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DEL.ICIO.USCalling all memories of South Gwinnett High
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
During South Gwinnett High School’s first year, Sputnik orbited the Earth, ushering in the Space Age. South Gwinnett students built rockets in science class and ignited them in pastures. Kids hunted opossum at the principal’s farm. They toured Buford Dam before it generated hydroelectric power.
• Photos: Memories of S. Gwinnett High
The South Gwinnett Class of 1957-58, which included the likes of Wayne Mason, John D. Stephens, Clark Britt and more than 50 others, is reminded of those days as the school celebrates its 50th anniversary.
The school, formed through a marriage of rival institutions in Snellville and Grayson, opened for the 1957-58 school year as part of a consolidation of Gwinnett’s schools. Its attendance zone included what is now Parkview, Brookwood, Shiloh and Grayson school districts. Still, there were only 300 students in the entire school. Today there are more than 3,000.
“It was just a great bunch of people,” said developer Wayne Mason. “ …. Everybody knew everybody. Everybody knew everybody’s mama and grandmama. …We weren’t as transient in those days.”
Former Snellville Mayor Emmett Clower, who graduated in 1960, was the manager for the football and basketball teams. He recalled the county basketball tournaments — girls and boys — which South Gwinnett won in its first year.
“It was a big deal. There were capacity crowds,” said Clower.
The boys team that year went on to win the regional championship and play at the state championship, said Kenneth Hughes, now the pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church in Lithonia. Hughes, a 6-foot-5 center on that team, also played left tackle on the football team.
The half-century has brought South Gwinnett full circle in his family. His grandson, Joshua Strange, who will graduate this year —50 years after his grandfather — in South Gwinnett’s Class of 2008, was a left tackle on South’s football team. Hughes’ daughter, wife and son also are South Gwinnett alumni.
The South tradition spans multiple generations in many local families. Still others formed connections through working, coaching or teaching at the school.
Principal Berry Simmons and Assistant Principal Carla Hamilton are hoping the community will turn out for a 50-year celebration, 2:30-4:30 p.m. Feb. 10 in the school commons. There will be tours of the expanded school, memorabilia, refreshments and lots of memories, they said.
Alan Herndon, who taught at South during its early years and who wrote the school’s alma mater (and can still recite it by heart), will be attending.
“I was always impressed by the manner in which [South’s first principal Victor H. Knight] was able to conduct that first year with minimal conflict,” said Herndon, pointing out the previously fierce rivalry that existed between Snellville and Grayson schools. “I don’t remember anyone out on the ball field banging on each other because one was from Snellville and one was from Grayson.”
That unity was not the case with all of the consolidation efforts in the county, he said. Lilburn and Dacula bowed out of their consolidation into Central Gwinnett High School, and Duluth left the former West Gwinnett High School, which converted back into Norcross High.
Although Feb. 10 is South’s official anniversary open house, the celebration has been ongoing. Christmas ornaments and throw blankets acknowledging the 50-year mark have been sold. Former football players were recognized in the fall, and former basketball players will be honored Friday between the girls’ and boys’ basketball games. About 40 people have confirmed they are coming, said Patti Stancil, who works with the school’s athletic department. Stancil, her husband Hoyt and son Preston, all are South graduates, as well.
Among those attending Friday will be the starting players of the boys 1957-58 team, said Clark Britt, who played forward. The others are Hughes, Bill Brannan, prominent contractor John D. Stephens and Hollis Reese, he said.
Britt, retired associate superintendent of DeKalb County Schools, is the son of W.C. Britt, former principal of the historic Snellville School. A local elementary school bears W.C. Britt’s name.
The 50-year celebration is not solely focused on the first class at South, however. Throughout its history, the school has produced students and been served by faculty who have made noteworthy achievements and taken leading roles in the community, Simmons said.
Gwinnett Superior Court Judge Melodie Snell Conner, Former Snellville Mayor Brett Harrell, football star David Green, basketball star Louis Williams, Atlanta Fox 5 sports reporter Buck Lanford, are just a few on a list too long to name. Familiar names in the community — including Snell, Norton, Briscoe, Moon, Britt, Nash, Hayes, Price — are intertwined with South’s history. So are students from the Promised Land community south of Snellville who were the first blacks to attend South.
Jack Britt, who coached for 12 years at South, said while some schools had tensions during desegregation, South “never missed a beat.” He easily recalls the first African-American students to attend South, citing each one’s achievements and contributions.
