Enfield Academy - Fife and Drum Yearbook (Whitakers, NC)

Page 9 text:

Subsequent members of the Board have been Wade Dickens, John Branham, Kevin Viverette, L. W. Locke, Leonard Bunting, Dr. David Stroud, and J. P. Alford. During January, 1968, the Enfield Academy pur- chased the Whitakers school property in Nash County and during March of that year moved the school to the new location. This move to Whitakers provided the Academy with seventeen classrooms, a library, a labo- ratory, a lunchroom, a first aid room, a teachers’ lounge, a Headmaster’s office, a gymnasium, and a beautiful auditorium, which was subsequently named Parker Auditorium in recognition of the services of Rom B. Parker in acquiring the property. During the summer of 1968, it became evident that the enrollment of the Academy would double the next fall, and that at least a part of the older portions of the school would have to be renovated in order to accom- modate the new students. The incredible spirit of the Academy came through again. The summer was hot; the job to be done was large, but hundreds of persons spent untold hours working under the leadership of Building Committee Chairman, Leo Bellamy. The li- brary was organized and fully set up by Mrs. Rom Parker, who volunteered her services as librarian. The auditorium made debates and plays possible, and the gymnasium and baseball field made sports competition with other schools possible. The Carolina Academy Conference was formed for basketball competition, and the girls’ team immediately became champions. The fourth year had hardly got underway before applications from new students poured in. The Board of Trustees with the assistance of the school treasurer, E. M. Davis; Mrs. E. M. Davis, and Mrs. L. L. Allen, immediately began processing applications. By the end of the year, sufficient applications had been approved to more than double the enrollment. The hard summer of 1968 was nothing in compari- son with the summer of ’69. Hundreds of people went to work, and again the job was done. The fall of 1969 found the Academy with an enrollment of 425 stu- dents and a faculty of sixteen well-trained and quali- fied teachers. Students attending the Academy came from fourteen cities and towns, six counties, and had previously attended thirty-three schools. In this fifth year of operation, the Academy proved successful with its first graduating class, additional clubs and activities, and its first annual, the Fife and Drum. The first student body