Irwin County High School - Chieftain Yearbook (Ocilla, GA)

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SENIORS

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MRS. JOHN B. BURKS Office Assistant

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SettCcn The Senior Class of 1953 has an enrollment of 82. This is the first twelfth grade graduating class in the history of Irwin County education. Five years ago the high schools of Irwin County began a transition program from the traditional seven grade elementary school to the eight grade elementary school. That year no freshmen en- tered high school. The large enrollment in the senior class this year is the result of consolidation of all of the high school work in the county into one school. This new high school, known as the Irwin County High School, is situated in Ocilla. The Mystic High School sent her senior class to the Ocilla High School in 1950-51 term. All of the Irwinville high school students came to the new school in Ocilla in 1952-53 term. With the completion of the consolidation, the new school assumed the name of the Irwin County High School. The name, Irwin County High School, is not new since prior to 1946 the high school at Ocilla was independent of the county and the Irwin County High School was located at Mystic. During this same period of time the Irwinville school was a junior high school. On February 22, 1946 the Irwin County High School at Mystic burned. The County Board of education created a high school at Irwinville and high school students living in the Irwinville district continued high school work at Irwinville. Other high school students in the Mystic district attended high school in Ocilla. In 1947 by public subscription, the Mystic school building was rebuilt and high school work was resumed. The new school at Mystic was known as Mystic High School. The name Irwin County High School was dropped about this time. In 1946 Ocilla ceased to operate as an independent system and became a part of the county school system. The forward-looking people of the county were beginning to realize that with three high schools in the county none of them could be large enough or well-equipped enough, to offer the curriculum needed and desired by the people of the county. On May 30, 1950 a bond election was held in Irwin County for the purpose of erecting a county-wide high school in Ocilla. The bond election was carried and the new county-wide high school was completed for the opening of the 1951-52 term of school. Upon entering high school in September 1949 everything was very new and different for us. Some of us enteredat Mystic where Mr. Arlie Schultz served as principal, others at Irwinville under Mr. J.G. Childs as principal, and a number of usinOcilla where Mr. John B. Burks was principal. Under the capable guidance of our teacher and princi- pals we soon fell into line and grew used to high school life as others had done in pre- ceding years.