An illustration depicts the current Clarke Central High School building (left) alongside Athens High School (right). No matter the changes CCHS went through in the past, it’s crucial that students continue to honor the legacy of those who came before them. “As such, it’s time that students take a step back and recognize something: memories, history and legacy far greater than themselves pave the path they constantly walk.” Illustration by Sam Harwell
Whether they realize it or not, CCHS students walk in the footsteps of their predecessors on the long road that is Athens history.
Nowadays, in a Clarke Central High School student’s four years of high school, certain patterns emerge.
A student will take their seat in their classes several times a day.
A student will chat with their friends on the way to the Miller B. Jordan Food Court. A student will likely, at least once, walk the glossy floor of the Competition Gym.
Though students don’t notice, their “commonplace” routine has been shaped by the legacy of generations of students, teachers and community members who came before them.
Take CCHS itself. In 1970, Clarke County schools were desegregated, and between the all-Black Burney-Harris High School and traditionally-white Athens High School, CCHS was born.
Former Clarke Central High School educator and former Athens High School Assistant Principal Dr. Walter Allen Sr. sits in E.B. Mell Lobby on Feb. 8. Allen served as Assistant Principal two years before AHS and Burney-Harris High School integrated to form CCHS in 1970, overseeing the transition and the backlash that followed. “(Educating) helps to cultivate and shape the lives of young people who are coming along undisturbed,” Allen Sr. said. “Kids don’t care about segregation or integration or whatever you want to call it. They don’t care about who you are. They care about people getting along (and) doing things together.”
But CCHS would certainly be worse off without former CCHS educator and Athens High School Assistant Principal Dr. Walter Allen Sr., who oversaw the integration process and laid the groundwork for equitable education in the Clarke County School District.
“(Educating) helps to cultivate and shape the lives of young people who are coming along undisturbed,” Allen Sr. said. “Kids don’t care about segregation or integration or whatever you want to call it. They don’t care about who you are. They care about people getting along (and) doing things together.”
Though Allen was a singular figure, his efforts were monumental in shaping students’ education now – a legacy forgotten.
Athletics? Same story.
Though students don’t notice, their “commonplace” routine has been shaped by the legacy of generations of students, teachers and community members who came before them.
Students today might marvel at the feats of CCHS boys varsity basketball player Marcus Gillespie, a junior, who recently scored his 1000th point and was named to the AAAAA All-State team.
But, Gillespie’s accomplishments – and stature – are but a hill when compared to the mountain that was former CCHS boys varsity basketball player and Class of 1992 alumnus Percy Eberhart, the 6 foot 9-inch “Parade Third Team All-American” that all players – including Gillespie – measure themselves against.
“Whatever I do around here, I really don’t get too cocky because I was like, I’m not on (Eberhart’s) level,” Gillespie said. “I’m proud of myself for being in the same conversation.”
Even within the ODYSSEY itself, current leaders stand on the shoulders of former program giants.
Editor-in-Chief Molly Harwell was recently named the 2024 Georgia Scholastic Press Association’s Champion Journalist. But, since the ODYSSEY’s 2003 founding, nine other ODYSSEY alumni have won the same award, dating back to Isabel Bryan Barks’ inaugural win in 2009.
But the school of Allen Sr., of Eberhart, of Barks, isn’t the same school that current students experience.
In Allen Sr.’s time, students would stream through what’s now the Ceremonial Entrance en route to their studies. Eberhart’s old battleground, the James M. Crawford Memorial Arena, is nothing more than a practice space for teams in need. Since Barks graduated, the school underwent a campus-wide renovation to house the influx of students.
Twenty-five years from now, CCHS will surely be further altered. Twenty-five more, and who knows whether students now will recognize their former stomping grounds.
But all past, present and future changes were, are, and will be woven into the school’s very essence. As such, it’s time that students take a step back and recognize something: memories, history and legacy far greater than themselves pave the path they constantly walk.
Students – tread reverently.
