Down Memory Lane at Blackwell High School

Recently Larry and I had the privilege of going down memory lane with Cathy.

Larry accepted the invitation to be the pastor at the First Church of the Nazarene in Blackwell, Oklahoma and we moved there in July 1971. Cathy began her junior year of high school there in August 1971. It was a good fit for her last two years of high school. She was invited to be the high school choir/ensembles pianist/accompanist. As a new student that helped her integrate into the campus activities.

It seems Cathy's DNA was designed for her to be a teacher. When she was a little girl she would teach her dolls ... and if she and friends would play school, she would volunteer to be the teacher. So it was no surprise that in high school she still felt the pull to be a teacher; she just didn't know what she wanted to teach. In the 1970s Oklahoma English curriculum gave students the option of English for four years and the last semester of their senior year, they had a choice of either Literature, Journalism or Speech.

Cathy chose Speech and Mrs. Denton was the teacher. That class changed her life forever ... it was then she realized she wanted to teach Speech. She graduated from Blackwell High School in 1973, enrolled in Speech Communication at Bethany Nazarene College (now Southern Nazarene University) where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1977, and her Masters degree in Education in 1981. She was privileged to become involved in SNU's Adult Education Program and now has her Doctorate in Education and is a Professor and Director of the Organizational Leadership Program. It all started in a Blackwell High School classroom in 1971.

We were on our way to Wichita, Kansas on June 11th and had time to drive through Blackwell and down Memory Lane. A former classmate of Cathy's class happened to be at the school, admitted us to the building, and he and Cathy walked down Memory Lane through the halls and past various classrooms. Cathy wanted to see Mrs. Denton's former classroom (at the end of the East Hall). She said they have switched the desks some but basically it looked the same and is pictured above for documentation.

Larry and I also had the privilege to go down Memory Lane. We drove past the parsonage and the church. The church is still an inviting structure and makes a good impression for the Church of the Nazarene.