Clarke Central High School students show off their fashion choices. Fashion is a major way the diverse student population at CCHS have expressed themselves. “A student’s outfit is an outlet for self expression. The school environment gives students the chance to be surrounded by different students everyday, inspiring fashion senses and contributing to the unique culture at CCHS,” Viewpoints Editor Janie Ripps wrote. Collage by Janie Ripps and Olivia Daniel
The Athens-Clarke County community gives students the opportunity to learn and grow through their fashion choices, which contributes to a diverse culture at CCHS.
Within the halls of Clarke Central High School, a person will find 1,880 students.
They may notice the diverse skin colors or hairstyles, who is talking to their friends or walking silently with earbuds in.
The most obvious thing, though, is brighter than the color of their skin and louder than their personality. It is the outfit they have on. From low rise jeans to athleisure, diverse styles and
aesthetics walk the hallways every day.
School is a place where students can learn, but also where they can take inspiration from their peers and discover how they want to present themselves to the world.
The school environment gives students the chance to be surrounded by different students every day, inspiring fashion senses and contributing to the unique culture at CCHS.
Students pose in their outfits on Oct. 27 in various locations at Clarke Central High School. Different fashion senses have been a big piece of the diversity and school culture at CCHS. “From low-rise jeans to athleisure, diverse styles and aesthetics walk the hallways everyday,” Viewpoints Editor Janie Ripps wrote. “School is a place where students can learn, but also where they can take inspiration from their peers and discover how they want to present themselves to the world.” Photos by Aza Khan
“We have a huge population of kids that are really into more artistic or alternative scenes. I think a lot of that has to do with just growing up in the community of Athens,” CCHS English department teacher Camille Joiner said. “You have a community (filled with) music and the arts and really interesting people. (This) adds to the diversity of the school because it’s not just the color of your skin or sexual orientation, but the person you are and how you show that through the way you dress.”
For students, self-discovery begins in the community. Teenagers from all backgrounds bring their culture back to class because, in a high school surrounded by Athens’ unique culture, it all comes back to CCHS.
Athens is a hub for creativity and performing arts, which establishes the importance of self-expression. Fashion is creative and artistic, everything that the arts emphasize and share.
“The big thing about Athens is (there’s) so many young people and so many people with (a) really big taste for art and hunger to express themselves.”
— Bird Smith,
senior
As Athens is centered around the University of Georgia, new backgrounds are also introduced. According to UGA Undergraduate Admissions, UGA has over 2,600 international students enrolled and accepted 8,900 new students from 48 states for the 2022-2023 academic year. Attracting students from all corners of the nation brings new opinions, views on the world and fashion senses to the community.
“You can go to a city anywhere and there’s a lot of people and a lot of cool fashion, but I think the big thing about Athens is (there’s) so many young people and so many people with (a) really big taste for art and hunger to express themselves,” CCHS senior Bird Smith said. “That really impacts the clothing that people wear.”
Whether it is through learning how to solve a math equation or picking which pants to pair with a shirt, high school teaches teenagers how to find their style. However, this is just a small piece of the puzzle. Athens is the big picture.
In such a diverse school, every outfit has a place, whether it is bright and bold or sweet and simple.
