Latest news with #HamptonHighSchool
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Hampton High School seniors carrying diplomas with empowerment
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL)—The Hampton High School Class of 2025 walked the stage on Saturday, concluding their perseverance through Hurricane Helene's egregious challenges. Hurricane Helene caused severe flooding in Hampton, resulting in significant permanent damage to the high school and an uncertain future for its students. 'We didn't have school for two months,' senior Briley Davis said. 'You know, that's a big thing for us that we missed out on so much.' When class returned, students were placed at a local elementary school, leaving many seniors concerned about how they would receive their diplomas. 'Graduation, it was like the biggest [question] of them all,' senior Wyatt Robinson said. 'Other than where everybody else was going to school.' Community pleased with decision to rebuild Hampton High School 'Back to Covid, whenever they had their graduation at the Stateline Drive in,' Davis said. 'And I was concerned if we had to do that again. What we were going to do, nobody knew.' Students held their heads high while their community reminded them they were Bulldogs, no matter where they were learning from. 'Everybody's pushing us forward,' Davis said. 'Everybody's happy to see us graduate. They're happy to see Hampton come back and excel from the disasters that we had. And it's great.' 'I was also glad that ETSU was like, 'Hey, we'll let you use the Martin Center to be able to graduate,'' Robinson said. Many seniors agreed that weathering the lows brought them a new sense of empowerment. 'We know that we can go through treacherous roads and still make it out through the end,' Davis said. 'If they made it through this year, they can make it through anything,' Hampton High School Principal Kayla Clawson said. Clawson said that the school is working to rebuild and hopes future classes have a more 'normal' experience. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
TCAT-Elizabethton helps Hampton High rebuild automotive program
ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. (WJHL) — Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT)-Elizabethton has helped pave a way for Hampton High School's automotive students after Hurricane Helene. Hampton High School was severely impacted by Hurricane Helene, and its automotive program was affected. Student loans in default will be sent to debt collection, education officials say According to a news release from TCAT-Elizabethton, the automotive program was successfully relocated to the Carter Tech Center. Recognizing the struggles and importance of the educational program, TCAT-Elizabethton stepped in to provide resources and support. The college purchased and installed a four-post automotive lift and coordinated with Snap-On Tools to replace toolboxes and equipment that were damaged in the flood. TCAT-Elizabethton President Heath McMillian stressed the importance of community unity and helping students when tragedy strikes. 'Thank you to TCAT for this partnership that helped us get relocated and up and going again,' Hampton High School automotive instructor Bruce Wiltshire said in the release. 'This partnership through dual enrollment is instrumental for our students.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Community pleased with decision to rebuild Hampton High School
CARTER COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) – The Carter County Board of Education voted to repair Hampton High School, which was significantly damaged by Hurricane Helene in September 2024. The decision was one of four options the board considered, according to Carter County Director of Schools Brandon Carpenter. 'Several options involved the consolidation of a couple of different high schools,' Carpenter said. 'But in the end, financially, all of those were a very large commitment that we would have to go to the county to make. And we felt like in the benefit for all of our citizens and our students, that the best option was to rebuild in its current location.' Carter County BOE votes to repair Hampton High School at current location Carter County Mayor Patty Woodby is a Hampton alumnus and has a child attending the school. She told News Channel 11 that several mitigation elements, like a retaining wall, were needed to keep the school where it is and protect it from any future floods. 'Every piece of property in the Hampton area is in a floodplain or a floodway,' Woodby said. 'There would have been no better location to move a school to other than where it's sitting at now. We can keep the school where it's located, and FEMA and TEMA and TDEC and all the powers that be are going to allow us to do the proper mitigation to protect that school and keep this from happening in the future.' Principal Kayla Clawson said it's been emotional for her and her staff as they try to keep everyone together through this time. Hampton students told News Channel 11 there's a sense of excitement since getting the news, and they're thankful that there's finally light at the end of the tunnel. 'It's been really positive, and it's just kind of like a burden has been lifted, you know?' Hampton junior Jackson Smith said. 'Everybody's been kind of like sluggish because we really didn't know what was going to happen. So after hearing the news last night, everybody's been really excited and positive to be able to get back in our own school.' 'Sometimes it takes patience, but they have adapted so well and been so flexible through this whole process,' Clawson said. 