Because of my local high school friends and the infamous class of 1971, the familiar Alma Mater (school song) was stopped. But for a very good reason and, accordingly, for a very lengthy time? The end result still applies today.
You see – they (1971 class) changed the last two words in the song as written below. Moreover, the singing of the Alma Mater has stopped at the local high school. Yet, for a brief shining moment, several members of the high school classes of 1971 and 1972 immensely enjoyed their new-found vocal freedoms. This “improved” version was the school’s Alma Mater for approximately six to seven years. There has been no official school song for more than 45-years! Pitiful.
Steve Cantrell, former DCHS student, recalled, “Fowler Stanton would have changed it back during the early 1970’s. I was in the band when he and some other people (other persons) had rewritten it…”
The targeted culprit was the DCHS band director, the late Fowler Stanton. His name has been mentioned several times by students as the “suspect” in-charge. However, there remains no preliminary evidence – only circumstantial.
“We learned it (Alma Mater) in chorus class under Peggy Palmiter. We were the class of 1988,” said Ronica Evans. This was 17-years following the “revised” song.
Donna Tramel Davis explained the DCHS Alma Mater was the same version at Liberty High School years earlier. The same answer came from Terry Foutch concerning the Cookeville High School’s similar Alma Mater. This is followed by Mary Lou Gilley who said the song was a form letter inserted into the school’s informational text brochures.
The school principal, Amon Snyder, was the topic of conversation at DCHS, so unknown students taught the new and “improved” Alma Mater, which was, in its entirety, an intensely discussed edition to the school’s programming schedule:
ORIGINAL ALMA MATER:
“In the center of our county,
Reared against the sky,
Proudly stands our alma mater,
As the years go by.
Forward, ever be our watchword,
Conquer and prevail,
Hail to thee, our alma mater,
DeKalb County High all hail.”
The original rendition was calm, prime, and uncensored. Some liberal students commented that this rendition “was boring.”
The following 1971 class’s new rendition of the school’s Alma Mater was, during the time, somewhat “shameful and embarrassing.” But not to me. We had become individualists. It was this version that the classes decided to sing to replace the original copy. It was this version that stopped the Alma Mater from ever being sung again in the confines of DCHS:
REWRITTEN ALMA MATER
“In the center of our county,
Reared again the sky.
Proudly stands our Alma Mater,
As the years go by.
Forward, ever, be our watchword,
Conquer and prevail,
Hail to thee our AMON SNYDER,
DEKALB COUNTY HIGH RAISE HELL.”
For posterity, the song was sung at the beginning of every sporting event or academic function. The author of the original song currently remains unknown, although it has been written to have derived from the readings and writings of another secondary school program in a different location. I do remember how the student body, while singing this song, would loudly enunciate the last two sentences! Many students would clap. Many students would stand. Many parents would look frightened. Many teachers would look terrified.
Kim Eddins Foutch remembers being a student in Opaline Love’s classroom at DCHS, “If you had Mrs. Love for homeroom, you learned the Alma Mater – and she made sure to point out, nearly every time, that the last two words were “ALL HAIL” and then she would spell it -H.. A.. I.. L... I think it was still sung in assemblies during my freshman year (1977-78), but I don’t really remember it much after that time. Probably, because the last two words were always changed to “Raise ----’’ when the whole school sang it!” In a quick reply, Terry Foutch remembered Love emphasizing the correct word spelling. Freddy Curtis remembered that the words of the original Alma Mater were printed on the back of the 1970’s graduation program. Jennifer Nokes said the class of 1994 did not have an anthem.
Categorically, the universal definition of an Alma Mater is an “allegorical Latin phrase used to proclaim a school that a person has attended or more precisely from which one has graduated.”
On another up slope, “The term entered academic use when the University of Bologna, Italy founded in 1088 and is the world’s oldest university still in operation. It is related to “alumnus,” literally meaning “nursing,” or “one who is nourished.” These terms are used for a graduate of a higher learning institution, such as colleges and universities.
Maybe the Alma Mater’s facsimile came from the Class of 1973. They had already made waves by making and designing their Homecoming float, which was almost empty of decorations and humanization and read, “Beat Eagles if it ain’t too much trouble!” It was the first, and only, class float banned from the Homecoming parade.
The memories and thoughts have increased, as has our ages. Regardless, it was an extraordinary time when we were graduated. Throughout the years, I have seen many classmates, while some I have not. In some respects, graduation was sad, but contrarily, it was one of the best days and times of our lives. We had accomplished the unthinkable – minus our Alma Mater. Later class reunions became thinner and thinner of classmates and their families. Increasingly, there, too, were more “In Memoriams” added to the event’s schedule with each passing year. On a sad note, and for unknown reasons, our 50th year class reunion in 2022 did not materialize.
To graduate from high school opened the doors for many more opportunities. They included: greater earnings, likelihood of retaining employment, likelihood of pursuing a higher education, and having more options in one’s career path.
Just recently, the good scoring news is that in reading proficiency, the local school system scored 32% or in the top 50% of students in Tennessee. In mathematics, only 12% of students were proficient. The high school graduation rate was 92%. Of current interests, the highest collegiate transfer schools are: Tennessee Tech, 41 students attending; MTSU, 25 students; Motlow (a two-year school), 17 students; UTK, 17 students; Vanderbilt University, 5 students; and Duke University, 5 students.
Additional DCHS information:
1130 West Broad Street
Smithville, TN 37166
Phone: (615) 597-4094
Web: www.dchstigers.com.
Stats: Grades 9-12; 840 students
Student/Teacher ratio: 16.1%
Minority enrollment: 18% Hispanic.
