>> Well, we so loved Marietta School system.
We had moved into
Cobb County in the Sprayberry School District.
And we so loved Marietta School system.
Our daughter went to
school all the way from first grade through
12th grade here because we
were convinced that this was the better school system.
It had to do with the smallness and the competence.
The high competence level of people we met.
I look at Westside Elementary, where she went,
and the principal who
knew every child's name in the school.
I mean, just a wonderful, wonderful principal.
And as I moved through
the school system in and out of various schools,
I saw that the level of excellence was just very,
very high, plus it was personal.
And so I wanted to stay here because of those factors.
>> I would assume all the things
that Joseta said are very true.
And one of the things I always liked about
the school system was
that it always appeared
that they cared about the folks who worked for them.
And that's one of
the things that you look for when you look at a job.
People who are interested in
you and want to make sure you do a good job.
And when I came here in '65,
Mr. Persea was the principal and Mr. Hodges.
And we sit down and I can say that probably
was the foundation of the rest of
the 40 years because I ran into this with
all administrators that if it's anything you need,
any way I can help to support you, you just let me know.
And going back to '65,
those could have been some very difficult days.
The black community was
experiencing something it had never experienced,
and the white community was, too.
Yet people came together and
did a good job in making sure it
was a smooth transition into that phase of Cobb County.
My thinking is,
as I went through many administrators,
and I think I had nine or 10 or a 40-year period,
that's a good bit.
I never ran into one that didn't look like they
wanted me to stay here at Marietta High School.
And I felt that even when I left.
So that wanted me, I guess,
if you had to pull out a point, wanted me to stay,
and my feeling that way
would be one of the main reasons I stayed.