Augusta Christian marks milestones
Augusta Christian Schools will have a 45th anniversary and 25th graduating-class celebration Friday.
The event will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the school gymnasium. All Augusta Christian alumni, parents of alumni and past and present faculty and board members are invited.
"It's mainly a big get-together," said Lynn Wilkerson, director of school activities. "We'll have a '50s Happy Days theme. We're inviting all of the 25 classes and we're hoping people in the community that this would apply to would contact us if we don't have their addresses."
There will be a PowerPoint presentation featuring photos of different classes, and special guests will include former board members and past class officers.
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"Augusta Christian was founded in 1958 after Leila Havird had prayed for nine years and asked the Lord for someone to start a school in the community and the Lord impressed her that she was going to be the one to start it," Wilkerson said.
Havird was the director of the area's Child Evangelism Fellowship. Charlie Whitney and Jennings Murphy, chairman of the board of elders at Druid Park Bible Church, were some of the many people who were instrumental in the start of the school.
Jennings Murphy (standing, left), Leila Havird and Charlie Whitney helped start Augusta Christian Schools 45 years ago.
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"It was way back when there weren't all the Christian schools there are today," Havird said. "I teach Bible to children all the time and I realized once a week was good, but that children could afford more, that it would be better if they could have it more often, so we started the Christian school so they could have Bible every day. The Lord has blessed it and it has grown."
Starting with eight kindergarten pupils, the school met for the first time at Druid Park Bible Church. Kindergarten was taught for two years, then they added a grade every year, Havird said. The first school was on Golden Camp Road in several old Camp Gordon buildings. After those buildings burned, the school moved to the Baston Road property.
"We've gone from eight students to 800 students, and we now have 130 employees," Wilkerson said. "We offer honors programs, AP classes, and I think we have an outstanding academic program. Also, we have an outstanding fine-arts program with more than 200 students who participate and an outstanding sports program. Our students have gone on to do great things in college and do well in the community."
The school administration is now planning a major building program.
For more information about the 45th anniversary and 25th graduating-class celebration, contact Augusta Christian Schools at (706) 863-2905, ext. 136, or e-mail at acs@knology.net.