| Sources |
- [S104] Cocke County, Tennessee, and its People, Cocke County Heritage Book Committee, (Walsworth Publishing, 1992), 106.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 30 Jan 2014.
The last woman elected to the position of Cocke County School Superintendent, Beth Ogle Freeman, took office in 1972.
Freeman was born in Cosby in 1926, fifth child and oldest daughter of Alfred and Algie Jane (Baxter) Ogle.
She began her own school in nearby Bluffton School, transferring to Cosby Elementary for her seventh and eighth grade years. She next entered Cosby High School, where she graduated in 1945.
Following high school, she entered Lees-McRae Junior College in Banner Elk, North Carolina and later finished her Bachelor’s degree at East Tennessee State University.
More degrees followed, including her Master of Arts degree from ETSU, and her EdS degree from UTK.
A born teacher, she started her career teaching one year at her alma mater, Bluffton School, a one-room structure. She also taught at Compton Memorial and Bell Hill, two more of Cocke County’s many small schools, before transferring to Cocke County High School when it was located on College Street overlooking downtown Newport.
On the high-school level, she taught, at various times, biology, science, chemistry, and physical education.
Her election to the Superintendent’s position in 1972 came at a time when Cocke County once again stood poised on a consolidation and building program, one that would prove contentious and, sometimes, bitter.
The consolidation of West End and Northport Elementary Schools brought about Northwest Elementary School, located off Rankin Road below City Park and within sight of the original Anderson Academy.
After months of bitter arguing, Parrottsville High School, which had served that community since the 1920s, was closed and the decision made to transport students from that area to Cocke County High School.
A new Parrottsville Elementary School was constructed on a hill overlooking the town. Although some feared violence might accompany the new school’s opening, none occurred and gradually enrollment returned to nearly its original number. However, a few citizens opted to send their children to Greene County schools as a symbol of their protest.
In order to accommodate the Parrottsville High School students, a new wing was added to CCHS.
Of great impact was the opening of Cocke County’s first vocational school. Named for former Tennessee Gov. Ben W. Hooper, a Cocke County native, the school was built adjacent to CCHS.
It was also during Freeman’s tenure as Superintendent that compulsory kindergarten came into being.
Freeman retired in 1979. She was married to Jackson Stokley Freeman. They were the parents of Lorinda Dianne Freeman (b/d 1950) and Larry Jack Freeman, born in 1957.
Now a widow, Freeman resides in the Denton community and remains active in church, community, and civic activities.
School Days 2!
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