Holston Valley High School - Criterion Yearbook (Bristol, TN)

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BRISTOL PUBLIC LIBRARY 701 Goode Street Bristol, Virginia 24201 The doors of Holston Valley High School were first opened for the school year, 1936-1937. That first year there were only nine teachers to teach over 200 students in grades seven through twelve. There was no graduating class tlrat first year due to the lack of students quali- fied as seniors; however, there has been a graduating class since tlien, the Class of 1938 having been the first. The increasing number of students made it necessary to eliminate the seventh grade in 1948, and to continue with grades eigjit through tw ' elve. To prevent the overcrowding of area elementary schools, in the fall of 1962, the seventh grade was returned to Holston Valley. The athletic department of Holston Valley has consisted of basketball, baseball, track, and cross-country, with basketball as the main sport. In 1939, Mr. Harmon Peters succeeded the first coacli, Mr. Kyle McKamey, as ath- letic director. During the 1939-1940 school year, the first year Mr. Peters coached, the boys ' basketball team won the District Cham- pionship while the girls ' basketball team won second place in the District and placed second in the Regional. In 1943, girls basketball was prohibited in Sullivan County by the Board of Education. Because of World War II, gas was rationed and transportation became a problem. After the War, there was a readjustment period for ath- letics; also at that time, the Board no longer supported a program of interscholastic activities for girls. In 1955, tire Rebels became tire Upper Lakes Confereirce Champion and was runner-up in the District. The team also won the Regional Championship, but was defeated in state tour- nament play by Linden, Tennessee. In 1960, the team was again runner-up in the District and co-champion in the Upper Lakes Conference. After winning the Regional Cham- pionship again, they went to the state tourna- ment only to lose to Savanah, Tennessee. The Rebels finished the 1967-1968 season with a 19-10 record, with Bobby Pentecost and Ronnie Wallace scoring over 1, 000 and 2, 000 career total points, respectively. Since Mr. Peters has been the coach at Hol- ston Valley, the Rebel team has been in the Regionals three times and the state tourname nt twice. According to Coach Peters, the most exciting experiences in the history of athletics at Holston Valley was during his first year when the girls snapped Sullivan ' s 77 game winning streak, and when the boys defeated Kingsport in the District. The faculty of Holston Valley has had four principals. The first to serve was Mr. W. E. Ward. After five years, Mr. Ward was followed by Mr. Rankin Smalling who stayed for only a few months. Mr. Spahr succeeded Mr. Smal- ling and served nineteen years. The present principal, Mr. W. E. Bailey, has served for six years. Next year he will be the principal of Holston Valley Junior High School. Miss Daphne Jones designed the school seal, chose the name CRITERION for the yearbook, and wrote the lyrics and music for the Alma Mater. Now, in this the last year of Holston Valley High School, the faculty numbers twenty-four and the student enrollment reaches well over 400. The last graduating class, the Class of 1968, has sixty-seven members, many of whom are involved in numerous activities, at and around Holston Valley. 4

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HOLSTON VALLEY ysszsKm y . .. TODAY . . TOMORROW . . The CRITERION Staff Published By: Holston Valley High School Bristol, Tennessee

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zej Msses’s szm ukmsk j96s Mobton Valley ' s Tirst-Sullivan County ' s Second Zed Zhomas Ted Thomas HVHS Senior Star Farmer Ted Thomas, a senior at Hols- ton Valley High School, was named last night as Tennes- see’s Star Farmer, the top award of the Tennessee As- sociation of Future Farmers of America. Thomas was named at the climax of the annual FFA ban- quet at Nashville. He won out in competition with Jim Gordell of Grundy County, Tenn., and James F. Tomlinson Jr., of Madison County, Tenn. Gordell and Tomlinson were Star Fanners of Middle and West Tennessee respectively. Young Thomas, son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Thomas, Route 3, Bristol, Tennessee, has won $1,473 in prize money at fairs and shows with his registered farm animals. His herds include 14 Angus and 30 Hereford cattle, 56 Yorkshire hogs, 40 sheep and 21 Holstein and Guernsey dairy cattle. The new Star Farmer has served as FFA delegate to the state convention at Nashville and the national convention in Kansas City. He holds the Star Green Hand and the Star Chap- ter Fanner degrees from the Holston Valley chapters. He is a member of the Ten- nessee Farm Bureau, a junior member of the National York- shire Club, the American Here- ford Association, the Angus Cat- tle Club and a member of the Sullivan County Artificial Breed- ers Association. The Thomas farm includes 325 acres of home farm and 495 acres of rented land, on which they raise 11 acres of tobacco and bale more than 30,000 bales of hay annually. 5