William Henry Spencer High School

Last updated
Spencer High School
Location
William Henry Spencer High School
1000 Fort Benning Road, Columbus, Georgia

United States
Coordinates 32°26′1″N84°56′19″W / 32.43361°N 84.93861°W / 32.43361; -84.93861 Coordinates: 32°26′1″N84°56′19″W / 32.43361°N 84.93861°W / 32.43361; -84.93861
Information
Established1930
School district Muscogee County School District
PrincipalJohnny Freeman
Faculty53.70 (FTE) [1]
Grades9–12
Enrollment991 (2018–19) [1]
Student to teacher ratio18.45 [1]
Campus size37 Acres
Color(s)Green and gold
Team nameGreenwave
Website sites.muscogee.k12.ga.us/spencer/

William Henry Spencer High School, is at 1000 Fort Benning Road in Columbus, Georgia, United States. The school colors are green and gold. The school mascot is the Owl, representing wisdom. The school also defines itself as "The Greenwave."

Contents

The original school was established on November 29, 1930, by the Columbus Public Schools as the first African American high school in Columbus. The school was named in honor of Dr. William Henry Spencer, Supervisor of the Colored Schools in Muscogee County. The teaching staff consisted of 15 members.

History

The first Spencer High School was built on 10th Avenue at 8th Street. The facility served as the home of Marshall Junior High School after Spencer High School relocated to 1830 Shepherd Drive in 1953. Marshall Junior High operated in this location until it was destroyed by fire.

The second Spencer High School was located at 1830 Shepherd Drive (now Marshall Middle School). The Shepherd Drive location was designated as the Columbus city high school for military dependent students from neighboring Fort Benning would attend after the 5th Circuit Court's 1971 desegregation order was handed down. Prior to this time, Fort Benning agreed it would never build a high school on the military reservation and would instead send their high school age children to either Baker High, where children of enlisted personnel were bussed, or Columbus High, where children whose parents were officers were bussed. In essence, the desegregation of Spencer High was accomplished with the reallocation of military dependents from Fort Benning, together with non-minority students from outlying Columbus neighborhoods.

In 1978, the Muscogee County School Board voted to close Spencer High School and move the students to a new high school located at 4340 Victory Drive on the Fort Benning military reservation. The name of this new high school was intended to be "Southwest High School," and its colors were to be blue and white. Incidentally, blue and white were the school colors for Baker High School (closed in 1991), about a mile west of the current Spencer High campus. A group of young men, having taken the name "The Golden Owls," came to the rescue of Spencer High School. They appeared before both the School Board and City Council convinced both organizations to preserve the Spencer High School name and its colors of green and gold. [2]

The 4340 Victory Drive facility developed engineering issues such as foundation settling, cracked floors and tilting walls. As a result, in November 2016, the City of Columbus and the Muscogee County School District authorized funding to build a new facility.

The newest Spencer High School, opened in August 2018, is located at 1000 Fort Benning Road and designed to accommodate around 1,100 students. This includes a rapidly expanding computer science and electronic game design magnet program, growing from an estimated 120 to more than 200 students. Spencer High School is now a 200,000 square foot, three floor, facility:

In addition, Spencer is able to offer each sport its own space, including an artificial turf field for football and soccer (for varsity practice and junior varsity games), a smaller grass field, track, baseball and softball fields, and storage, locker, wrestling and weight rooms.

Other information

Sports

The Georgia Interscholastic Association held state championship sport competitions from 1948-70. In 1971, GIA high schools joined the Georgia High School Association.

Spencer High School won the GIA Football State Championship in 1950, 1952, 1956 and 1967. Coach Odis Spencer was the head coach at Spencer for 26 years. He and his staff won 4 state championships. They won 5 Runner-up titles. They claimed 10 Regional titles. They also won 10 sectional titles. At present, he is the only Black Coach in the State of Georgia who has been selected to the Georgia Coaches Hall of Fame. Coach Spencer was the GIA Coach of the Year four times. Spencer High School was the 1973 co-State Champion in Track and Field.

