning stuff that was just pure fantasy back in the day, but that’s not to say our school systems are perfect. Drug abuse and student violence are just a few of the problems that plague education everywhere these days. That’s the chief reason an increasing number of parents are deciding to home school their children.
Whispering in class, students chewing gum (and similar bad habits) used to be the biggest problems in our classrooms. And it is sad to note that is no longer the case.
But yee of little faith, be reassured that our two school systems are among the best in Tennessee. Perhaps, the competition between the two bolsters the quality of education handed out to our children? I know it does.
Rest assured that despite the age of the school, the quality of education is excellent and constantly improving in the oldest schools, like Mitchell-Neilson to the newest like John Pittard in the city and Brown’s Chapel in the county.
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