History of GRC

GRC in the 1963-64 school year

(Photo courtesy of John Ginter and East Kentucky Power Cooperative) 

Times have changed since GRC's first year

By Caitlyn Vincent

GRC Online Staff

George Rogers Clark High School opened in the fall of 1963.  The school replaced Clark County High School, which had merged with Winchester High School in the late 1950s.

GRC had grown from a two-room school with two teachers to a school that the community considered magnificent.  The new school cost $2 million and had 55 instructors and administrators.

GRC's first graduating class, the Class of 1964, had 205 students.  During this year, many old traditions were followed, as well as establishing new ones.

Looking at a 1963-1964 yearbook, some of the same activities still remain today, such as the Cardinal Yearbook Staff and the Smoke Signals Newspaper. An organization named the Quill and Scroll Club who raised money to help finance the newspaper was also organized.  It also recognized those who excelled in journalism, which helped further the interest in journalism among the student body. 

Smoke Signals began in December of 1958 and took its name from the Winchester High School newspaper.  In the first year of GRC, the paper won many awards.

GRC also opened with a Pep Club that began in 1937 at Clark County High School, a drama club that presented “Oklahoma” in the first year of the school, and many language clubs, such as French, German, Latin, and Spanish.

The school had a Beta Club, Student Council, FHA, FTA, and a speech and debate club called National Forensic League. It was named the leading speech chapter in Kentucky with 46 members in 1964.

A first for the county and GRC was a History Club which was associated with the Kentucky Historical Society.  The club opened a History Museum, which charged 10 cents admission.  The museum acquired a 1,000 year-old Indian mummy.  People from many places came to see the mummy.  The club had approximately 200 members and Robert Campbell was the sponsor of the club.  In its first year, the club won the Outstanding Club of the state of Kentucky.

In the first year of the school, there was a Homecoming Court with a King and Queen and three senior attendants, as well as a freshman, sophomore, and junior attendant.

What is now called the Prom was called the Nite Club, which also took its name from a similar event at the former Winchester High School.

The first year of GRC opened with William G. Conkwright as superintendant and Letcher Norton as principal.

The football team had an 8-1-1 record, which gave it the Mid-State Conference Championship.  The basketball team chalked up a 24-7 record and won the District and Regional tournaments. The baseball team had a 7-8 record and the golf team had a 7-4 record.  The track team finished second in the Mid-State Conference.

Cheerleading was very different.  GRC had a total of 12 cheerleaders.  Six were listed as Varsity and six were listed as B-Team cheerleaders.  The cheerleaders’ only responsibility was to cheer at pep rallies and ballgames.  Cheerleaders did not compete in competitions.

The school opened with an art teacher, two commerce (business) teachers, and one guidance counselor.  GRC also had a chorus with 250 members and a band with about 60 members that did not have a color guard and did not participate in competitions.  The band played at ballgames, marched in parades, and had seasonal concerts.

During this time, girls had short hair and most had bangs.  Guys had very short hard and wore suits with white shirts and ties.

The ads in the back of the 1964 yearbook showed many familiarities.  Wes Martin, today’s golf coach, was in one of the ads.  He was 10 years old and his mother taught at the high school.

Another person in the book who still works for the Clark County School System is Virginia Spicer Castle.  Castle works at the Central Office.  She has more service that any other employee in the school system.

GRC has so much history that a whole book could be written about it.  The first students who walked the halls of GRCHS had fun and many have been very successful and many have made important contributions to Winchester.

Forty-four years from now, it will be interesting to hear what someone will have to say about the class of 2008.

 -Information received from Janet Campbell