Group works to salvage books at Waterproof High School

Over the past few weeks, a group of former students and friends of the now derelict Waterproof High School have met at the school several times to try and salvage what they can of the old books still there.
The school, built in 1926, was closed by the Tensas Parish School Board in the early 1990s, due to a decline in enrollment.
WHS and Newellton High School merged with Davidson High School in St Joseph to form what is now Tensas High School.
Waterproof High School, which consists of the original brick building, the old gymnasium, and a newer building, was leased to the Town of Waterproof by the Tensas Parish School board and has sat vacant and boarded up for many years.
Time and weather have taken such a toll on the buildings that they are now uninhabitable. Yet, hundreds of library books, text books, and other school necessities remain, many in good condition.
This discovery is what prompted a few former students to request permission from Waterproof Mayor, Mr Caldwell Flood, to enter the newer building at the school to salvage what they could of the books.
So, armed with face masks, rubber gloves, boxes, and plenty of energy, a brave group of former students met to dig through the rubble and in the process took a trip down Memory Lane.
In many of the old books, they found library signature cards bearing the handwriting of themselves in younger days, classmates, and teachers.
The group is looking for somewhere to donate some of the books, perhaps to foreign missions, and a few they have kept for themselves or given to school friends as a fond remembrance.
Their most talked-about subject, however, has been the sad condition of the school, compared to it’s former glory days.
A stately and majestic brick building, the school was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, mainly due to it’s architectural features.
Construction on the building began in 1926, and classes began in 1927, providing a greatly improved quality of education for the children of Waterproof.
The school began with an enrollment of 188 children. An issue of The Tensas Gazette during that time is quoted as saying, “The people of this town and community now have a building equal to that of the best in the state.”
Indeed, it was. The “modern brick building” boasted 2 stories, fourteen classrooms, a large study hall, a library, a home economics room, and a chemistry lab. Records of equipment purchased prove that Waterproof High School was a state of the art facility when it was built.
For the residents of Waterproof, the school was a major step up from the one or two room schoolhouses their children had previously attended.
The decline of the buildings now show little indication of what they once were, except for the main entrance’s still-grand cast concrete pilasters and entablature.
There are holes in the ceiling and cracks in the walls. The hallways once filled with students are now filled with debris. The hardwood floors in the gymnasium where basketball games and dances were once held, are beginning to deteriorate.
There is nothing that can be done to save the school buildings at this point, but the group plans to salvage every book they can.
Just being at their former school has brought back precious memories that neither time nor Mother Nature can ever take away. In their memories, WHS is as grand as it was years ago.
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