Growth has been the major change at South — physical growth of the buildings and campus, as well as the explosive increase in the student body. But it is not the only change.
South, which started as an all white school, has rapidly become among the most diverse in the county. During the 2003-04 school year, 62 percent of the students were white and 28 percent were black. Now 28 percent of the students are white and 59 percent are black, according to the school district. The school also has small percentages of Hispanic and Asian students.
The change reflects a shift in the overall population of Gwinnett County.
“Gwinnett’s school system is now a minority-majority school system” said Wayne Mason. “Sixty-three percent of our students are minorities; 37 percent are white. But diversity is our strength. We are a global county in a global economy.
The half-century of South history also has seen dramatic changes in technology, teaching methods and curriculum, said Simmons and Hamilton. Typewriters and shorthand are just memories.
“Obviously there have been a lot of changes” Simmons said. “but South is still a school people want to come to.”
What are your memories of South Gwinnett?
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By Todd
January 31, 2008 8:14 AM | Link to this
“Gwinnett’s school system is now a minority-majority school system” said Wayne Mason. “Sixty-three percent of our students are minorities; 37 percent are white. But diversity is our strength.” Yeah, that is why Gwinnett is now viewed as a thug county. Trust me, there is a reason counties like Forsyth have higher incomes and, oh, by the way, LESS CRIME—both in the schools and in the community. Wonder when the last teacher in Forsyth was attacked …
By NICK
January 31, 2008 8:29 AM | Link to this
“Diversity is our strength.” Spoken like a true Democrat!
Hey Wayne, it’s called “WHITE FLIGHT”. Whites or anyone else for that matter, do not want to go to school with blacks.
Just as blacks bring down property values when they move into white neighborhoods, they bring down the intellectual values in schools as well.
J.C. Call a spade a spade. Whites want a safe environment in order to learn and succeed. That is why they all moved out of Ghetto Gwinnett.
By David Brown
January 31, 2008 8:35 AM | Link to this
Todd, are you insinuating that Gwinnett County would be a better county, and South Gwinnett High School would be a better school, if all the Blacks would leave and the county and high school were overwhelmingly White again?
By Lois
January 31, 2008 8:47 AM | Link to this
Hmmm…I think Wayne Mason is INCORRECT, although it maybe 50/50, Gwinnett schools are NOT majority minority. South Gwinnett maybe because it’s close to DeKalb and they are putting their kids in Gwinnett schools, but as a system Gwinnett is STILL majority white.
By Mia
January 31, 2008 8:56 AM | Link to this
Oh Todd and Nick. As a highly successful black woman living in my upscale North Gwinnett home, I find you comments amusing. It isvinteresting how trolls like you look for an opprtunity to display your ignorance in AJC blogs. Do not blame your sad excuse for a life in a trashy neighborhood with trashy people on minorities. The failure that is your life can only be blamed on the fact that you are sad lonely losers looking for a scapegoat.
Before you attempt to string together another hate-laced set of responses, why don’t you check out the make-up of Gwinnett county schools. In many schools, the minoroties are not blacks or latinos. They are Asian.
Why don’t the two of you practice the white flight you mentioned and open your own trailer park far away from the likes of me.
By EJ
January 31, 2008 9:28 AM | Link to this
Thank you Mia, you hit the nail on the head. As a working white guy raising my family in Gwinnett, I cringe when I read the small-minded crap these haters spew. Good, hardworking, love-minded people come in all races, GO GIRL!!!
By Todd
January 31, 2008 9:37 AM | Link to this
Sometimes the truth hurts. I understand this. But look at the Census data available at http://www.census.gov and compare this to the county information available at http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/histcountymaps/statemap.htm . Look at the crime and race. It will literally show you the racial percent of each county, state, even zip code. Then it will show the education level and income.
Facts don’t lie.
By Miranda
January 31, 2008 9:48 AM | Link to this
I am only going to speak on personal expierence. We moved into the S.G.H. area 6 years ago. Our daughter was so excited to attend S.G. That has dramatically changed. The school is awful. My sister went to pick her up one day but wasn’t sure where to go. She walked all the halls without ever being questioned. It has changed no matter how much you try to deny it. Call it what you want, but it is what it is. There are still a few really good people there of ALL colors, but they are far outweighed by the bad. And after talking with several of the teachers and administration, they are overwhelmed and not equipped either physically or mentally to take it on.
