LOREAUVILLE HIGH SCHOOL
Few people have had the
privilege of growing up in a village as nurturing as Loreauville. We had
amazing teachers, nuns, and priests who guided our intellectual, religious, and
social development.
The two story
red brick Loreauville High School still sits on Main Street in the middle of
town, very convenient for those who live within walking distance or a short bus
ride or drive for those who don’t. Main
Street was the west boundary of the school, and a railroad was its eastern
boundary. The shrill whistle and a low rumble of the train, the freight cars
carrying bagasse, molasses, or refined
sugar, frequently interrupted classes or football games.
Built around 1941, the central building is one of the oldest continuously
in use school campuses in Iberia Parish.
The campus is different today than it was in the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s.
The Home Economics cottage is gone, and modern buildings dot the campus. A new
large tiger sculpture, our beloved mascot, guards the campus entrance. The original attached gymnasium was replaced
in 1979 by a larger gymnasium across Main Street. Home Economics and Shop have been replaced by
modern classes in computers and other 21st century skills. Live Oak
trees still provide shade and cool spots to linger with friends or to
read. We remember the heat of late
summer and late spring, when the open classroom windows provided the only
source of cooling wind. It was years
later that air conditioning would come to Loreauville schools, but until its
arrival, you sweated and prayed for a breeze.
For the majority of us,
our experience began at the elementary school.
For graduates before 1969, all of the campuses from grades 1 through 12 were
located at the original campus in the center of town. After 1969, the elementary school was opened
on Railroad Avenue, and the old elementary school transitioned into Junior High
(grades 6, 7, & 8). In 2013, a newly constructed, modern elementary school
opened on Ed Broussard Road, just down the street from LHS.
Our school year started
in September and ended in early May. Summer school was rare. Four glorious months of vacation was our just
reward for eight months of academics.
The last two weeks of August always seemed funereal.
As is often the case in small rural towns, the kids you met in first
grade were largely the same group you saw through graduation. Class sizes were small, typically between 40
and 75 students per grade with average graduating class size of approximately
65 students. Few students transferred in or out in the
intervening years, and classes became large families where students knew their
classmates and families all too well.
We all remember smelling the oil mopped wooden floors, crowding in the dark, walking up the
narrow enclosed stairs to get to the library and Mr. Dressel’s (Mr. D ‘s) lab,
hearing the staccato sounds of typewriters in Harry LeBlanc’s classroom,
watching Mr. Hebert wave his baton as he led the band through a new piece of
music, lining up in the cafeteria for lunch, running to the gym to get dressed
for PE, and talking at the lockers between classes.
Our parents could get to school in a heartbeat if we got into trouble.
Everyone had the chance to play sports. We had prom, FFA dances, Homecoming,
and pep rallies in the gym.
Our teachers were exceptional, nurturing, well prepared, influential, and smart. Certain faculty
members were legendary. For years, the guardian of the library was Miss Candide
Breaux, until replaced by Mrs. Myrna Ryan in the 70’s. Benny Lissard was both
math instructor and football coach until replaced by Earl Price. Mr. Russell
Dressel was a fixture throughout the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. The Home Economics teacher Mrs. Lalonde was replaced by Mrs. Berard. Mrs. Shaw was
replaced by Mrs. Sandra Wallins. Teachers took class attendance by memory. They knew who was sick, who drove to school,
who rode a bike, who walked, and who skipped classes. Truancy was non-existent. Your absence from classes or events was noticed immediately.
Perfect attendance was common at LHS.
Mr. D (Dressel) ran the
Science lab, an authentic lab with real and dangerous chemicals. Natural Gas fired burners with both toxic and
non toxic chemicals were stored in the lab.
You could actually concoct (under
supervision) dangerous chemical brews unless Mr. D’ prohibited it. Chemicals
and lab equipment were gone by the late 1980’s. Mr. D knew students’ learning
styles, created camaraderie, and used
humor to alleviate our anxiety about Biology, Chemistry and Physics.
Mr. Bernard “Benny”
Lissard taught us math. He explained mathematical concepts in simple language.
The blackboard in his room had football plays lined up close to algebraic equations.
He strongly advised his football players to be disciplined on and off the
field.
Mrs. Olive Shaw taught
Senior Literature. We read Shakespeare’s
plays from a book with no pictures. She made us stand, recite, and explain
lines from Macbeth. She could eviscerate
a student verbally if she thought we hadn’t done our homework.
We walked under a
portico to get to Mrs. Lalonde’s Home Ec
cottage. She taught us civility, style, and modesty, as well as cooking
meals from scratch. We learned to sew an apron in 9th grade, and by
the time we were seniors, we were fashioning lined wool suits. She told us to
wear Postage Stamp girdles to hide our figure flaws and made us take essay
tests. In those days girls took Home Ec, and boys took Shop. There were a few brave individuals who defied convention, but that was rare.
Miss Candide Breaux held court in the library. She was a stern
disciplinarian because she wanted us to appreciate and understand the value of reading. The library
contained books. And little else. You went there to read. Quietly.
