By Samantha Connelly.

The graduates from the classes of ‘85, ‘86, and ‘87 donated new barriers to surround the tile eagle on the entrance foyer floor after the previous stanchions were lost during construction.

“Back then you could not walk on the eagle, there were stanchions around the entire eagle,” associate principal Patricia Anderson said. “You had to walk across the eagle. That was a huge thing.”

According to graduates, the tradition dictated that students were not to walk across the eagle tiles. Ever since the mosaic tile was placed there was an unwritten rule that the eagle was not to be walked across, and the school pride partnered with this practice even led to upperclassmen threats to those who didn’t follow this rule.

“One of the things they would make freshmen do is clean the eagle with a toothbrush and all that stuff,” Anderson said. “It was just then a tradition.”

In the fall of this school year, board of trustees member Derek Hood attended the school for a tour of the campus. He saw that the ongoing tradition he experienced in his high school years had been abandoned. The barriers that once stood around the eagle had been lost in construction years ago and had never been replaced.

“When we had our 35th class anniversary for the class of ‘86 I mentioned to the reunion committee about starting a fundraiser to buy new stanchions for the eagle,” Hood said.

Donors from the classes of ‘85 and ‘87 also contributed to the fundraiser, and in the end, Hood said that more than enough money was received. Now brand new black and gold stanchions protect the eagle tile and the tradition is renewed.

“School pride was a big thing,” Hood said. “One of the first things you were told was to not step on the eagle. We just wanted to bring back that school pride.”