Lake View Schools, South Carolina
Story Narrative:
In collaboration with Dillon County Theatre Association in South Carolina, Liz Herlong's Broadcast Journalism student Braedyn Scott produced this story about the history of Lake View schools. Brenda Arnette and Debbie Church Jordan are interviewed about what their schools were like before being consolidated in 1971 during integration. Lake View High School aired a different segment about the area each Wednesday morning on the Gator TV Morning News broadcast as part of a series called, "Way Back Wednesdays." It was created for Museum on Main Street's Stories: YES program.
Over the years, Lake View Schools have changed, and doing so changed the community. The purpose of Lake View Elementary School is to develop positive young learners, by providing exciting and challenging educational opportunities for young learners through the community, which criticize creative thinking, and encouraging respect for all.
Braedyn Scott: [:30] Columbus High School was built in 1924 through 1925.
Brenda Arnette: [0:38] Good morning, my name is Brenda Arnette, and I am a Columbus High School graduate, class of 1967. Now, we had quite a lot of fun at Columbus High School, and our teachers were genuinely concerned in our education, and that we accomplished more than they accomplished.
Braedyn Scott: [1:00] Columbus High School was later turned into Lake View Middle School.
Brenda Arnette: [1:05] That was our place where we did everything, we'd gather there, we had meetings, we had parties, we had dances. It was the social point of the Black Lake View Community.
Debbie Jordan: [1:28] Hello, this is Debbie Jordan. Most of the class and the people from Lake View, will recognize me as Debbie Lynn Church. I graduated in 1971, and I want to explain to you a little bit about what our high school was like. We had the original high school, we had the two-story, it was a beautiful school. Everybody walked, you did not ride a school bus inside city limits.
Debbie Jordan: [2:09] It had, it was two-story. The upperclassmen had all of their lockers upstairs. The lower class, sometime that freshmen and sophomores, they had to have all their stuff downstairs. A pretty good description of what school was like, and what Lake View was like. If you like small towns, you would have liked Lake View. You would have enjoyed going to school there.
Braedyn Scott: [2:38] In 1971, Lake View High School and Columbus High School combined during integration. In the Fall of 1986, Lake View High School burned, and which has now has been updated to the latest technology, in which students use in the classrooms everyday, and advance their learning.
Braedyn Scott: [3:00] Through my research, I have learned that even though Lake View has faced many changes, the foundation of our community's education lies in the Lake View Schools.
Asset ID: 8552
Themes: Crossroads, schools, education, segregation, desegregation, community
Date recorded: 2019
Length of recording: 3:15 m
Related traveling exhibition: Crossroads: Change in Rural America
Sponsor or affiliated organization: Dillon County Theatre Association, Dillon, South Carolina
More information: https://museumonmainstreet.org/blog-node/south-carolina-students-kickstart-conversation-around-change
