Editor’s Notice I : This story was subitted to us by the scholar listed under with the assitance of Hannah Edwards a social research instructor and Pupil Council Advisor on the faculty. The college will maintain commencement contained in the LHS gymnasium Thursday at 7 p.m.
By Liberty Excessive Faculty Senior
Khynzli Randolph
Liberty Excessive Faculty first opened its doorways in 1973. Now, after 51 years, it’ll shut on the finish of this faculty yr. As college students put together to stroll throughout the stage one final time, it’s exhausting not to consider all of the recollections made inside these halls.
“I’m just honored to have had the chance to walk across the stage and be one of the last students to ever graduate from Liberty,” mentioned senior Brooke Evans.
The Liberty college students take nice pleasure of their faculty, so the choice to shut it was devastating for them. For years, it had simply been a rumor, one thing nobody thought would occur anytime quickly. Nonetheless, final yr, the Harrison County Board of Schooling made the choice to shut the highschool to chop spending and enhance the security and studying setting for college kids.
The closure precipitated an outrage amongst not simply college students, however mother and father, and alumni. Protests have been held, petitions have been signed however regardless of the general public’s sturdy disagreements, the Board’s resolution stood. Liberty shall be transformed right into a center faculty, with the remaining highschool college students transferring to Robert C. Byrd Excessive Faculty. Because of this, Liberty’s remaining graduating class is now making ready to say their goodbyes.
Diana Randolph, a member of the primary graduating class in 1973, recalled how tough it was to be a part of a brand new faculty with new folks
“None of us wanted to leave our schools,” she mentioned. “It was terrifying, and we were all anxious as I’m sure the kids now are.”
Randolph spoke about how college students slowly adjusted, regardless of their background variations. One of many lasting traditions that started with Liberty’s first graduating class was the yearbook, The Liberté, which shall be printed one remaining time this yr.
“It was hard at first,” Randolph mentioned. “But some of the teachers 
really went out of their way to make us feel welcome, and that really helped.”
She mentioned that the hassle the school put in, particularly their principal Mr. Wilson Currey, performed a giant function in serving to college students adapt.
“It wasn’t easy, but it got better, as it will get better for this new generation, too,” Randolph mentioned.
The considered transferring to a brand new faculty, particularly throughout their senior yr, was scary for a lot of. However additionally it is believed by man that with the change come extra alternatives.
“The change was hard, but with more students came more opportunities, more classes, and more activities,” Randolph mentioned. “No one likes change, but sometimes it’s better in the long run.”
As one period ends, one other begins. The legacy of Liberty Excessive Faculty will dwell on, not simply in yearbooks and recollections, however within the spirit its college students carry ahead. For a lot of, Liberty was greater than only a faculty, it was house. Friendships and recollections have been made. Now, college students are being requested to depart behind acquainted hallways, shut friendships, and the consolation of what they’ve all the time identified.
But, there’s hope that, in time, Robert C. Byrd Excessive Faculty will turn into a brand new house for at the moment’s college students, simply as Liberty did for the previous 50 years. Whereas not everybody was blissful in regards to the transition, then or now, historical past reveals that, with time, college students discover a strategy to make a brand new faculty their very own.
Editor’s Notice II: Prime picture of Liberty Excessive Faculty is courtesy of the Liberty Excessive Faculty Yearbook Workers. Second photograph reveals 1973 graduate Diane Randolph. Backside picture is of the writer, and senior, Khynzli Randolph.