It’s very sad, but the whole area has gone down.
By Bobbi
January 31, 2008 9:51 AM | Link to this
I graduated from a Gwinnett school a few years ago, and even during my time in the school system, minority groups were quickly becoming the majority. While there were some biased people from all races, for the most part, the students got along quite well. It was my experience that because we were so diverse most racial tensions had little chance of survival. Our kids are more open minded about things in society today, and the qualms of racism is of little to no thought to them. So the “adults” need to stop bickering over this race or that race, or these people cause this or that. There are bigger things in our sociey that need our time and attention that have nothing to do with race or ethnicity. If you think mine is a single school situation, i attened Grayson, Central, and Phoenix…and the same held true for all of the above.
By Frank
January 31, 2008 10:14 AM | Link to this
worst….. school…. ever
coming from an ex-student
By DB
January 31, 2008 10:18 AM | Link to this
Gwinnett shcools are NOT 37% white - IT VERY DIVERSE: 1) Brookwood cluster -majority white 2)Grayson majority - white 3)Dacula - majority white 4)MillCreek - majority white 6)N. Gwinnett - majory white 7)Budford - diverse (white, black, hispanic, asian) 8)Shiloh - majority black 9)Central Gwinnett - majority black 10)Norcross - diveres (white, black, asian, indian, hispanic) 11)Parkvew - majoity white and indian 12)Peachtreeridge - majority white, asian 13) Berkmar - majoity black 14) MeadowCreek - majority black
By ga_tech_92
January 31, 2008 10:49 AM | Link to this
I graduated in 1986. SGHS and Snellville were great places to live. You rarely ever heard of any crime or drama. I’ve heard lots in recent years. I’m glad I’m long gone. Poor Gwinnett…used to be Great…now it’s constantly in the paper for drama and crime. Pathetic, but what can you do, except move. Great schools and low crime are two main priorities in most people’s lives. It is no surprise that people move away when the schools and crime start going downhill. I’ve heard horror stories from some people I know who still live in or near Snellville. Most people I know from that area said it got so bad that they have all moved. I suppose it is hard to have quality students when the people to whom education is top priority, don’t want to live there anymore. Good schools are good because of the community…not the other way around. It’s not racism, it’s just human nature. Example: if you put a hundred strangers in an area together, they will tend to segregate themselves. It’s not because all 100 people are racist. It’s because it’s human nature to be more comfortable with people you relate to and understand intuitively better. The media and minority over-activists have twisted normal human nature into something that sells papers and stimulates drama by calling it racist (minorities and majorities alike behave this same way, thus it is not exclusive to one group). Just my opinion based on observations in life…
By ga_tech_92
January 31, 2008 10:53 AM | Link to this
DB - I think the article is about South Gwinnett. The points are mainly directed to that school. What are the numbers there say from 1986 compared to today? Thanks for the research!!
By threedeep
January 31, 2008 11:26 AM | Link to this
Typical ajc responses by the “trolls” mentioned above. It is easy to diplay divisive thoughts when your real name is not displayed. Cowards.
By SGHS Teacher
January 31, 2008 11:52 AM | Link to this
Thank you Ms. Gast, for researching the history of South Gwinnett and for highlighting its impact in the community. I appreciate your positive attitude.
I have taught at South for a number of years, when the campus and population looked very different. Today my own child is a student here because I believe it is a good school with caring teachers and a challenging curriculum. We have high expectations.
I have fond memories of many students’ achievements in the classroom, in athletics, the performing arts, and in academic competitions. I feel very emotional at Graduation every May as another group prepares to leave us. Yes, I taught David Green and Louis Williams, but I also have seen hundreds of other young men and women who have gone on to college, military, and work in this community and elsewhere. I am proud of all of their success and happy to see them later and hear what they have done since their days at South Gwinnett.
I am a True Blue Comet, and proud to “Hail the blue and gray.”
By ga_tech_92
January 31, 2008 12:41 PM | Link to this
How many people graduated as a Comet in 1986, the year of Halley’s Comet? If you did, you think that it’s a cool piece of trivia.
By ha!
January 31, 2008 12:52 PM | Link to this
Gwinnett sucks.
By thugsallaround
January 31, 2008 1:00 PM | Link to this
I agree with Todd and Nick. Sorry, Mia! Truth hurts.
