B

East Ridge Middle School is ready to celebrate 50 years of educating children in Hamblen County. The school first welcomed students on September 1, 1972 in what is now known as Russellville Elementary School. In 2001 it moved to its current facility on St. Clair Road. Over the years the school has had five principals with George Johnson taking on the role first, in 1972. Fast forward 50 years and now Nick Darnell leads the middle school. Darnell who had previously taught at East Ridge for 13 years before taking a three year stint at Westview Middle School, is happy be back for the anniversary. “This is my home and I am so excited to return and take on the role of Principal and lead this school and help it grow just as the previous principals have,” he said. As the school prepares for its 50 year celebration, Darnell said the staff is excited to welcome back past students. “We are excited to welcome our alumni home,” said. “We know there are many who remember the old school so we are excited to show them our new building and show them everything that has changed over the years.” The celebration will take place April 15 at the school, and will begin at 8:30 a.m. For the first few hours the school will have an open house allowing alumni tours. At 11 a.m. the Bear Hunt 5K will kick off. The race is one of the two fundraisers that will be held at the 50 year celebration. Throughout the entire event a silent auction will be held in the gymnasium and will end at 12 p.m. Darnell explained the celebration is chance for alumni to look back over the many years the school has been serving the community. “We’re going to have cases of trophies, old pictures and yearbooks set up in the gym so people can walk by and say ‘oh that’s me’ or ‘I was a part of that team that won that trophy.’” “I think alumni will be surprised to see how well kept the school is and how we were able to preserve the history over the years,” he said. “Someone who attended this school 20 years ago can come back and say ‘oh wow it looks just like when I went here’ because we pride ourselves on maintaining our building’s appearance.” Darnell is also thrilled to invite back faculty who have dedicated their careers to the middle school. “We are excited to bring back some of our old faculty back because we have a rich history of staff start working here and never leaving which is amazing.” Darnell highlighted the past and present staff and their dedication to educating students. “The majority of our current teachers have worked in this building for 11 years or more; only 10 of our staff have been working at this school for 10 years or less. We take pride on being able to offer our community experienced teachers who love their job and who are very hardworking. “All of our teachers give their all, they sign up to coach sports, they are excited to help with fundraisers and do whatever is necessary to ensure our kids are enjoying school and are getting an amazing education.” Darnell explained that most of the staff continue to support the school, even in retirement. “We also have retirees who come back to help,” he said. “We have several subs working today that are retired teachers who used to work in this school.” “I believe people stay here and come back because we build a community here at East Ridge. We are a family. I have worked at East Ridge for 17 years and I am so proud to be working here and be a part of this.” Assistant Principal Traci Jefferson mentioned how the school supports its staff and how in return the staff supports the students. “We take the time to listen to our staff and see what they need to be successful and teach our kids and in doing so our teachers work even harder to support our students, she said. “Our mission statement is achieving excellence together. Our teachers have bought into it; achieve because we work hard, excellence because we give our best and together because we are all in this together.” Darnell explained that with the staff’s support the school is able to produce well rounded students. “We always have room to grow, but we love to highlight our academic success, that could not be possible without our amazing staff,” he said. “For years our students have been successful academically and we have been a steady force and have prepared our student for high school and college. “East Ridge has always been proud to produce a well-rounded child. Among our students we promote service, creativity and athletic success.” He explained how the school is able to create amazing well-rounded students. “With our long list of clubs and sports we are able to challenge our students and teach them core values to help them be their best selves.” “Through Beta Club our students complete several hours of community service hours and they are hands on helping the community,” he said. “We want them out in our community actually seeing those in need and lending them a helping hand.” “Our students have competed in many Beta Club Conventions and have had great success. They work on art project, creative writing project and group talent all of which helps them foster their creativity.” “Lastly we have had great success with our sports. As you walk through the halls you can see how our students have numerous championships because they have worked hard and given their all. We are starting soccer this year and so far our girls’ team has been undefeated, so we are seeing continued athletic success.” However, with the school’s continuous progress Darnell is actually working to help the school return to what it was like before the pandemic. “COVID was rough on every school and not being able to do what we were used to was hard on the students,” he said. “So this year we are working on bringing back normalcy to our school. We are trying to get our culture back, and do all the things a middle schooler does.” “We are bringing back the things kids know and love like going to Beta Club Convention or participating in a day game.” “This year we had our first school dance since COVID,” he said. “This is the first day dance many of the students have ever participated in and they had so much fun and we had a great turn out; we had around 80% of the student body attended the dance.” To register for the Bear Hunt 5K or for more information about the 50 Year Celebration, call 423-581-3041.