Ceremonies honor 2 former teachers as schools renamed in Athens

Bettye Henderson Holston reacts to seeing her portrait during a renaming celebration at Bettye Henderson Holston Elementary School in Athens, Ga., on Friday, Nov. 3, 2023. Bettye Henderson Holston was one of the first black teachers in Athens.
Bettye Henderson Holston reacts to seeing her portrait during a renaming celebration at Bettye Henderson Holston Elementary School in Athens, Ga., on Friday, Nov. 3, 2023. Bettye Henderson Holston was one of the first black teachers in Athens.

Two schools in Athens were officially renamed Friday to honor the first Black teachers who were both hired to teach at the Clarke County schools in 1966.

Events were held at both schools on Friday as friends, school officials and visitors gathered for ribbon cuttings and recognition ceremonies.

Chase Street Elementary School is now Johnnie Lay Burks Elementary School.

Alps Road Elementary is now Bettye Henderson Holston Elementary School.

The name changes were approved by the Clarke County Board of Education earlier this year.

Speaking at the ceremonies to congratulate the former teachers were School Superintendent Robbie Hooks, BOE Board President Lakeisha Gantt, and Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz. Burks and Henderson attended the events at the schools.

Henderson, a native of Monticello, was the daughter of a teacher. A graduate of Fort Valley State University, she was assigned to Alps Road for the 1966-67 school year. Later she moved to Chase Street and in 1975 she was honored as Teacher of the Year. She retired in 1989.

“Teaching can be rewarding, and while I always wanted to do work which was rewarding, I found greater purpose in making history live for people who came after me. And in that way, being the change I wished to see in the world. A good teacher is like a candle – you light the way for others. I hope I have done that,” she said in a statement released by the school district.

Alumni relations officials from Clark Atlanta University present Burks with an award from the school where she is an alumni.
Alumni relations officials from Clark Atlanta University present Burks with an award from the school where she is an alumni.

Burks, a native of Barrow County, is a graduate of Clark Atlanta University. She began her education career as a teacher at Northside Elementary School in Ila.

She moved to East Athens School in 1963, then integrated Chase Street as the first Black teacher in the 1966-67 school year. She later became a counselor at Clarke Middle School and was the district’s Counselor of the Year in 1986.

In a statement to the school district, Burks recalled Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address in 1863 that promoted the idea that “all men are created equal.”

“Superintendent (Samuel) Wood hired me to teach in the Clarke County School District 100 years later in August 1963, and now, in November 2023, a school is renamed Johnnie Lay Burks Elementary. The American experiment is still alive and well,” she said.

In a message to those attending the Friday morning ceremony, Burks quoted from various famous people from President John F. Kennedy to astronaut Neil Armstrong. But she ended with a reflection on Dolly Parton, who has a national program to provide books to children.

“I share that love of reading,” the teacher said.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Two schools in Athens renamed to honor first Black teachers