By C'mon Now
January 31, 2008 1:33 PM | Link to this
SGHS Teacher, If you are so True Blue and proud, why didn’t you use your real name? We lived in the the area for 14 years. My oldest graduated from SGHS in 2003, which was, in my opinion, the beginning of changes at the school. My child was physically attacked by a group of kids admitting they did it to be initiated into a gang. We moved a year later because we had more children to put through school. Maybe South is a good school, I don’t know anymore, but you know your child is there with you so you can look out for his/her well-being, and it is convenient. I would do the same thing in your position, but that isn’t reality for most of us.
By Matthew
January 31, 2008 1:44 PM | Link to this
If you think it’s bad in Gwinnett, check out Clayton County. I say Gwinnett is good because of word of mouth. Gwinnett is still good because The Black Population are less then 21% of the population and Clayton county is 63% Black. If you don’t beleive me, check out census.gov. Even though I been out of high school for seven years, I rather go to South Gwinnett which has 3000 kids and 30% White or Mill Creek which has 4000 kids and 65-70% White then Riverdale, Which has 1500 kids and less then 5% White.
One other thing Gwinnett’s Mexican population might go down because Mexicans are leaving on their own. I see it happening in Cobb. My neiborhood which is Mexican Majority and the houses were full. Since Cobb got tough on Illegial Immigrants. I am starting see empty trailors and houses around me. I beleive that can happen to Gwinnett as well. Lets keep our fingers crossed.
I say Gwinnett is kind of a segrigated county in ways. Blacks live South of 78 While Whites live North of 78.
By Tricia S
January 31, 2008 2:57 PM | Link to this
As a white female South Gwinnettian with a daughter in SGHS, I have to add my two cents. My neighborhood is indeed a bit diverse and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I chose to raise my daughter in a microcosm that represents the interesting mix of the real world rather than in a plain vanilla segregationist society. Crime has increased in Snellville as it has in many of the inner suburbs. It’s called urban sprawl and comes with high density. You redecks who dare to think you are a step above other races embarass me. You dilute the white race just as thugs do the same to the black race. Trash is trash. Luckily, most people, black or white aren’t like you.
By SGHS Teacher
January 31, 2008 3:03 PM | Link to this
C’mon Now, My name is Howell, I have taught at South Gwinnett High since the mid 1990’s, and I don’t have my head buried in the sand. No school is perfect, just as no other organization is perfect. My memories of South include buildings that have been replaced and people who have retired or moved away, even the chipmunks that once lived in the shrubbery. I attend many events, not just sports, and I know my child’s teachers, just as I did elsewhere when I had a child in another Gwinnett high school. If parents want better schools, they have to be involved. They attend open house and PTSA meetings, as well as concerts and ball games. These are things their children will remember.
I believe that this is a good school and the historic center of Snellville. It is sad that so few people answered Susan Gast’s blog question today: What are your memories of South Gwinnett?
By ga_tech_92
January 31, 2008 3:33 PM | Link to this
My memories of South Gwinnett were that we had one of the very best Corp-Style Drum Lines in Georgia. We kicked butt and took names everywhere we went. I remember Halley’s Comet, which only comes every 75 years or so, coming in 1986, as such it was dubbed ‘the year of the comet’. I flattered our class as being special, because after all we were Comets during the year of the Comet. I remember riding my bike and parking it anywhere I wanted, without fear of it being stolen. I remember laying on the football field with girlfriends to watch the stars, without fear of a gang situation. I remember very few fights at School taking place. I remember South Gwinnett very fondly from the year 1986, the Year of the Comet!
Someone said something about rednecks. I’m guessing this is a derogatory inference to someone who feels that schools and area’s where there are majority number of ‘minorities’ tend to have poorer academic’s as an associated stereotype. I think if you will look at statistics, that there are certainly exceptions to every rule; however, this and most stereotypes exist based on real life experiences and factual data. My personal experience in such discussions is this: I don’t know why more minorities generally mean worse quality schools (according to statistics, etc); however, I do know that it’s a fact more times than not. Most “red-necks” are not overly concerned with academics; however, there are a lot of middle/upper class people to whom academics and low crime are THE most important quality in a community. Thus, we can put our head in the sand and put derogatory labels on someone who values the best education they can get for their kid…or…we can pretend it’s not reality and let our kids be the guinea pigs who try and defy the stereotype for the sake of political correctness. I think it’s very insulting to suggest that people who would do anything they can to put their kids in the best possible school are rednecks. I think perhaps, they are the opposite of rednecks. I don’t know many rednecks, but the ones I do know ‘aint all ‘bout no school anywhoo’. Careful with the name calling, it’s a short cut for intellectual discussion. I’m not the smartest guy in the world, that’s for sure, but I know enough to have an opinion…and no…I could never be confused as a redneck.
