Pearl Stephens graduates schedule reunion

The Pearl Stephens School Reunion Committee has its sights set on a weekend in August for a get-together to celebrate longevity and look to the future.

Jerome Stephens, president of the committee, said Saturday the group is going to host “A Blast From the Past” the weekend of Aug. 12-14 at three different venues.

Oh, and in addition to reliving past glories and good times at the Pearl Stephens School, the group will hand out scholarship funds to deserving students.

William Dean Schofill of Perry High School will be awarded $1,000; Phillip Loan of

Warner Robins High School and Unique Tuberville of The Westfield School are to be awarded $500 each.

Pearl Stephens School was founded by legendary Houston County educator Pearl Stephens who donated land for the institution in July 1949, Stephens said. From 1949-69 it operated grades one through 12. Five classes graduated from 1965-69.

“We had everything other schools had,” said Stephens. “We had a stadium with lights that allowed us to play at night, and there was a lot of togetherness.”

One thing to keep in mind was the overarching situation of separate but equal, or segregation.

Although the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education ruling that effectively ended the practice took place in May 1954, it wasn’t until the 1970-71 school year that Houston County was completely integrated, said Charlie Ponder, a retired math teacher who taught at both Pearl Stephens and Warner Robins High School.

Ponder, a Philadelphia native who graduated from Fort Valley State University, taught for 32 years in Houston County.

He and other committee members said one difference brought about by integration was a big change in discipline.

“There was corporal punishment handed out by teachers who had permission,” said Betty Johnson. “They didn’t have to go through the principal to administer it.”

The committee has sent out 300 invitations for the reunion, Stephens said, and it projecting about 200 to attend.

“It’s still going on no matter the number,” he said. Former teachers and students are pretty much scattered across the United States, he added.

The first reunion took place in the late 1980s, and is held every other year. In the off years the group travels, and has taken Civil Rights tours to places such as Selma, Montgomery and Birmingham.

“We’re gone on those trips for two days at the most,” Stephens said.

The weekend will begin with fellowship and music in the McIntyre Room of the Warner Robins Recreation Center on Watson Boulevard 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 12; followed by a formal banquet and scholarship dinner at the Wellston Center on Maple Street 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 13; and wrapping up with a church service at Fellowship Bible Baptist Church followed by dining at Outback Steak House on Watson Boulevard.

For more information on tickets, call Stephens at 478-447-0251 or Geraldine Owens at 478-442-0695.

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