Brigitte Chastain Cook

A Tate Tradition Across Four Generations

“When you top the hill and see that Marble School, you know you are home.”

For Brigitte Chastain Cook, Tate has always been more than a school. Her grandmother, Kathryn Andrews, her mother, Kathy Andrews Chastain, Brigitte and her two daughters, Samantha Cook and Chandler Cook Myrick, all attended. Her grandmother’s connection goes back to the days when Tate went through high school. Four generations of the family have played on the same playground, sat in the same classrooms and gathered in the same auditorium and gym.

Brigitte’s own Tate memories are full of details that made the school feel like its own little world: the mural on the library wall, a bathtub where students could curl up with a book, wooden floors, a merry-go-round and the big playground. She remembers talent shows with friends and classmates, basketball teams coached by teachers, school Olympics, field trips and awards ceremonies.

Those memories stayed with her. After graduating from high school, Brigitte worked part time as a paraprofessional while earning her teaching degree. She began teaching at Tate in 1993 and spent about 14 years as a first-grade teacher. When Hill City opened, she transferred there, but Tate still felt like home. She later returned part time to teach art and music, and eventually worked as a substitute.

The people at Tate helped shape her path. Peggy Andrews was both a relative and a teacher before becoming one of the principals Brigitte worked for. Joan and Jim Locke, Sandra Gaines, Coach Luke Darby, Mr. Weeks and Mrs. Carver, the librarian, also left a lasting impression. Mrs. Carver even let Brigitte work in the library, helping spark a love that would later lead her to a career as a librarian.

For Brigitte, the strongest part of Tate has always been its people and the bonds they formed. She says some of her closest friendships began there, first as a student and later as a teacher. She loved seeing former students return with children of their own, continuing the generations of families connected to the school.

Tate has changed over the years, but Brigitte carries its closeness with her. As the school celebrates its 100th anniversary, she sees a place that has brought families together across generations and given students the beginning of their educational journey.

Her message to today’s Tate community is simple: “Continue to make Tate special and memorable for all who walk in the door.”

Joy Carver Fowler

A Tate Story That Came Full Circle

For Joy Carver Fowler, Tate Elementary has always been a family affair.

Her mother, Janie Buchanan Carver, graduated from Tate High School in 1951. Joy and her brother attended Tate from first through seventh grade, before continuing at Pickens High School. Later, Joy’s husband and sons also became Tate students. And Tate was where Joy’s own teaching career began.

As a student, Joy remembers teachers she respected, lively school traditions and a community that showed up for its children. During chapel in the auditorium, Mrs. Edna Bell Eubanks played piano as students marched in. PTA nights brought class plays, songs and talent shows, including clogging performances. The monthly award ceremonies recognized students for perfect attendance and Student of the Month.

Joy also remembers the excitement of Tate’s basketball games. In the 1960s, four elementary schools served the county, and the games between Tate, Marble Hill, Talking Rock, Jasper and Ludville drew packed crowds. Tate’s Bulldogs even had their own school newspaper, The Bulldog Bark.

One moment from Joy’s sixth-grade year stands out for its importance. When schools were integrated, her class welcomed three new classmates. It remains part of her memories of the teachers and students who shaped her time at Tate.

Years later, Joy returned to Tate as a fourth-grade teacher. She spent 18 years there before moving to Pickens Upper Elementary and then Jasper Middle School. She retired in 2011, grateful for the lifelong friends she made and the children she got to know along the way.

Some of her most vivid memories are tied to the auditorium stage. Tate’s Halloween Carnival brought the community together for bingo, a cake walk, a spook house and games. Students also performed in plays and talent shows. Joy remembers waiting nervously in the little room behind the stage for her turn at a piano recital. Mrs. John Eubanks taught piano lessons at Tate for decades, and, as Joy recalls, hundreds of recitals took place there.

The school has changed over the years, including the addition of its new cafeteria, but Joy says the dedication of Tate’s teachers and their love for children have remained. Today, she especially enjoys seeing former students and knowing that some of their grandchildren now attend Tate.

Joy is excited to celebrate Tate’s 100th anniversary and hopes to see former classmates and teachers at the event. After a lifetime of memories as a student, teacher and family member, she offers a reminder that reaches beyond the classroom: “Children might not remember the lessons you taught, but they will not forget the way you made them feel.”

Sandy Boling

“Once a Tater, Always a Tater”

A packed auditorium, children singing and speaking their lines, and a standing ovation at the end. For Sandy Boling, that was Tate: a school where students, families and staff came together to make something special.

Sandy knows Tate from nearly every angle. She attended from first through seventh grade, then returned after high school to work there for 32 years. She began as a kindergarten paraprofessional for her mother, Helen Ray, who taught at Tate for more than 30 years. In 1980, Helen’s class had 32 kindergarten students and one paraprofessional, so Sandy joined her. Later, Sandy worked in the office as a Student Data Records Clerk.

She remembers school as simpler then. Recess was a favorite, and students learned from books, wrote on notebook paper and brought home spelling, grammar and math assignments. Her seventh-grade teacher, Ms. Lela Brown, along with Jim Locke and Coach Darby, taught her that hard work and discipline could carry her through life.

As an employee, Sandy became “Ms. Sandy” to generations of students. She worked with many colleagues and watched several principals bring their own gifts to Tate. The school was small, she wrote, and felt like a close-knit family.

That closeness showed up in the traditions. PTO meetings often meant a grade-level play, with students singing, taking speaking roles and dressing up. Families helped with classroom parties, holiday celebrations, birthdays and Easter egg hunts. The annual Halloween Carnival offered a cake walk, bingo, fishing, a duck pull and a haunted house. There were talent shows, field days, Water Day and classroom Olympics, where students studied a country and opened their rooms to share what they had learned.

Parents came to eat lunch with their children. Teachers, principals, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and families all contributed to the life of the school. Sandy says she cannot quite explain the feeling of walking through the doors into the auditorium, but it gave her a special feeling every time.

She hopes people remember Tate for the love and compassion its employees showed students, and for the many prayers said for them over the years. As the school celebrates 100 years, Sandy’s words capture her lasting connection to the place: “Once a Tater, always a Tater.”