'The faculty, the staff, the kids, they've done an amazing job. They're really the superstars in this.' Clawson said they've made the most of their time in the Keenburg Elementary building. While it wasn't ideal, it brought the school and the community together. 'It's been such a blessing that we had somewhere to go, that it's a roof over our head and it's clean,' Clawson said. 'It's been the best possible scenario for us. I think that's also a testimony to our community and the values that we hold in sticking together and overcoming obstacles together.' The students have been resilient through it all and appreciate the hard work of the county. 'Nothing short of a miracle happened last night,' Smith said. 'And I want to thank Mayor Patty and our board members and our administrators and Dr. Carpenter because they have worked tirelessly through the entire thing from start to finish to be able to get us back into our own school. And I just want to thank them for that.' According to Carpenter and Woodby, the county expects the project to be done and the students to return in January 2026. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hampton High School yard sale still happening despite location change
ELIZABETHTON, Tenn. (WJHL) — Hampton High School seniors had their final year disrupted by Hurricane Helene, and now the community is coming together to provide these students with a memorable prom. The yard sale at Hampton High School is an annual tradition, but this year it looks different. 'This year is going to go for prom expenses,' senior Dru Nickles said. 'Just kind of all of the expenses for senior year. And especially with our situation, we could really use some extra money.' Johnson City Commission approves $250k for Tri-Cities Airport expansion Hurricane Helene severely impacted the school and forced its relocation. This move left students feeling uncertain about their future. 'Not knowing what was going to happen for so long, it was different,' Senior Tori Casbeer said. 'It was a hard thing to hear when the school, we couldn't go back and everything.' The school took over the former Keenburg Elementary School building, which is smaller than the former high school. Both Casbeer and Nickles said the community has stepped up to help make the process easier for the students. 'So normally, we start getting donations like a month before and we just store it in like closets and everywhere we can,' Casbeer said. 'But we really don't have the space for any of that. So I think the earliest donation we got was like a week before the yard sale. So the community is really helping with bringing everything in a reasonable time. A lot of donations have been made today so that we have time to set everything up and we don't have to worry about storage.' 'The community's just really come together to make everything easier on us during this hard time,' Nickles said. Nickles added that she hopes the yard sale will benefit not only their class but also future classes. 'Just us growing together and being closer together as a community,' Nickles said. 'The yard sale will help towards prom expenses, and hopefully the class next year because we don't even know if we're going to be back yet. So hopefully that'll help them next year with expenses on their part.' Any items left after the sale will be donated to organizations in need. The sale ran from 4-7:30 p.m. on Friday and will continue on Saturday from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. The Lady Bulldogs basketball team will host a breakfast fundraiser at Keenburg on Saturday morning from 8-11 a.m. Tickets are $6 and can be purchased at the door. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Hampton High School CTE students gaining skills in temporary locations
HAMPTON, Tenn. (WJHL) — The Association of General Contractors presented a $64,000 check to Hampton High School's CTE Skills USA department on Friday. After Hurricane Helene destroyed their entire school, Hampton High School plans to use the funds to restore its Career and Technical Education (CTE) building and purchase necessary supplies for its programs. Philip Arrington, the architecture and engineering design instructor at Hampton High School, stated that the location of the CTE building is still uncertain. $20M slated from state for Hampton High School rebuild 'As soon as we can figure out what our situation will be, where our future home will be, what our situation is, it'll be used to replace equipment to keep opportunities coming to these students and keep getting new opportunities for them to continually grow and education and their skilled trades,' Arrington said. Hampton High School students have been in the community helping Helene's victims since losing their school in September. 'We assembled a team of the entire chapter, and we went out to assist in clean-up, rebuilding, and demolition,' Arrington said. 'So we got to use a lot of hands on skills that we learned in the classroom, tools that we use in the classroom, and go out and start rebuilding these people's houses.' Arrington said the students even restored a substitute teacher's home. The school has six students who will attend the Technology Students of America (TSA) State Competition on April 2-5 and the Skills USA Competition on April 13-16. Students have been preparing for the competitions in a temporary location. 'I know that our temporary home and we're very gracious to have a space to keep the kids together,' Arrington said. 'But space is really limited, and that's been a hurdle for us, trying to build these projects with no space. So that's been something we've been struggling with.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
