We walk through these halls every day and that feels normal to us. But do we ever stop to think about how our school used to look, or how life was for the students before us? The initial school building was founded in 1898. In 1905, the district formed the first public school system in the Choctaw Nation, which included Poteau High School. As the school’s population grew, a new floor was added to the original stone building shortly after opening. Another update was needed in 1921, and another building was opened in 1968. We now have two buildings as well as a gym that we use almost every day, but even that was not the case for some of our teachers, who were here when they were in high school.
We have teachers who have been here for 28 years or more, continuing the Pirate legacy. Teachers like Ms. Hopper, Mrs. Quarry, and Mrs. Traywick are among the teachers who have been here continuing that legacy. When asked how the school has changed, all three responded with things like the different buildings. For example, all three mentioned that there has been a whole new building added since the time they went to high school here. For both Ms. Hopper and Mrs. Traywick, they were mainly in the senior hallway, which we no longer use. Many also mentioned that there have been remodels in existing buildings and even newly built detached buildings that we use now that weren’t there before. Some buildings include the Ag building, and the Fine Arts building. There have also been recent changes in the school that many currently enrolled would remember, like the BLK remodel.
While many of the buildings have changed and students have come and gone, the spirit of the pirate legacy still lingers in the halls. Although the surroundings change, students remain in a sense of youth. Of course, some things have changed for students, like the pressures of social media, that older generations didn’t have to go through. But all in all, teenagers will always have the same aura surrounding them. Whether it be an old building newly remodeled or a new building that some of the older generations never got to see, all of these halls still speak wisdom to the youth coming in.
