Art department teacher Amanda Price (far right) and English department teacher Brian Ash (second from right) talk about the Clarke Central High School 50th anniversary mural that was revealed on Oct. 7. Price and the other teachers that facilitated the event planned it in correspondence with the other events taking place that week. “(The mural unveiling was part of) Clarke Central’s homecoming weekend, and typically that’s a chance for alumni to return to the school and celebrate,” Price said. “We wanted to take part in those festivities and use it as a chance to again bring people together and connect the arts and sports and have that sense of community.” Photo by Aza Khan
CCHS teachers unveiled a mural on Oct. 7 as a part of CCHS’ 50th anniversary celebration, commemorating the school’s long history.
One plus one equals one. This statement, found in an early Gladius yearbook, refers to the merging of two schools to form Clarke Central High School. With CCHS’s 50th anniversary, the CCHS community took the chance to honor this history.
On Oct. 7, fine arts department teacher Amanda Price and English department teacher Brian Ash unveiled a mural outside of the CCHS Media Center as part of CCHS’s 50th anniversary celebration. The mural was created to symbolize the integration of Athens High School and Burney Harris High School to form CCHS.
“(English department teacher Meghan) McNeely, Mr. Ash and I put together a 50th anniversary committee because we knew it was a bigger thing than the three of us could take on our own,” Price said. “Really, it’s just a celebration of that rich history that’s happened at our school. We have community members connected to Clarke Central (who came to) celebrate that with us.
The Clarke Central High School 50th anniversary mural was officially revealed to the public for the first time on Oct. 7. The 50th anniversary celebration, which centered around the mural’s unveiling, brought together active and former members of the CCHS community. “It’s kind of nostalgic. I’m just enjoying seeing people I haven’t seen in years,” former fine arts department teacher Jeff Barnett, who taught at CCHS from 1996 to 2015, said. “(I’m enjoying) seeing some of the teachers that I taught with for several years, and the renovation of the school is entirely different than when I was here. It’s just impressive.” Photo by Aza Khan
The mural shows AHS and BHHS in front of CCHS, along with names of some of the neighborhoods that the two older schools served and flowers to represent all three schools’ colors. Price, who co-facilitated the mural’s creation, is proud of the students who helped research and design it.
“The mural was a collaboration (where) Ms. McNeeley, Mr Ash and myself facilitated students who did research and learned about the history of Athens,” Price said. “The students developed this idea of what the mural would look like. We (then) sent that to artist Marisa Mustard and she came up with the design of the mural.”
Associate Principal Linda Boza, who has worked at CCHS for 20 years, believes that all the elements of the mural work together to make it impactful.
“I think the mural was an outstanding assignment and true curriculum integration. I love that the teachers got together and came up with this idea, and the buy-in from the students was phenomenal,” Boza said. “I’m glad that we’ve had the chance to show it off to the community.”
Jeff Barnett, who was a fine arts department teacher at CCHS from 1996 until 2015, appreciated the students’ process for creating the mural, as well as the final design.
“There were no murals (when I taught at CCHS). I was very impressed with this finished product,” Barnett said. “(I enjoyed) the way the (students) were able to embed the history of Athens (into) Clarke Central, the colors they used and how they brought them all together.”
“(I enjoyed) the way the (students) were able to embed the history of Athens (into) Clarke Central, the colors they used and how they brought them all together.”
— Jeff Barnett,
Former Clarke Central High School fine arts department teacher
Denise Carter, a legacy graduate of CCHS from the class of 1984, enjoyed seeing how much the school has changed over the years, as well as how CCHShonored its history with the mural.
“My son, (a 2004 CCHS alumnus, invited me to the event). We still have teachers here that we’re still close to,” Carter said. “It’s amazing to see how Clarke Central has grown as the area and the neighborhoods have grown. The mural is beautiful. I’m glad my son invited me. It tells the true story (of CCHS).”
Price was surprised by the community support for the event and was pleased with the level of engagement.
“I’m really excited to see the turnout and the community members and really see their excitement. I didn’t plan this idea for my own benefit, it was for the students and the community and getting them here to experience that,” Price said. “Seeing conversations happening with people who may not otherwise speak, that energy is really exciting and fulfilling. (It’s) something that I think we should have more of, things like this, with our school.”
Story and timeline by Anna Shaikun
Story by Ireland McCage