By C'mon Now
January 31, 2008 4:04 PM | Link to this
SGHS Teacher, I responded to Ms. Gast’s question appropriately by sharing a memory of SGHS, albeit not a very pleasant one. Get over it.
By yes, i am a redneck
January 31, 2008 6:03 PM | Link to this
this is for “mia”. i love the way you try so hard to sound somewhat intelligent but still come across as ignorant. maybe its all your misspelled words, or maybe b/c you type as you talk, idk. i just find it funny how you can always pick out the minority just by reading their responses. And btw, im sure you do feel quite comfortable in gwinnett, seeing as all it is is minorities. And down here we dont consider abusing welfare checks “successful”. but i do hope you are enjoying the nice house my taxes helped purchase.
By David Brown
January 31, 2008 6:35 PM | Link to this
I just sent the following e-mail to Susan Gast about anonymous comments.
“I regularly read your column and I find it balanced and good reading.
What I don’t find balanced and good reading are the anonymous comments, as in today’s column about South Gwinnett High School. Of all the comments thus far, I’m the only person who had the guts to use their actual name. I wish those who post comments could have their posts deleted unless they use their actual name and not sobriquets.”
By SGHS 2000
January 31, 2008 8:13 PM | Link to this
I remember a lot of good things about good ole’ South Gwinnett. David Greene, football season, homecoming, prom, and pretty much everything great about high school. A lot of you people are complaining but you should remember the good times you had. South Gwinnett was a good home and I believe it still is.
By marie
February 1, 2008 3:31 AM | Link to this
Well, I have great memories from “South”, as we called it from 82 to 86. It was a special place for me where I spent a lot of time during and after school and I have so many memories I don’t know where to begin. I do remember waiting for my mom (a teacher at the school) to finish tutoring all of the students she took on after school, and during that time I would go the the corner store (stop and go?) and get 3 bulls eye caramel candies for my mom and a TAB in the pink can to take back to her. For myself, I would get a box of lemon heads. The only dangers I could remember would have been possibly running across the road at the wrong time, but the speed limit must have been 20mph. I remember the pep rallys and the concession stands and the school dances. I remember cheering on the sidelines and looking up into the stands to see whose parents were there. I remember Mrs. Long and Mrs. Bowden, Mr. Adair and Mr. Borst (I’ll never forget that man! I only wrote the formulas on my wrist “just in case” I would need them!! ). Mrs. Markert was my biggest influence though. She taught me to love the french language and yearn to go there. Well, now I’m married to a frenchman and living in Prague. So, I’m not really sure what Gwinnett has become, but I’m long gone. My children are surrounded by 42 different nationalities in their international schools. And I hope to God I never hear them speak of different races and minorities in the way I have read in previous postings. South did rule in 1986 and I’m glad I lived it at the time I did. Marie
By Andre
February 1, 2008 1:37 PM | Link to this
Geez, why does every blog on AJC always start and end with racism. Thanks Mia for speaking up. I can’t take reading these blogs too much anymore. These people make you want to cry out in anger for acting like this. And I’m a 24 year old black male.
By Kirsten Butler
February 1, 2008 3:02 PM | Link to this
I have fond memories of South Gwinnett High School. I attended the school from 1990-‘93. What I remember most about that time is supporting a student who had been injured in a car accident who was told he might not walk again. At that time we put together a football highlights video to sell and we included a story on the player’s strength and determination to heal and walk again. As a school we came together to support and help this player and his family. After I graduated from college my job took me out of state but my family still lives in Snellville and I visit with them often. Some may think my opinion isn’t worth much because I don’t live there. I have to admit I am saddened to read some of the reader comments. First, the racism disgusts me. Second, what I feel is missing from Snellville today is not “whites” but the drive to come together as a community and make Snellville a better place. Just as we as a school came together to help our injured student so many years ago, Snellville has to come together to help solve it’s problems and become a better place for everyone. Sure it isn’t the easy route or the fast one but leaving wont solve the problems. Every home, subdivision, community, city, county, state, country and planet has it’s problems. We can’t protect our families by leaving, where will everyone go next, the moon?
