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Fillmore School remains hub of community, source of pride
Mingling with second-graders during their lunch period in the Fillmore Elementary School cafeteria, Principal Brad Hayes chats with (from left) Dallas Zeiner, Macy Smith, Maddie New and Lane Collins as they sample portions of the meals.
FILLMORE -- Tucked into the east-central Putnam County countryside, east of Greencastle, north of U.S. 40 and south of a busy east-west rail line, the Town of Fillmore is a little off the beaten path.
The town offers the basics: A gas station, post office, town hall, fire station, three churches, a liquor store and Bert and Betty's cafe. And it's home to Liberty Industries and Dixie Chopper, makers of the "World's Fastest Lawn Mower."
But the heart and soul of the Marion Township village -- home to 533 in the 2010 census -- is undoubtedly Fillmore School.
The renovated and welcoming Fillmore Elementary School building dominates the strip along Main Street in Fillmore. Among the school-related decorations in Principal Brad Hayes' office is a framed "F," salvaged by secretary Penny Long from an old Fillmore banner, and photo of the old school building from 1953.
Once poised to be deserted or demolished as the new millennium dawned, residents rallied against the idea. The South Putnam School Board took a closer look and the hub of the community was saved.
Now you look around, notice the attitude of the students and staff and parents, the renovated school facilities and how the school and the school corporation invite and encourage community interaction, and you wonder how other communities let their schools be gobbled up in the name of consolidation or the financial bottom line.
Over his 20 years as principal of Fillmore Elementary, Brad Hayes has seen the whole spectrum of emotion and involvement.
On his first day in charge, he recalls the school custodian popping his head into the principal's office to announce that the toilets wouldn't flush.
Hayes soon found himself, out in 100-degree heat in dress shirt and tie, plunging the main line in an outbuilding to get things -- no pun intended -- going.
It's gotten better at Fillmore since then. Way, way better.
"My feeling is that this school is the hub of the community," he agreed. "It brings a sense of pride to the community. The reputation of the school is good. Parents are proud to say 'my kid goes to Fillmore School.'
"We've been really fortunate to get quality educators here," Hayes added, "and over the years our test scores have been good and our relationship with the families of our students is great.
"It truly is a community."
That relationship "was really brought to light," the principal said, "when they talked about closing the school."
Subsequent school board meetings in 2003 and 2004 saw a show of support by approximately 200 people concerned about what a school closing might mean to the small community.
"There were some transition times and times of concern because people didn't know what the future of the school would be," he noted.
But with a renovation came rebirth.
Hayes believes there has been a buy-in from all connected with Fillmore School, from the 12 teachers to the 135 Fillmore K-5 students to the parents, working together to excel in all aspects.
The idea, Hayes said, "is we're all good people. That's the climate of the school.
"It's the Fillmore way from teachers on down to the kids It's a standard for everybody that we're all in this together and this is how we do it."
And the community, in turn, has embraced the notion as well as benefiting from being able to use school facilities for Zumba classes, Boy Scout and Girl Scout functions, church basketball, 4-H and home ec club meetings, Easter church services, Thanksgiving church dinners and, of course, the annual Fillmore Alumni Banquet.
"It seems like there's somebody here all the time," offered school secretary Penny Long, who's been involved the past dozen years at Fillmore, including a stint as PTO president before assuming her current secretarial role six years ago.
When organizers wanted to honor Fillmore's war veterans, they felt it was important for their tribute to be at the school, and the display and an accompanying bench are now at the northwest corner of the school building.
The school itself, Principal Hayes agrees, appears warm and inviting.
"And the kids want to be here," he added. "Typically we have excellent attendance."
The structure actually is a combination of new areas, like the offices and cafeteria on the west side of the facility where the old elementary built in the 1920s once stood in front of the 1953 building -- or what people call "the new building" -- that was the high school. The original "Hoosiers"-like gym remains part of the Fillmore facilities, although there is no longer a need to use the old locker rooms beneath the gym for classrooms.
Hayes taught one year -- his first year as a teacher -- at Fillmore. His old classroom behind the gym included a shower stall and bathroom. It's been turned into extra space for kindergartners to cavort in their new all-day-kindergarten world.
Hayes praised the corporation for providing the Fillmore staff "a great facility to work with."
"I can't tell you how nice it is to have a nice facility," he added, noting that he noticed a big change in staff morale with improved facilities, working air conditioners and adequate bathrooms.
One of the school's big strengths, Hayes said, is that the faculty doesn't just "buy into every trend that comes along."
"We're pretty traditional," he said. "Education trends come and go and we stay pretty much with what we know works. We're pretty determined and traditional as to what our expectations are as well.
"And we have a buy-in for that sort of philosophy, I feel."
As proof that it works, Fillmore achieved a four-star school ranking in 2006, one of only two local elementaries (Roachdale was the other) to achieve such distinction from the state, Hayes said.
That was especially pleasing since Fillmore was in the midst of the very construction project that helped revitalized the school and with it, the community.
"We didn't miss a day of school because of construction," Hayes noted.
One of the achievements Hayes is most proud of is that 100 percent of Fillmore third-graders passed IREAD, a required basic reading test for all third-graders in the state. He called it "an unusual happening" for any school to get 100 percent.
Fillmore traditionally achieves 90 percent passing in both the math and language arts section of ISTEP, and has even had 100 percent on the math portion.
The school board has recognized "we have some good things going on here," Hayes said, indicating board members thought Fillmore School "could be a bright spot for the corporation, and it has been."
Hayes and secretary Penny Long talk about the events of another day at school in the office area, part of the new section of the remodeled school.
And now, others are beginning to take note.
"Of our 135 students," Hayes said, "this year we have 16 transfers from North Putnam, Greencastle and Cascade. That shows people want their kids to come here."
Fillmore has also seen an influx of new teachers who have grown up within the South Putnam corporation and have returned to give back by teaching there.
"It keeps the tradition going and the pride in community going," Hayes said. "I think that's a big plus, having kids who want to come back to this community."
It's part of that recipe for success and community togetherness that has taken hold at Fillmore.
Hayes can sense it, can see it and feel it.
"I just can't put my finger on why it's a good thing, but it is," he admits."It's the buy-in."