Interscholastic Rifle Championships

Spencer High was a powerhouse in 50-foot gallery small-bore rifle marksmanship from 1972 through 1988. During this period, the Superintendent's Trophy (basically the All-City Championships) was retired in 1975 and again in 1978 after three consecutive wins. Spencer's rifle team won the Georgia State Interscholastic Rifle Championship in 1976. Team members included David Moeller, Glenn Moeller, John Moeller, Denise Canella, Carlos Villa-Gomez and Coach Gordon J. Burke. Spencer won the State Championship again in 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984 and 1985.

Spencer rifle team member Deena Wigger earned a slot on the 1987 Pan American Team and won a gold medal in the 50 meter small-bore rifle prone event and a bronze in the 10 meter air-rifle event. Her medaling in these Olympic level sporting events also earned her the coveted Distinguished International Marksman's badge. Deena was nominated as Georgia High School Female Athletic of the Year for 1987 but lost out to a cheerleader from metro Atlanta.

Notable alumni

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chattahoochee County, Georgia</span> County in Georgia, United States

Chattahoochee County, also known as Cusseta-Chattahoochee County, is a county located on the western border in central Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 11,267. The county seat is Cusseta, with which the county shares a consolidated city-county government. The city of Cusseta remains a geographically distinct municipality within Chattahoochee County. The county was created on February 13, 1854.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbia River High School</span> Public school in Vancouver, Washington, United States

Columbia River High School is a public high school in Vancouver, Washington, United States. It is part of the Vancouver Public Schools system and opened in 1962. Columbia River has over 1,200 students. Columbia River is a magnet school in the VSD for the International Baccalaureate Program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moeller High School</span> School in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

Moeller High School, known as Moeller, is a private, all-male, college-preparatory high school in the suburbs of Cincinnati, in Hamilton County, Ohio. It is currently one of four all-male Catholic high schools in the Cincinnati area.

Dothan High School is a public co-educational institution encompassing grades 10 to 12. The high school is located in the southeastern portion of the state of Alabama in Dothan, and has the 36th-largest high school student population in the state. The school won two football state titles during the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia Military College</span>

Georgia Military College (GMC) is a public military junior college in Milledgeville, Georgia. It is divided into the junior college, a military junior college program, high school, middle school, and elementary school. It was originally known as Middle Georgia Military and Agricultural College, until 1900. Although it is a state-funded institution, GMC is not affiliated with either the University System of Georgia or the Technical College System of Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin High School (Arlington, Texas)</span> Public school in Arlington, Texas, United States

James Martin High School is a secondary school serving grades 9 through 12 in Arlington, Texas, United States. It is part of the Arlington Independent School District. The school's colors are red, black and silver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Columbus High School (Columbus, Georgia)</span> School in the United States

Columbus High School (CHS) is a public high school located in Columbus, Georgia, United States. It serves as one of the Muscogee County School District's liberal arts magnet schools. It opened in 1890.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Bush High School</span> American public high school

George Bush High School is a public high school located in the Mission Bend census designated place and in unincorporated Fort Bend County, Texas, serving students in grades 9-12. The school has a "Richmond, Texas" postal address but is not in the Richmond city limits. The school is part of the Fort Bend Independent School District and serves several areas of unincorporated Fort Bend County, including Mission Bend. The high school is named after the forty-first president of the United States, George Herbert Walker Bush, who attended the school's inauguration. The school colors are orange, white, and navy blue. The average annual enrollment is approximately 2,200 students.

Hardaway High School is located in Columbus, Georgia, United States, in the Muscogee County School District. It is one of 221 schools in the state to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and International Baccalaureate Career-related Certificate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunwoody High School</span> Public school in Dunwoody, Georgia, United States

Dunwoody High School is a public high school in Dunwoody, an incorporated city in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States.

