WCHS class photos have not been destroyed

 Recently, pictures that have long-stood in the hallways of White County High School have been removed, and some members of the community became concerned that the school’s history was being pushed aside.

“White County High School has many traditions that have continued through the years of its existence,” White County High School principal Greg Wilson said. “Our administrative team realizes that keeping with our heritage is very important, but changes have to be made at times due to updates and reasons beyond our control.”

Wilson specifically addressed the composites that were taken of the school’s walls.

“We painted last summer, so they were taken down to paint behind them,” he explained, but said that it was true that the pictures had not yet been returned to the places they had hung, some for decades. “Our plan is to display some, but not all, of the original composites. We simply are running out of room in our halls.”

Wilson knows this will cause some concern and possibly upset some community members, so he was quick to explain the decision.

“Many of these composites are in bad shape. Some of the older ones have faded so much that names are not readable,” he explained and the school is currently searching for a professional to rewrite those names. “Frames and adhesives have also deteriorated over the years. This will only get worse as they continue to age.”

He said it is not a new problem, and the school has known for some time that something needed to be done to preserve the composites.

“All of the composites will be scanned professionally and displayed digitally in our hallway and on our school website,” Wilson said.

Wilson further explained  a solution has be decided on so as to continue to preserve the pictures as well as the school’s tradition of honoring the classes who have walked through the halls of White County High School.

“This will allow a viewer to type in a year and have the whole composite displayed,” he said.

Wilson then added a special thanks to the Class of 1970, which he said reached out to help with the costs related to preserving the pictures.

Wilson understands the concern from community members as the process has taken longer than expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which  has made it appear the school simply removed the pictures and has moved on, but he assured everyone this is not the case.

“Please be patient.  None of the composites have been or will be discarded,” he said, and then added the removal of the pictures has actually guaranteed their preservation. “Our building is about to go through some remodeling projects which will affect the main hallway; removing the composites for the time being will protect them even more.”

 While traditions are a great way of preserving history and change is always difficult, Wilson reminded everyone that it is also a natural part of growth.

“Please remember that we are working in a 60-year-old building,” he said. “Our goal is to try to update when possible, while keeping up with traditions. This means that we will have to make changes sometimes.”