Karen Hughes, 45, was a member of the first graduating class at Ridgeland High School in 1990 and a player on the school's first state championship softball team.
When she was named principal at Ridgeland earlier this summer, one of the first things Hughes did was test the combination on her old locker. It didn't work, but Hughes says her homecoming has been a sweet experience, nonetheless.
Karen Hughes, Ridgeland High School's new principal, points out her photo in the school's very first graduating class.
Mark KennedyView other columns by Mark Kennedy
Walk into the commons area at Ridgeland and there she is, on the bottom row of the Class of 1990 photo montage. She was Karen Wooden back then. Big hair. Big smile. Big plans.
"Once a Panther always a Panther," said Hughes, who still carries herself like an athlete with a slight forward lean that suggests she could break into a run at any moment.
Karen and her classmates were the first to occupy Ridgeland, the fancy new comprehensive high school built in the shadow of Lookout Mountain at the close of the 1980s.
Ridgeland was formed by the merger of two proud institutions: Rossville High School and Chattanooga Valley High School. The students there came together from far-flung Georgia communities such as Flintstone, McLemore's Cove and Chickamauga.
During the late summer of 1989, they poured into the new school on Battlefield Parkway with its cavernous center and never-ending halls.
"It was overwhelming just trying to remember where you were," said Hughes, who is now the mother of two teenage girls. Kayla, 19, attends Tennessee Technological University and Erin, 14, is a freshman at Ridgeland.
Hughes remembered that the year before the merger, both Chattanooga Valley High and Rossville High won girl's softball state championships in Tifton, Ga. After the victories, both teams came together to hug and look forward to the following year. Together, they would form a softball powerhouse that would win a state title for Ridgeland in year one.
Hughes, a career educator and coach who was principal at LaFayette Middle School for six years, said her return to Ridgeland feels like a homecoming, and she plans to stay as long as she is welcome.
"I hope to be here until I retire," she said. "It's a blessing and an honor."
All principals want the best for their schools, but Hughes seems doubly committed to keeping Ridgeland on an upward trajectory. In recent years, the school has boosted its graduation rate significantly. In 2013, the graduation rate at Ridgeland was 65 percent, and by 2016, the rate had risen to 89 percent. Now, freshmen sign banners posted on the walls of the school pledging to stay until they earn their diplomas.
Hughes says she hopes to expand students' access to community service work, and she is working with the Rossville Downtown Redevelopment Authority to create volunteer opportunities.
"Our focus is on getting connected to the community," she said. "All students do a senior project to try to give back."
Hughes said she sometimes wanders into a classroom and tells a student they are sitting in the same chair she occupied almost three decades ago. It's one of the ways she telegraphs to the students that she is one of them. Heck, she helped write the words to the school's alma mater.
"You ready for the game tonight?" she asks a young man in a Ridgeland football jersey as he enters the main office. "I'll be there, but it may be on two wheels. Got to go to the softball game first."
There's a reason former coaches make good principals.
Hustling is an acquired skill, and teamwork is essential.
Contact Mark Kennedy at mkennedy@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6645.