Fort Thomas Highlands High School, also known as Fort Thomas Highlands, is a public secondary school located in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. Operated by Fort Thomas Independent Schools, Highlands was founded in 1888. The school took its name from the original name of Fort Thomas, "The Highlands". Enrollment for the 2018–19 school year was 1,036 in grades 9-12.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Downtown Columbus, Georgia</span> Neighborhood in Muscogee, Georgia, United States

Downtown Columbus, Georgia, also called "Uptown", is the central business district of the city of Columbus, Georgia. The commercial and governmental heart of the city has traditionally been toward the eastern end of Downtown Columbus, between 10th Street and 1st Avenue. Recent developments, particularly between Broadway and 2nd Avenue, have expanded the boundaries of the "central" part of the neighborhood. The term "Downtown Columbus" can also mean this smaller, more commercial area, particularly when used in the context of the city's nightlife and restaurants

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muscogee County School District</span> School district in Georgia (U.S. state)

The Muscogee County School District (MCSD) is the county government agency which operates the public schools in Muscogee County, Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shaw High School (Georgia)</span> Public school in the United States

William Henry Shaw High School is located in Columbus, Georgia, United States. It opened in 1978 at its present location in the Northern Columbus area. Students began attending classes in September of the same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baker High School (Georgia)</span> Public school in Columbus, Georgia, United States

Baker High School is located in Columbus, Georgia, United States. It was built in 1943 near Fort Benning. It was named for Newton Diehl Baker, Secretary of War during World War I. The first graduates received their diplomas in 1945. Baker High served Columbus and Fort Benning for nearly fifty years, producing graduates who excelled in scholarship, athletics, and the arts. The last class of seniors graduated on June 6, 1991. The Baker name lives on at Baker Middle School a few blocks east on Benning Drive. On May 18, 2013, a historical marker was placed at the site of the former school by the Historic Chattahoochee Commission and the Baker High School Alumni Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conway High School (Arkansas)</span> School in Conway, Arkansas, United States

Conway High School is a comprehensive public school in Conway, Arkansas, United States. Conway High School serves over 2,000 students and is administered by the Conway School District. The school has been nationally recognized as a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence and since 1953 has won at least 33 state championships in interscholastic sports.

Malvern High School is a comprehensive public high school located in Malvern, Arkansas. It is the largest of five public high schools in Hot Spring County and the only high school administered by the Malvern School District.

<i>Alerding v. Ohio High School Athletic Association</i>

Alerding v. Ohio High School Athletic Association, 779 F.2d 315 was a court case heard before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit which held that the right to participate in interscholastic sports is not a fundamental privilege protected by the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the United States Constitution. In particular, the court held that the Ohio High School Athletic Association could prohibit private high school athletic programs from recruiting students who live in neighboring states.

George Washington Carver High School is a public secondary school in Columbus, Georgia. It served as the high school for black students until the public schools were integrated. A 2009 tax amendment provided funds to rebuild the school, which reopened in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia Interscholastic Association</span> High school athletic league during segregation

The Georgia Interscholastic Association (GIA), formed in 1948, was a sports league of high schools serving African Americans in Georgia. It merged into the Georgia High School Association with desegregation in 1970. As If We Were Ghosts is a documentary film made about the league and its athletes. The Georgia Interscholastic Association held state championship competitions from 1948-70 and joined the Georgia High School Association the following year.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Spencer High School". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  2. ↑ Spencer High School. "School History" . Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  3. ↑ "Former NFL Player, Spencer Alumni". Ledger-Enquirer. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  4. ↑ "Spencer's Gary Downs, Randy Fuller Reflect on Superbowl". Ledger-Enquirer. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  5. ↑ Hill, Jordan D. "Former NFL player Ernie Green to speak, have number retired at Spencer football banquet," Ledger-Enquirer (Columbus, GA), Friday, January 19, 2018. Retrieved December 21, 2018
  6. ↑ "Senator Barbara A. Robinson". Maryland Senate Democrats. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.