If you didn’t, Miss Breaux’s laser glare would encourage you to pretend
to love reading.
Mr. Sandy Oubre taught Agriculture, Mechanics, and other skills in a
large classroom near the football stadium just behind the school. Not only did
he teach students the science of farming, he inspired them to leadership roles
in FFA and took them on field trips to Angola State Penitentiary so they could understand
the consequences of bad decisions. In the spring, the AG students planted a garden
on school grounds. A greenhouse yielded
plants for the entire town to purchase for their own gardens. In high school, the navy blue Future Farmers
of America (FFA) jackets were highly prized, as were the gold and black leather
letter Football jackets. Both were status symbols and a rite of
passage for many students.
Teachers were forever Mr. LeBlanc, or Mr. Lissard, or Miss Breaux. Even after you married and sent your own
children to attend LHS, it was not uncommon for you to address your former
teachers as you did in high school, instead of as Harry, Benny, or Candide.
Heaven forbid.
Elementary and junior
high students in the 70’s and 80’s classes were often segregated into
“Advanced, Average, and Slow” in each grade.
In elementary school and Junior high, you had a desk that you owned for the year.
Books were stored in a metal compartment underneath your seat. If you needed a book, you just reached down
and grabbed it. You carried your books
in your arms. Lockers were where books
were stored when not needed for class.
School books had a place for your name on the inside where some of you
wrote your name under the signature of an older family member.
It was a right-handed world. If
you were left-handed, you knew the existence and location of every left-handed
desk in the school. The rare left-handed
desk often meant sitting sideways most of your academic life.
Cell phones, texting, computers were all far into the future. Our classroom days consisted of taking notes
in pen or pencil on tablets or loose
leaf paper held in 3 ring binders.
Discrete communication between students was by a whisper or a
scrawled note.
You wrote on a
chalkboard with real chalk. You admired and
envied good chalk penmanship. Pounding erasers outside on the brick wall
was either a punishment for unruly students or a privilege for the academically
inclined.
Media meant 8mm &
16mm films in a projector. Maps were stored in a pull down/roll up over a black
chalkboard.
The history of the
school, the teacher, your friends, your family, and your class was written on
the wooden chair top where you sat. That
graffiti showed every bored student’s thoughts and ideas over a 20 year period. You could spend hours and days moving from
chair to chair and from room to room reading the thoughts and words of your
previous classmates.
Your graded tests were
sometimes returned publicly. A teacher
might call your name, and you walked to the front of the classroom as your grade was announced. You were “hont” (embarrassed) if you bombed a
test.
Some assignments were
ordeals that you agonized over for weeks or months. Projects were often due mid-year or end of
year terms. There was always a rush to
finish and submit on time. In
person. By handing the assignment to
your teacher. Sometimes while he was
standing in the door of his home. At
night.
The kindness and
forgiveness of teachers was common. If you
struggled academically, you might be allowed extra work to improve your grades. Hard work was
rewarded, and teachers understood and invested
in the success of all their students, not just the academically weak.
A substitute teacher
might well have been your own mother. That was either the height of shame or
pride, depending on your grade level.
Summer meant your math or science teacher moonlighting as a Driver’s
Education instructor. Cars outfitted
with dual controls were obtained from dealerships in New Iberia or St.
Martinville, and you learned how to drive from the same person who tried to
teach you math and science. Seat belts
were available but remained
safely tucked away inside the seat cushions.
Wearing a seat belt slowly came into vogue in later years.
You walked two blocks down the street from school to the church hall for
Catechism classes that were staggered by grade and age. A grade for catechism appeared on the white
folding grade cards distributed at the end of each six week academic period. Non-Catholic students stayed behind for art
and other elective classes. This
practice ended in the late 1970’s when Catechism was moved to Wednesday nights
after school.
We had respect for our country and our school. The school day often began
with homeroom and a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. You stood at attention with your hand over
your heart, and you recited the Pledge with vigor and patriotism.
When a teacher or other faculty member walked into a room, we were
silent, then we said in unison, “Good Morning, Mrs. Segura,” and she responded,
“Good Morning Class.” You stood aside to let a teacher pass in a hallway.
Corporal punishment (paddling) was common. If you really misbehaved, the
Principal or Vice Principal spanked you, and your parents spanked you again when
you got home.
The school uniform was
what you may have worn to church or some other special event. Jeans were allowed. Cut off jeans were not. Girls had to kneel to get their skirts
measured. Boys had to be clean shaven and wear a shirt with a collar. Ties were
optional. A boy’s hair could not touch his collar. Haircuts were free in
the principal’s office.
Many classrooms, the
cafeteria, the “Ag” room, and the Gym office had old fashioned telephones with
listed numbers in the phone book. A
parent could pick up the phone and call any of these places to talk to a child
or teacher. Phones in those rooms began
disappearing in the late 80’s. Phone
books from the 1970’s listed numbers called “Cafeteria, Band Room, Agriculture,
Gym, Principal’s office, and Teachers
Lounge.”
