Page 236 - some-stuff-i-wrote-and-some-stuff-i-didn't-(2011)-h-morris-williams

Some Stuff I Wrote and Some Stuff I Didn't (2011) H. Morris Williams

LAKE CITY ACADEMY as I recall

*(1972-1976)*

By: Johnny Bullard

Lake City Academy, located near Lake City, Florida, on Lake

Jeffrey Road, opened its doors to students at the beginning of the
1972 school year. It is hard to believe that it has been nearly 44
years ago, but it has.

I was a 9th grader when I entered Lake City Academy, and I had
never been a student anywhere other than the school in White
Springs. I was frightened, a little apprehensive, and a "fish out of
water".

It was impossible not to know certain family names, as my family
was and "is" a part of the fabric of north Florida, but I didn't know
any of them well.

There were five of us who came from White Springs that first
year, me, Robin and Jay Barnett, and Joe and Lisa Dees. These
longtime friends were all younger than me.

That year, Lake City Academy's ninth grade class was a large
one. This was due, I think, to the fact, that many parents did
not want their child/children attending ninth grade in Columbia
County at what had been the all African American Richardson

High School. The building was not in the best repair and then,
there was cultural sensitivity that was very different 44 years
ago.

At any rate, the ninth grade class had about 30 students. I
remember well, many of my classmates that year, Casey and
Cathy Townsend, cousins on my mother's side of the
family, David Adel, David Green, Rusty DePratter, Steve Wilson,
Doug Vocelle, Barry Bunn, Freddie Muskewitz, Jeffrey Duren, Joy
Duren, Diane Irwin, Gwen Morrell, Jennie Trammel, Debra

Trehern, Jeanie White, Cindy Price, Von Nell Wilkes (form er Miss

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