A Reunion for Teachers Who Taught at Ashley When It Was a Middle School

These days, Ashley is an elementary school. At one time, it was a middle school.

It stopped being Ashley Middle School at the end of the 1997-98 school year. In 2008, Jeanne Hobson and Donna Southers organized a reunion of former Ashley Middle School teachers. 

The tradition has continued, and the 10th reunion was held Dec. 28 at the home of Donna Southers. It was a covered dish luncheon.

When Southeast Middle opened, many of the teachers at Ashley began teaching there. Over the years, some moved to other schools. Some retired, said Debi Martinez, who now teaches 6th Grade English language arts at East Forsyth Middle School.

“I began my full-time teaching career at Ashley and, after 32 years, I have never worked with another group that felt as much like family as that staff,” Martinez said. “We have been though marriages, the birth of babies, a tornado, and several deaths of staff together."

Note: The gator was the mascot costume used at Ashley.