Some say a great school is made by having involved parents, well I believe a great community and a great world is made the same way, by being involved.
By debbie
February 2, 2008 12:40 AM | Link to this
I attended SG in late 70’s. Great school at that time. I am starting to feel that nobody is ever satisfied with any school these days. It used to be that you just accepted the school district you were in. Nowadays, everybody has something to say about every school district, normally bad news! It is rediculous. Shouldn’t we be teaching our kids to accept what is instead of what aint?
By Jan Snell Houston Class of 1968
February 2, 2008 3:33 AM | Link to this
Though times have changed, I am still proud to be a Comet!! Hail to thee our Alma Mata, South we all love you!!!! (where is spellcheck when you need it?) anyway
Hail the Blue & Gray!!!!!
By Jan Snell Houston Class of 1968
February 2, 2008 5:50 AM | Link to this
Oh yes, The memories?
Sock Hops after all the home football games, in the gym, with a BAND!! (once when I was a freshman, we drove to our house, picked up our portable stero and danced to records!!!) Coach Bobby Johnson!!! Coach Sawyer and Coach Bubba Lawrence
Going across the highway to Martin’s gas station, in the spring to get grape bubble gum and mountain dew for the baseball games. Coach Powell Coach John “Bear” Sawyer!!!
The bus rides to the basketball games, I wasn’t good enough to play but Coach Jack Britt let me be the girls mgr. Boys Coach Jimmie John Powell!!!!
Being one of the cooks for the football team’s Game Meal on Fridays, got me in ALL the games free.
Seeing my Daddy’s truck leave, while I was in class, because one of the coaches had sent someone to the store and they knew the key was in it and that my Daddy wouldn’t mind.
Decorating the gym for Homecoming and Proms and loving it!!!!!
My brother jumped our fence, across from the school, to help a cow birth a calf one day and then went back to class.
Those were simplier times and it was FUN!!!!
By times are changing
February 2, 2008 8:45 AM | Link to this
If Snellville and South Gwinnett were still so great Wayne Mason would not be moving to Suwanee!
By Missi
February 2, 2008 4:36 PM | Link to this
pep-rally’s, school dances in the GYM!, finally becoming a senior and getting a closer parking space!, pretty much everyone knew everyone, Mrs. Upchurch, Mrs. Shaw, FBLA - selling candy except I think I always ate all I was supposed to sell!, wearing ribbons sold by cheerleaders on game day, football games, riding the bus with my best friends, first it would drop at high school and then to middle - we were all on the same route!, “B” lunch! ice cream at lunch for .35 cents!, “xerox” ha! no class, but I got to make copes for the teachers!, typing class-“timed-writing!” and having class football player Ro was always comical, Mr. Bridges, 1st-5th halls . . 3rd was always the funnest! dissecting pigs - gross!, Mrs. Botler - the best! Coach Mudd, D. Smith, I had great memories of the class of ‘86!
By Brooke
February 2, 2008 9:36 PM | Link to this
I am a senior at South and have been in the district my full 13 years. I’ve seen a huge change in the population of the school, yes, but it is something I am incredibly thankful for. When I started at South freshman year, people complained about the “Dixie Outfitter” shirts some students wore. Three years later, the fact that white students are a minority seems to disgust some. How quickly people jump on to anything they can complain about is disgusting.
Debbie, I’m with you. Any bad attitudes displayed within schools are the result of their parents’ bad attitudes, and that is pitiful. If you go out of your way enough to complain about how “blacks are ruining our school,” on the AJC website, what are your children overhearing you say?
Show pride in your community. It will constantly be changing with the times. Your negative attitudes will not always fit them, nor will they do anything but create even more negative attitudes in turn.
Nick, you stated that “Whites or anyone else for that matter, do not want to go to school with blacks.” I could not disagree with you more. In looking for colleges, I, a white female, crossed schools off my list when I visited and couldn’t find any minority representation. Believe it or not, a bonus of being raised in a district that is changing with the times is that the atmosphere yields students that are open minded and far better equipped to function in the real world than those who hold on desperately to their notions of racial superiority.
