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  Home Economics and Shop have been replaced by modern classes in computers and other 21^st century skills.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 9^th 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