By Mary Freitas
Welcome to Maple Junior High.  Yes, we are still at Maple Junior High in heart and spirit.  But Sunday afternoon, September 25, from 3-6p, we were there in full force.  Who?  All who ever worked at Maple from 1973 to the spring of 2000 when the seventh grade of Maple Junior High would be no more.  In the fall of 2000 the students would be located at JV Martin.
Maple Junior High was a family of its own.  Sometimes we had over 400 students.
We had three schools (A school, B school and C school), each with math, science, English , reading and social studies and we had three sets of teachers for each school and one physical education for all schools. It was so much fun – always competition, especially on Field Day when Mr. Manning expected his homeroom to win all of the events and most of the time they did.
We had field trips to the state fair, the SC farmers market and to Charleston and Ms. Freitas usually drove the school activity bus. We participated in the Geography Bee and Spelling Bee. One year the entire school went to Carowinds and we made four trips to Florida.
Ms. Freitas began writing Maple Leaves of Gold many years ago and her last one was June 1, 2000.  The students and teachers always provided the information.  The following are excerpts from Mrs. Campbells English classes :
Dear Mrs. Yates…I am writing to tell you how special you are in keeping our school so clean.
Dear Mrs. Bethea…thank you for our great library.
Dear Mrs Berry…I appreciate you serving me lunch in the cafeteria.
Dear Ray…Thank you for keeping the lunchroom clean. You are a good man – only you have the plans for your future.
Dear Mrs. Fincannon…I appreciate you because you help me read.
Dear Mrs. Stephens…you make Science really fun. You have helped me a lot.
Dear Mrs. Moody…you have really helped me this year.
Dear Mr. Rouse…You are important because you teach us how to play instruments.
Dear Mr. Johnson…you are special because you help me solve math problems
Dear Mrs. Tolar… thank you because you are good to us.
Dear Miss Morris…I have learned a lot in your class
Dear Miss Richardson…you have really helped the discipline in this school
Dear Mr. Manning…I want to thank you for all the hard work you put forth for us. I feel like you want me to make a hundred
Dear Ms. Freitas…you are a special person because you want us all to be in the chorus and you are at this school because you want us to learn history and geography
Dear Mrs. Green..I think it is wonderful you send the kids home if they have no9t had their shots yet
Dear Mrs. Gunter…you are a special person. You have helped me in so many ways and you are always smiling
Dear Mrs. Campbell…you are special to me and I know you love helping me and I know by learning I can get a job when I get out of schools.
Dear Mrs. Hughes I appreciate all you do for me in math
Dear Mrs. Mills…you are teaching me so many things in math I did not know. You are my favorite teacher
Dear Coach Floyd…you are special because you help us with all of the sports. I even like golf now
These letters made the teachers and staff feel much better about themselves.
We always loved the Book Fairs and the Electronic Bookshelf really helped the students with their reading .
comprehension.
The Miss Maple Pageant and Talent Show was a big part of our school. Our first one was in 1978 to raise money to buy a movie projector.  We bought a lot of things we need for our school during the 22 years we produced these programs.  The students loved singing in the chorus and the pageant girls had to do essays, interviews, high grades and fund raising. These activities determined the winners, not looks.  We referred to our program as The Maple Leaves of Gold Revue.  We did this for 22 years.  The last two years we had a Mr. Maple as well as Miss Maple.  The last one we had in the spring of 2000, Ms. Freitas was crowned “Mrs Maple”. The reason everything at Maple was always a success is because everyone took part and we worked together as The Maple family.
Maple Junior High is so proud of our students because we have students that are now mayors, school superintendents, city council members, county council members, school board members, county managers, and so many more than we can name.  We are so proud of the teachers here at Maple from 1973 to 2000 who helped these young people to become leaders in our country.
We had such a wonderful Maple Reunion this past Sunday and we thank everyone who came back  to Maple Junior High.  We had so much food and boy did we “pig” out.  We watched some “Miss Maple” shows and for those of you who didn’t come you missed the big Maple shootout with . Bill Johnson, Bo Manning, Nadene Tolar, Dale Hardaway.  Bill Rauh was the Master of Ceremonies for the “Wild West: program.  We also watched our last Christmas Miss Maple video with Mr. Manning as Master of Ceremonies.
We had a Memorial Table set up for Margie Bass, Jenny Berry, Jeanette Brady, Tim Brunson, Joann Hamer, Bessie Jackson, Irene Madison, Bo Manning, Willie Dell McQueen, Eleanor Miller, Doris Oliver, Shelia Roberts, Walter Smith, Pete Steele, Novella Swinney,  LouBelle Thomas, Nadine Tolar, Bill Walters, Gwen Williams.  They gave their best to Maple Junior High.  We loved them and we will never forget them and their love for Maple Junior High.