South Gwinnett is a fantastic school with amazing opportunities for any students that have the initiative to get involved. From Kindergarten on, I have constantly felt supported by not only my peers, but my teachers as well. I am proud to be able to represent the 50th graduating class, and hope that classes for years to come feel as lucky to walk through the halls of South as I do today.
By Brooke
February 2, 2008 9:43 PM | Link to this
Also, Nick, 3 of the students in the Top Ten of my graduating class are black. Our valedictorian is Indian. Tell me again that blacks bring down the intellectual value of a community.
By Ksmoove
February 2, 2008 10:20 PM | Link to this
From what I have heard from a former teacher there, the teacher turnover rate has been close to 30% each of the past 4 years. It sounds like the administration has its hands full and is equipped to handle such a problem.
Is it just a coincidence that SGHS scores have dropped since the minorities have taken over?
By Ksmoove
February 2, 2008 10:23 PM | Link to this
From what I have heard from a former teacher there, the teacher turnover rate has been close to 30% each of the past 4 years. It sounds like the administration has its hands full and is equipped to handle such a problem.
Is it just a coincidence that SGHS scores have dropped since the minorities have taken over?
By Ksmoove
February 2, 2008 10:25 PM | Link to this
From what I have heard from a former teacher there, the teacher turnover rate has been close to 30% each of the past 4 years. It sounds like the administration has its hands full and is equipped to handle such a problem.
Is it just a coincidence that SGHS scores have dropped since the minorities have taken over?
By Class of '65
February 3, 2008 2:53 PM | Link to this
Oh South was a wonderful school in the 60’s. Snellville was a small town … and everybody knew everybody. There was the “All Star” where the kids hung out, Snell’s pharmacy and not much to do. Going downtown Atlanta to the Fox was considered a special date and going to The Varsity afterwards was neat. Seeing all the “souped” up cars … . a very special time … it was!
By Eric
February 3, 2008 4:38 PM | Link to this
I’m literally in awe of what i’m reading here.
I don’t understand why people who graduated 5 or more years ago are so afraid of change at their alma mater or in an area in general. Honestly, it’s disgusting.
The students there don’t mind the diversity at all. In fact we don’t even notice the skin color of most peoples anyway. Even the most ‘thuggish’ of people have lots of white friends and the most redneck of rednecks have friends who have the darkest of skin. You should all be ashamed…
By Shannon
February 4, 2008 3:33 PM | Link to this
From a white parent of a SGHS student. Thank goodness for diversity. My daughter is a junior and last year was on the staff of the “Myriad”, the schools literary magazine. By the way, the “Myriad” won a national award for being the best in the nation. The “Myriad” was created by a diverse group of intelligent students. By the way, an article was published in this same paper last week about this accomplishment. I am sure many of you choose not to read it, too busy looking for a way to spin things into a negative. My daughter is also a part of the marching band which consistantly wins awards. She is learning and she is thriving. She respects people and their cultures. SGHS has prepared her for the real world with an excellent education and life experiences. I can’t wait for my youngest to start next year. I am sure her experiences will be equally as rewarding.
In reference to the high teacher turn over, if a teacher is intimidated by teaching children of diverse cultures, then they should leave. I prefer teachers that love to teach. Most of the SGHS teachers are there for the students and the love of teaching such as Howell. I respect and appreciate all of them.
By Cassidy
February 4, 2008 6:01 PM | Link to this
I compleatly agree with Eric. You all SHOULD be ashamed of yourselves. Just because someone has diffent skin, does NOT make them any more or any less than any one else. I know what it’s like to be judged stright off by the color of my skin, especially at a school like South Gwinnett. People see me, a mixed child, and automatically place me in a spacific group. Well they’re wrong. My friends constantly likes to tell me how ‘white’ I am becuase I like to listen to rock and follow the ‘emo’ culture, but all that makes me is a diverse person. I can speak with proper language AND use slang around my friends. I listen to all kinds of music, and believe in many diffrent things, and the diversity at south has helped me to see things in ways I’d never thought possible. Just becuase I’m a ‘minority’ does not mean I’m a thug, it does not mean that I carry a gun or knife on my person, it does not mean that I start fights in the commons or sell drugs. Race and ethnicity has absolutely NOTHING to do with that. It does, however, have everything to do with what we are TOLD to be in life, and if people keep judging people negativly, then that’s exactly how the youth will turn out. You have to remember that EVERYTHING we do, and will be in our future depends on you, and what you believe we can accomplish, and I think everyone needs to remember that; and if you keep displaying narrow minded opinions, then that’s what were going to believe, and society won’t get any better, and it won’t be because of ‘white flight’ or a ‘60 percent black population’ but because you were afraid of a little intigration. This isn’t 1962. Times have changed. Mrs. Gast, thank you for your column, my favorite SGHS memory is meeting and making life long freinds with people who are diffrent than me.
