Clarke Central High School’s Hospitality Committee Co-Chair Michelle Pierce hands out cupcakes during the staff and faculty tailgate coordinated by CCHS principal Swade Huff. The Hospitality Committee volunteers at school staff events. “We’ll do the Homecoming Reception next Friday. We’ll host Cedar Shoals staff in two or three weeks, I can’t even keep up,” Pierce said. “We play them here. Whatever team is the home team has to feed the opposing school so it’s our year to host Cedar this year.” Photo by Kelly Fulford
The Clarke Central High School faculty and staff gathered for a tailgate before the varsity football team’s first home game.
Clarke Central High School’s faculty and staff celebrated before the first home football game of the season with a pre-game tailgate party, organized by CCHS principal Swade Huff and his secretary LaToya Hill.
“A lot of our faculty and staff said that one thing that was lacking in our school was the old Clarke Central spirit,” Huff said. “We thought that having a tailgate for our first home football game would bring back some of that spirit.”
Both Huff and Hill are CCHS alumni and are working to regain the culture of school spirit that was present while they were attending high school.
“I am a Clarke Central class of 1996 graduate, so Gladiator Pride has been in my heart since then,” Hill said. “We wanted to do something to get the faculty and staff and their families excited about athletics (and) supporting our students.”
The event was catered by Bojangles’, a new sponsor of the varsity football team. Drinks were provided by Coca-Cola and the office staff purchased cupcakes to give out. The CCHS Hospitality Committee assisted with setting up, serving food and cleaning up afterward.
“I think (the tailgate is) wonderful,” Hospitality Committee Co-Chair Michelle Pierce said. “We spend so much time at this school that I think it’s really nice that (Dr. Huff is) doing something like this where we can just have fun.”
Staff members were invited to bring their families to the event as well, further creating a bond among CCHS employees. According to English department Co-Chair Ian Altman, the tailgate was a success.
“It’s a chance for us to be together without just talking about work, although we’ll probably end up talking about work anyway. We have these professional relationships in this building here, but we all have lives beyond all that,” Altman said. “But we don’t very often bring those lives into where we work. I would call it humanizing in a way.”