The old attached
gymnasium provided a visual history of previous
sport championships. Flags proclaiming
district or state championships in football, basketball, and baseball hung
throughout the gym, reminding current students of their brothers’ and sister’
or mothers’ and fathers’ earlier victories over their school rivals.
A trophy case placed at
the entrance of the high school provided another constant reminder of the
triumphs of previous years. Every
student walked by that trophy case, many hoping to contribute to the placement of another
hard won trophy. Gym period over the
years included Archery, Running, Basketball, Baseball, Dancing, Weight Lifting,
Gymnastics, Calisthenics,
Push-ups, Sit-Ups, Jumping Jacks, and running up and down the
concrete stairs of the stadium. Many of these activities were retired in later years.
Our yearbook, Loromates, captured a moment in time year after year. You could visit the library and discover a
picture of a parent or sibling from first grade all the way through graduation.
The school cafeterias
were staffed by mothers who cooked our favorite meals from scratch. The scent
of baking bread or some other delicious recipe drifted into the morning
classrooms, making the arrival of the
lunch hour seem hours away. When the
lunch bell rang, we rushed to the cafeteria to eat with our friends, and it all
seemed like a family meal rather than a school lunch room. We lined up, and asked, “Can I have more?”
rather than “I won’t eat that.” Teachers sat at one table, watching and participating in the cacophony of
sounds during lunch time.
Recess and socializing on the school grounds followed lunch, one of our
favorite, memorable moments of the day. Our teachers supervised.
Today lunch duty has a pejorative connotation. To our teachers, it was
constructive supervision.
The custodians were
part of our LHS family. We treasured and
respected them. Mr. Otto Girouard and Mr. Emmette Dauterive kept the building
clean. They were friendly and professional, and they were everywhere. So we had
to behave, because they saw more than we wanted them to.
LHS has at its center a working stage that was used for plays, concerts,
and assemblies. It was a convenient sitting place during recess or other breaks
to sit above the crowd to see or to be seen.
Plays were common, from
middle school all the way up to the Senior Play. Seasonal plays (Easter, Thanksgiving,
and Christmas) and band concerts
provided entertainment for the whole town.
Vending machines sold cokes and candy. Cigarette vending machines existed in the teachers’ lounge
for a short period in the late 60’s and 70’s.
The teacher’s lounge was easy to spot with clouds of smoke wafting out
during lunch and class breaks.
From the elementary school to the High School, it was common to see
hundreds of bicycles parked outside the school during school hours. In those days, you walked, rode a bike, a
bus, or hitched a ride to school. The parent
taxi was uncommon. Seniors may have had
cars. A student driving to school was
rare indeed.
Before school, during recess, and after school, we could wander the
grounds or sit in an empty classroom to study or visit with a friend. There were no fences or locked doors. If you
were one of the lucky few, you were allowed to return home for lunch.
In the “good old days,”
it wasn’t uncommon for kids to have impromptu
games of baseball or football on the high school field. The days of fenced in school grounds with
ID’s and security did not yet exist.
School life mimicked
the seasons of our community and reflected what was going on in a given day or
week. The whistle from Breaux’s Bay
Craft started the day, sounded lunchtime, and ended the work day at 5pm as
effectively as school bells sounding the start and end of the school day. St. Joseph’s Catholic Church sounded noon
bells for the practicing Catholics to spend a
moment praying the Angelus.
In the fall the school
reverberated with the sound of tractors hauling sugarcane to the mill, many of
the farmers wearing FFA jackets as previous students and graduates. Fall also meant hunting season. A sure sign
of opening day were the empty seats scattered throughout the school as boys
headed to the woods with their fathers for deer and duck season.
In the fall and winter,
smoke from burning cane fields would waft into every inch of the school. At recess, you could gather a little cane
fallen from the passing carts for a quick sugar treat.
Fall also meant football games, homecoming, and parades, right down the
center of Main Street. Homemade floats
gave a platform to the homecoming court and the football team.
Spring brought warm weather and basketball, then Easter break and baseball. Almost all the games took place
in the stadium behind the high school or in the attached gymnasium.
The school was the center of both educational and social activity at
night, bringing together not only competing teams, but families and neighbors
as well.
The premature death of anyone at LHS, classmate or not, was traumatic and
personal because you knew them or their siblings. It was always a shock, and
you remember it to this day.
Our favorite haunts were across or just down the block from school. Aunt
Tee’s served Blue Plate lunch specials at her restaurant, and McHugh’s Pharmacy
was also a soda shop. T Lee’s was our
favorite place to dance to music from the jukebox and bum cigarettes from
locals. Masso’s, George’s, Crip’s and the movie theater were all in the same
block near the center of town.
The weekends were also opportunities for the students to have their own
social gatherings in town for a scheduled dance or other social event. The Catholic Church hall provided many
memories for dances, proms, and other school related events.
Each year at graduation came the realization that this moment was the
last time all of us would be in the same place at the same time after spending
so many years together.
The friendships you formed at LHS last a lifetime.
—Pat Dugas Barras© and
Tommy Dugas
