George Rogers Clark Middle/High School

By Joe Delgado, George Rogers Clark High School, Hammond, Ind.

With a decline in student involvement, the athletic department at George Rogers Clark Middle/High School felt something needed to be done to rekindle school spirit and honor past and present athletes.

We are in the first phase of renovations to improve our playing facilities. At our football field, we took down an old fence and replaced it with trees. These trees separate the track/field from the walkway fans use to get to our concession stand. It really dresses up the field.

Outside of our gymnasium, we painted the walls royal blue with a white stripe down the middle (our school colors are royal blue and white). This slight change makes this area of the school really stand out. We also included a wall mural highlighting past and present athletes, coaches and fans. We put up a “Once a Pioneer, Always a Pioneer” slogan above the doors entering the gym. Around this slogan, we have “bricks” that alumni, teachers, coaches, etc., can purchase to show their support. Some of the bricks have the name and year of graduation for alumni, their coaches’ names and quotes, along with the names of others who have helped in various ways (such as former football chain gang members).

By completing this first phase, we have already noticed a difference in the morale of our students. We gave them something to be proud of, and many alumni have purchased bricks to show their support of Clark athletics.

We were able to use the money raised from the bricks to pay for the wall mural and some of the trees. We also had alumni sponsor a tree. Our “C” Club, a group of outstanding student-athletes, volunteered to paint the walls outside of the gym. We also used students from other clubs to help paint, and that work counted toward their service hours for their respective club or organization.

---

>The walls outside George Rogers Clark’s gym were decorated with images honoring past and present athletes.

>

Before

After

---

>Gym Doors

>

Before

After

---

Field Trees