Last week, earlier this month, I wrote about principals and teachers at Columbia Central High School. 

This week’s article is dedicated to Dorothy Sweeney Campbell, the school’s administrative assistant, who is beginning her 56th year at Central. 

While she was still a student, she worked in the copying office for Mrs. Ladd, Mr. Cole, and Mrs. Taylor. Her job there was to make all copies for teachers and administrators.  She ran a manual duplicator cranking out thousands and thousands of copies. 

When she graduated in 1966, these teachers asked Harold Hardison, the principal, that she be hired as the secretary in the guidance office. Since we cannot remember another secretary, we think Dorothy was the first. 

In that office were Charles Rash, Hardy Loyd, and eventually Mary Ann Lynn. 

One of the most challenging tasks in that office was scheduling approximately 900 students by hand. Mr. Rash had a large board covered with poster paper. Together Dorothy and he handled each proposed student’s schedule and fit each class with the proper teacher and number of students making almost no errors. Remember that in the 1970s there were no computers to schedule students. 

Mr. Rash guarded that board as if it were gold. Dorothy would let a teacher look if he or she promised not to tell. How relieved or dismayed a teacher might be to see his or her teaching assignment.

Having been affiliated with CHS for so long, Dorothy has worked for 11 principals. Harold Hardison hired her, and that may well be considered his greatest gift to the school. 

Those principals were Hardy Loyd, David Williams, Tommy Harrison, Glen Stewart, Eddie Hickman, Cindy Johnson, Vince Springer, Roger White, Kevin Eady, and currently Dr. Michael Steel.  

Her main job as school secretary has been training all these people. They were certified as administrators, but Dorothy knew more about the intricacies of running a large school. She remembers that some principals were easy to deal with, and others were sometimes difficult. There was even one principal who scared all of us. 

She is the great source of information about the school and how it is run. There is no doubt that she could run the school even without a degree in administration. One of her primary roles is to shield the principal from irate parents and troublesome people. She has become a master of diplomacy and often dispels trouble simply by listening to the caller. 

Dorothy seldom misses school. She really ought to be recognized for her devotion to duty. Even on snow days Mr. Hickman would get her to school. She said that she just wanted to be at work. We had to insist that she take a vacation every now and then.

In addition to being the school secretary, she has performed every kind of job connected with a large high school. For several years Dorothy ran the concession stand at basketball games. She has been in charge of selling tickets for proms, plays, ball games and state tournament games. 

Earlier in her career, she was in charge of collecting money from the cold drink machines every day. When we needed help checking students in at the prom, there was Dorothy ever helpful, never saying no.

One of Dorothy’s greatest talents is cooking. There is no way to calculate the number of dishes she has prepared for CHS.  Her most famous is German chocolate cake, and those who receive these cakes feel so special.

She has also been the unofficial caterer, usually without pay, for many school occasions. When she needed to cook, Dorothy would get up very early in the morning so she could have the food ready to take to school.

After thousands of students, eleven principals, hundreds of teachers Dorothy still enjoys her job.  She is very pleased when a former student calls, and she answers the phone.  The student is pleased to hear her voice and know that she is still at CHS. She also enjoys seeing former students who stop to tell her their names and how glad they are to see her. She said that she feels so honored that they remember her.

Recently Mr. Hickman and I attended a class reunion. 

We sat at a table with several former students we knew. Also at that table was a man who had graduated from Central.  He told us who he was and how he struggled to get his diploma. He asked about Dorothy and Mary Ann Lynn. He went on to say that without those ladies and their persistence that he would never have finished school.  Since graduating he has been a very successful businessman, and he attributes his accomplishments in life to Dorothy and Mary Ann. This story is just one that we happened to hear.  There must be hundreds of other students who could tell a similar story. 

In addition to her work at school, Dorothy was often called upon to type documents for graduate students. 

Her expert typing skill helped many of those in administration to acquire advanced degrees. When Mr. Hickman became principal, he wrote something that he asked Dorothy to type. Mr. Hickman usually prints, and his lower case letters look like capital letters. When Dorothy typed that, she copied it just as he wrote it with some capital letters and some small letters. After a good laugh, Dorothy told Mr. Hickman that she typed it exactly as he had written it.

Dorothy is married to J. W. Campbell, who is retired from the highway department. They have been married to 55 years. She has twin sons, Jason and Jeremy and six grandchildren. When we learned that she would have twins, the faculty and staff gave a baby shower and twin cribs. Dorothy’s having twins was so exciting. 

Hardly anyone could remember when a member of the family at CHS had had a baby.

Over one hundred years old, Central High School has occupied three different buildings, endured many social changes, survived numerous education reforms, and provided learning for thousands. 

Exceptional people such as Dorothy have contributed to students not only lessons from textbooks but also lessons from their hearts.

Sheila Hickman is a retired educator and product of the Maury County Schools. She has a Bachelor’s degree in English from Lipscomb and a Master’s from Peabody Vanderbilt. She returned to teach English at Columbia Central High School, her alma mater.