Hey Friends,

For over 70 years, two East Tennessee elementary schools have been fierce rivals, now that era has come to an end as the two schools become one.

East LaFollette was built back in the 1930's. Over the years many additions were made to the school that provided more room for the school to grow, same goes for West LaFollette, which went up during that same time.

They are staples in LaFollette and many of us that grew up in Campbell County have great memories of what school was like for us there.  We have favorite teachers, cherished times and unforgettable memories. 

We here at WVLT have a neat connection to the two schools.  Meteorologist and Reporter Jim Freeman attended West LaFollette about 40 years ago (so did my mom) and I was a student at East LaFollette about 20 years ago (my big sister also was an East LaFollette girl).  We decided to go back one last time before the schools closed their doors and became administrative offices.

Back when I was a student the kids at west would chant "West is best ... East is least" ... it made us so mad, haha! Now of course we knew that wasn't true and had plenty chants of our own.  But we decided to visit for a walk down memory lane before this rivalry is put to rest.

The stories air Thursday at 5:30 and 6:00.  If you read this blog later and miss them, you can re-watch them by visiting our home page and clicking on the video icons (I'll update the page tomorrow to make it easier for you to find the stories).   I'm also working on a slide show of my younger years. I hope to have that up and running by Friday afternoon.

East LaFollette ... I'll miss you ... thanks for the memories!  A special shout out goes to my teachers ... Mrs. Faulkner, Mrs. Dossett, Mrs. Brady, Mrs.Leach, Mr. Parks and Mrs. Jeffers! 

Please leave us  your comments .. we would love to hear about your moments at East or West.  Or if you are feeling nostalgic and want to leave where you went to school and a memory .. feel free!

Stacy :)
East LaFollette Class of 1991