By June
February 5, 2008 12:23 PM | Link to this
I fondly remember my years at South. I graduated in 1970. I remember sock hops on Friday nights and decorating the gym for the prom. I remember wearing my gray wool blazer and blue skirt on Fridays, especially during football and basketball season.
Mr. Head, Mr. Powell, Mrs. Byrd, Mrs. Ellington, Mrs. Hancock (Powell)were great teachers/administrators. Respect for these and other teachers and administrators was not a choice or a suggestion, it was a requirement taught at home. Any deviation from that was reported back to our parents and, at my home, there were grave consequences.
There were 110 students in my graduating class. I started first grade with 2/3 of those (at the old rock school house - Snellville Elementary). My mother went to school with the parents of many of my classmates. To say that my roots run deep in the South Gwinnett area is probably an understatement!
School spirit was our only high. Cheering at a Tuesday night basketball game so long and loud we were hoarse on Wednesday was the norm. I also remember the secretaries fondly - Betty McMichael and Barbara Chadwick. There may have been others, but those are the two that come to mind. The school only had 3 halls of classrooms. I look at the size of the school now and I’m amazed.
I wish my daughter could grow up in a town as small as Snellville was then and graduate with that small a class. But, it won’t happen in a Gwinnett County public school now. Time has flown by since my high school graduation day. I was in the 13th graduating class and now the school is celebrating 50 years. Lifetime friendships were started at South for me and many others.
Thanks for the stroll down memory lane.
By doggirl
February 5, 2008 2:42 PM | Link to this
I attended SGHS for 2 years before Shiloh opened and I moved. I was the 4th child in my family to attend South. I remember typing class with Mrs Shaw and Mrs Upchurch, the 2 funniest southern women I’ve ever known. I remember being allowed to get class credit for being a copy clerk for a quarter, Coach Sawyer bringing his fishing boat to class, how awful 2nd hall would be anytime it rained, how wonderful watching basketball was in that old gym, Coach Alexander’s health class, Van Halen blaring over the intercom as a senior class prank, every day in Mrs Melvin’s class, fighting for our right to wear shorts, my crush on Greg Chadwick, and so much more. I’m disappointed that South has changed so much physically that it doesn’t resemble that old school I attended, but I love that the history is still there.
By doggirl
February 6, 2008 11:51 AM | Link to this
I was the 4th kid in my family to attend South and I only stayed 2 years since Shiloh opened and I moved. During that time, I have so many great memories of a great school with a great history. I remember typing classes with Mrs Shaw and Mrs Upchurch, the 2 funniest women I’ve known. I remember the disaster of 2nd hall every time it rained, coach Sawyer bringing his fishing boat to class, Mr Boorst doing his best to teach me chemistry…and I still love the subject! I remember Coach Anderson’s health class, Van Halen blaring over the intercom thanks to a senior prank. I remember stepping over dip left by the boys between 2nd hall and the gym. I remember rowdy games of basketball in the old gym where games should still be played. Mrs Melvin and everything about her class. I remember getting class credit for being copy clerk for a quarter and using that time to see friends in other classes. I remember the large windows in class and the huge trees outside them…that has sadly changed. The new South doesn’t resemble the old physically, but I am hopeful that the history of the place is still appreciated.
By Greg Chadwick
February 6, 2008 4:04 PM | Link to this
doggirl
You had a crush on me?? I wish I would have known before I married the byotch that milked me for all I had. Want to have dinner some time?
By Beydoun
February 8, 2008 10:24 PM | Link to this
When I moved to Snellville in 1972 there was little there and I regretted my parents choosing to move to a place that seemed like the edge of the earth. Today, I long for the gentle civility and charm that it, and much of the old south, has lost. I drove by SGHS a few months ago for the first time in decades. It looks like a cross between a university and a penitentiary. I didn’t even recognize it without the student parking lot and all the additional structures.