The Battle Ground school district celebrated its centennial this year, and Velda Sutton has been part of several uplifting chapters in district history.
… Including one chapter that, shall we say, didn’t quite get off the ground.
Sutton, a self-described tough, farm-raised girl who in her prime “threw hay bales on that truck as well as any man,” had a chance to reminisce about her 30-plus years with the district during its milestone anniversary.
Sutton had several roles in her education career. She started out driving a school bus. The two-year gig helped Sutton raise money so she could go to college — as a 32-year-old freshman — and become a teacher.
By the mid-1970s, Sutton had been principal at two schools before moving to the district’s central office.
She was likely Washington state’s first female school district athletic director at a time when federal Title IX gender equity reforms were first kicking in.
That meant plenty of state meetings, most near Seattle or Olympia. Fortunately, an assistant superintendent was a licensed pilot who could shave hours off the long, tedious drive north.
But disaster nearly struck on one planned trip after they boarded a rented twin-engine plane at a grass airstrip in Brush Prairie.
Sutton said the pilot was worried about a nagging warning light, but had been assured all was well.
Feeling ornery
Not so: On attempted takeoff, the nose gear collapsed and the plane violently pitched forward, almost somersaulting.
Thankfully, all on board walked away safely, Sutton said. Not that everyone was happy about how they almost overturned.
“We were lucky,” she recalled matter-of-factly.
“As usual, I was ornery. I went to the bakery and bought one of those turnovers,” Sutton said. “And left it on the assistant superintendent’s desk.”
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