ALMA MATER
Proudly stands our dear old Pacolet
Faithful, strong and
true.
May her banners fly forever,
All the long years
through!
Dear Old Pacolet, how we love you;
You're our joy and
pride.
Never shall we fail to serve you;
You will be our guide.
Pacolet, Pacolet, proud old Pacolet,
You'll forever reign;
In our hearts and in our memories,
You'll remain supreme.
Thoughts on the closing of Pacolet High School.
"MAY HER BANNERS FLY FOREVER"
Pacolet High
School is no more. Alas, even though her Alma Mater
proudly declared her banners would be eternal, they fly
no more. Her banners have been furled, her colors struck
and the last note sounded. Even all of her
buildings now have been torn down. After almost 50 years
of loyal community service, it is gone forever.
Pacolet High School - The name has a ring of
familiarity and affection that still strikes most of its
graduates. Some forty or fifty years later, the
name still has emotional overtones.
Probably to most people a high school is just
a high school. Indeed, it seemed like that to many
Pacolet students while they were in attendance. But yet,
when they graduate and get the broader perspective of
age and experience and distance the true uniqueness of
Pacolet High School begins to emerge.
It’s hard to define really, the thing
that makes a school a special and sacred kind of
place. All schools generally have the same type
material things. Pacolet possibly lacked some material
things that many other schools had.
But in things of the spirit Pacolet had
a great abundance. The core of this was probably the
people that were drawn to it as teachers and principals
and superintendents and janitors and secretaries and
lunch room workers and maintenance personnel. There
seemed to be a feeling among most all of these people
that what they were doing was important and with direct
bearing on the future of many lives. And so it
was. This spirit was subtly, passed along to the
students and gave the student body a sense of purpose.
Not that the students and staff were lacking
in a sense of humor or even a sense of hysteria
sometimes. But underneath, most every one seemed to
sense that they were all engaged in serious business and
generally behaved accordingly.
As a building is built brick by brick, so was
Pacolet High School built by the unheralded and often
unnoticed acts of hundreds of teachers and students. Now
it’s gone. The traditions and classes and Halloween
carnivals and sports and gym classes all have passed.
But have they really disappeared?
Schools are sacred places and affect the lives of the
people passing through them in much the same way as
churches.
So it seems then that maybe the
sacraments and catechisms learned at the altar of
Pacolet High School are passed along in more remote
places, and all of its dedicated peoples were its
priests and bishops and apostles.
