August 26, 2016
By KEITH RYAN CARTWRIGHT
Rutherford County Schools
LA VERGNE — Roy Waldron was in the home-building business for years.
He estimates he built in upwards of 1,000 homes in LaVergne, but most people today know him as the namesake of Roy Waldron Elementary School. Waldron had served on the RCS Board of Education for approximately nine years and served as Board chairman from 1971-1976.
Waldron laughed at the notion that it was
only fitting a school would be named after a man who gave so many families in the community a place to live.
“I don’t know about that,” said Waldron, who laughed. “I’ve appreciated it. It’s been real nice and, of course, the principal they had (Dr. Polly Pewitt), I’ve known for a long time.”
Waldron, who now lives in nearby Murfreesboro, was at the LaVergne school Friday morning for a ribbon cutting ceremony dedicating a newly-opened $4.7 million addition and renovation to the school 40 years after it was first built.
The addition is a two-story structure housing 15 rooms that replace the five portable classrooms the school had been using in recent years. The project also included refinishing the gymnasium floor and the construction of a stage.
Director of Schools Don Odom said the ability of the district to come back 40 years later and add an addition speaks to the quality of the facility. Aaron Holladay, a member of the school board who represents the LaVergne area, agreed.
“This building is 40 years old,” Holladay repeated twice, “but it doesn’t look 40 years old because you take good care of it and we appreciate that.”
On a day in which the future of education for LaVergne elementary schoolers was on display, Holladay and Odom acknowledged the past.
“There’s a lot of history here,” said Odom, who referenced driving up to the school on Floyd Mayfield Drive, which is named in honor of the school’s first principal.
Odom, who got to know Waldron when he taught his daughter’s math class, said the name of Roy Waldron Elementary School was only fitting for a man who was dedicated to education in Rutherford County.
Waldron nodded with appreciation.
“We’re very privileged to have Mr. Roy Waldron with us today,” said Odom, congratulating the fourth- and fifth-graders who attended the event to represent the entire student body “for making us proud of what you do.”
In addition to Waldron, Odom and Holladay, County Commissioners Carol Cook, Joe Gourley and Phil Dodd were also on hand for Friday morning’s ceremony along with School Board Chairman Wayne Blair, Pewitt and Tiffany Dukes, who recently began her first year as principal at the school.
Cook has known Waldron as far back as when he served on the board.
According to Waldron, a fellow board member from the early ’70s suggested naming the school in his honor and, much to his surprise, the idea received the support of the entire board.
It passed shortly thereafter.
And Roy Waldron Elementary School was opened in 1976.
“It makes me real proud,” concluded Waldron, who also commented on the new addition. “It’s been a wonderful opportunity for the community and it’s something that is needed—the additional space.”
PHOTOS:
(TOP) Rutherford County commissioners, Roy Waldron faculty members, School Board members, students and others cut the ribbon on the new $4.7 million addition at Roy Waldron Elementary School. (MIDDLE) Former School Board Chairman Roy Waldron — the namesake of Roy Waldron Elementary School — poses with former Principal Dr. Polly Pewitt at the ceremony dedicated the school's new addition. (BOTTOM) Roy Waldron students perform the National Anthem during the opening of the school's new addition. / JAMES EVANS