Columbia High School (Florida)

Columbia High School (CHS) is a four-year public high school located in Lake City, Florida. The school's mascot is the Fighting Tigers and the colors are purple and gold.[3]

Columbia High School
Address
469 SE Fighting Tiger Drive

Lake City
,
Florida
32025

United States
Coordinates30°08′53″N 82°38′12″W
Information
TypePublic
Founded1888[1]
School districtColumbia County School District
PrincipalTrey Hosford
Teaching staff96.00 (FTE)[2]
Enrollment1,957 (2018–19)[2]
Student to teacher ratio20.39[2]
Color(s)Purple   and Gold  
Fight songOnward Victorious
NicknameTigers
RivalSuwannee High School, Gainesville High School
YearbookThe Columbian
Feeder schoolsLake City Middle School
Websitechs.columbiak12.com

History

The school was founded in 1888. The 1921 building, which was replaced in 1957 by a new building on Duval street, is on the National Register of Historic Places.[4] In 1935 the school was accused of cheating in football by playing a 21-year-old student who lived outside the county. A judge ordered them to be suspended from the Athletic Association and cancelled the rest of their games.[5]

Censorship

In 1986, despite opposition from the ACLU, the school district banned Chaucer's The Miller's Tale and Aristophanes Lysistrata from the school because of sexual content.[6][7] This decision was ultimately upheld by the courts in 1989 in the case Virgil v. School Board of Columbia County.[8][9] A 1993 attempt to ban Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck was defeated due to the intervention of a local librarian.[10]

Integration

Prior to 1969, Columbia was for White students only. In 1969, when the schools were forced to integrate by federal courts, students from the all-Black Fort White High School were sent to Columbia High School, but the district did not fully integrate Columbia at that time and defied a federal court order to do so in January, 1970.[11] The court allowed them to delay until February.[12] Students from Fort White continued to attend Columbia for over 30 years, when a new Fort White High School was built. In 1979, a Black student was accused of improper behavior towards a White female. The Black student was suspended, which led to a boycott of the school by Black students, and McKinley Jeffers, a Black assistant principal was fired.[13]

Activities

Extra curricular activities at the school include the FIRST Tech Challenge team The Flying Tigers, the Academy of Graphic Design, Academic Team, Athletics, Band, Color Guard, and two chapters of Future Farmers of America. The football program lists regional championships in 1969, 1998 & 2003; made it to the Quarter-Finals in 1975, 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1999, 2001 & 2002, and one State Championship victory in 1967.[14]

The Columbia High School Marching Band has been ranked superior in the Florida Bandmasters Association's Marching Performance Assessment for 16 years.[15] The CHS Drumline has a long lasting record of superiors at the State level, they've received 5 straight, as of 2023.

Columbia high football has been an important part of the community since it began, it won a state title back in 1967, and were runners-up in 1964 and 1997. It was at one time, the winningest program in the state of Florida.[16][17]

Columbia high athletics have been competitive over the years winning a total of 8 state titles, and producing many notable alumni in its past.

Sports

State championships
  • Boys Basketball: 1947 (Class B)[18][19]
  • Boys Track: 2002 (Class 3A)[20]
  • Boys Weightlifting: 1996, 1998, 1999
  • Boys Football: 1967 (Class A)[16]

Notable alumni

References
  1. "Columbia High School".
  2. "COLUMBIA HIGH SCHOOL". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  3. Archived April 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Florida MPS Columbia County High School. File Unit: National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: Florida, 1/1/1964 - 12/31/2013.
  5. "Columbia High School suspended by FHSAA for playing a 21 year old student from outside the county". Tallahassee Democrat. 17 November 1935. p. 8.
  6. "Columbia County High School ban's Aristophanes and Chaucer". Tampa Bay Times. 29 May 1986. p. 32.
  7. "Columbia High School bans Chaucer. Lake City, Florida". The Honolulu Advertiser. 29 September 1989. p. 20.
  8. "Burned Books".
  9. "The Right to Read: Exploring Book Challenges and Bans" (PDF). Carolina K-12. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  10. "Censorship foe wins recognition".
  11. "Columbia High School Lake City, Florida integration". Fort Lauderdale News. 21 January 1970. p. 16.
  12. "Columbia High School Lake City, Florida". The Bradenton Herald. 21 January 1970. p. 2.
  13. "Students end boycott in Columbia County". Tallahassee Democrat. 21 March 1979. p. 19.
  14. "Football 2006-07 Championship Records" (PDF). FHSAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 21, 2008. Retrieved November 16, 2006.
  15. "History - the Pride of Columbia County". Archived from the original on 2015-05-27. Retrieved 2015-05-27.
  16. "1960's State Championship Game Results | Florida HS Football".
  17. "1990's State Championship Game Results | Florida HS Football".
  18. "Boys Basketball 2006-07 Championship Records" (PDF). FHSAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2006. Retrieved January 3, 2007.
  19. Archived May 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  20. "Boys Track and Field 2005-06 Championship Records" (PDF). FHSAAZaccessdate=January 20, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-10-25.
  21. "Scott Adams Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  22. "Brian Allen Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  23. "Usatoday.Com". Usatoday.Com. 2005-05-18. Retrieved 2015-02-18.
  24. "Shayne Edge". Foxsports.com. 2016-02-12.
  25. "Shayne Edge Past Stats, Statistics, History, and Awards - databaseFootball.com". Archived from the original on 2014-08-27. Retrieved 2015-05-26.
  26. "Randy Jackson Statistics". JustSportsStats.com.
  27. "1998 All-USA Team". Usatoday.com. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  28. "NFLPA". Nflplayers.com. Archived from the original on 2015-02-20. Retrieved 2015-02-18.
  29. "The voice is familiar.... (Pat Summerall, Super Bowl broadcaster)", Sports Illustrated, January 26, 1987. "His principal home is in the same north Florida town, Lake City, where he grew up as one of the best schoolboy athletes the state has ever known.... They lived a block from the Columbia High School football field, where he would later star. Summerall went on to a 10-year career in the NFL as a two-way end and kicker."
  30. Archived November 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
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