Columbia High School (Florida)

Public school in Lake City, Florida, United States

Columbia High School

Address

469 SE Fighting Tiger Drive

Lake City

Florida

32025

United States

Coordinates| 30°08′53″N 82°38′12″W﻿ / ﻿30.14806°N 82.63667°W﻿ / 30.14806; -82.63667
Information
Type| Public
Founded| 1888[2]
School district| Columbia County School District
Principal| Trey Hosford
Teaching staff| 76.41 (on an FTE basis)[1]
Enrollment| 1,727[1] (2023–2024)
Student to teacher ratio| 22.60[1]
Color(s)| Purple  and Gold
Fight song| Onward Victorious
Nickname| Tigers
Rival| Suwannee High School, Gainesville High School
Yearbook| The Columbian
Feeder schools| Lake City Middle School
Website| chs.columbiak12.com

Columbia High School (CHS) is a four-year public high school located in Lake City, Florida. The school's mascot is the Fighting Tigers and the colors are purple and gold.[3]

## History

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The school was founded in 1888. The 1921 building, which was replaced in 1957 by a new building on Duval street, is on the National Register of Historic Places.[4] In 1935 the school was accused of cheating in football by playing a 21-year-old student who lived outside the county. A judge ordered them to be suspended from the Athletic Association and cancelled the rest of their games.[5]

### Censorship

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In 1986, despite opposition from the ACLU, the school district banned Chaucer's The Miller's Tale and Aristophanes Lysistrata from the school because of sexual content.[6][7] This decision was ultimately upheld by the courts in 1989 in the case Virgil v. School Board of Columbia County.[8][9] A 1993 attempt to ban Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck was defeated due to the intervention of a local librarian.[10]

### Integration

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Prior to 1969, Columbia was for White students only. In 1969, when the schools were forced to integrate by federal courts, students from the all-Black Fort White High School were sent to Columbia High School,[citation needed] but the district did not fully integrate Columbia at that time and defied a federal court order to do so in January, 1970.[11] The court allowed them to delay until February.[12] Students from Fort White continued to attend Columbia for over 30 years, when a new Fort White High School was built.[citation needed] In 1979, a Black student was accused of improper behavior towards a White female. The Black student was suspended, which led to a boycott of the school by Black students, and McKinley Jeffers, a Black assistant principal was fired.[13]

## Activities

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Extra curricular activities at the school include the FIRST Tech Challenge team The Flying Tigers, the Academy of Graphic Design, Academic Team, Athletics, Band, Color Guard, and two chapters of Future Farmers of America. The football program lists regional championships in 1969, 1998 & 2003; made it to the Quarter-Finals in 1975, 1982, 1984, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1999, 2001 & 2002, and one State Championship victory in 1967.[14]

The Columbia High School Marching Band has been ranked superior in the Florida Bandmasters Association's Marching Performance Assessment for 16 years.[15] The CHS Drumline has a long lasting record of superiors at the State level, they've received 5 straight, as of 2023.

Columbia high football has been an important part of the community since it began, it won a state title back in 1967, and were runners-up in 1964 and 1997. It was at one time, the winningest program in the state of Florida.[16][17]

Columbia high athletics have been competitive over the years winning a total of 8 state titles, and producing many notable alumni in its past.[vague]

## Sports

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### State championships

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* Boys Basketball: 1947 (Class B)[18][19]
* Boys Track: 2002 (Class 3A)[20]
* Boys Weightlifting: 1996, 1998, 1999
* Boys Football: 1967 (Class A)[16]
* Girls Softball 2013 (Class 5A)

## Notable alumni

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* Scott Adams, National Football League (NFL) offensive lineman[21]
* Brian Allen, NFL linebacker[22]
* Jerome Carter, NFL strong safety for the St. Louis Rams. At Columbia, Carter was named the top player in the state by The Gainesville Sun, and the Class 5A Player of the Year by the Florida Association of Coaches.[23]
* Fred P. Cone, American politician who served as the 27th Governor of Florida.
* Gene Cox, former High school coach who graduated from Columbia High and coached at Leon High School and attained a total of 313 wins and was at the time one of the winningest coaches in Florida.
* Shayne Edge, Former American football punter who played college at Florida and in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers[24][25]
* Grace Elizabeth, American model
* Amare Ferrell, college football safety for the Indiana Hoosiers[26]
* Bobby Fulton, wide receiver for the defending National Champions
* Sampson Genus, NFL center for the Green Bay Packers
* Yatil Green, American football wide receiver at the University of Miami, selected by the Miami Dolphins in the first round (15th overall pick) of the 1997 NFL Draft.
* Randy Jackson (offensive lineman), Former American football offensive tackle who played college at Florida and in the NFL for the Chicago Bears[27]
* Timmy Jernigan, NFL defensive lineman. Played college football at Florida State.
* Michael Kirkman, pitcher for the Texas Rangers
* Trey Marshall, safety for the Denver Broncos
* Kendyll Pope, former NFL linebacker who played for the Indianapolis Colts. At Columbia, Pope was selected for the USA Today All-American first team and as a Parade All-American.[28][29]
* Pat Summerall, an All-State selection in football and basketball for Columbia High School in the 1940s and the 1946 individual state tennis runner-up. Played 10 seasons in the NFL for the then-Chicago Cardinals and the New York Giants, before starting his career as a broadcaster.[19][30][31]
* Laremy Tunsil, American football offensive lineman who played college at Ole Miss, he was then selected by the Miami Dolphins in the first round (13th overall pick) of the 2016 NFL draft.
* Reinard Wilson, American football linebacker in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals 14th overall in the 1997 NFL Draft. He played college football at Florida State.

## References

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1. ^ a b c "COLUMBIA HIGH SCHOOL". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved December 21, 2024.
2. ^ "Columbia High School".
3. ^ [1] Archived April 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
4. ^ Florida MPS Columbia County High School. File Unit: National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: Florida, 1/1/1964 - 12/31/2013.
5. ^ "Columbia High School suspended by FHSAA for playing a 21 year old student from outside the county". Tallahassee Democrat. November 17, 1935. p. 8.
6. ^ "Columbia County High School ban's Aristophanes and Chaucer". Tampa Bay Times. May 29, 1986. p. 32.
7. ^ "Columbia High School bans Chaucer. Lake City, Florida". The Honolulu Advertiser. September 29, 1989. p. 20.
8. ^ "Burned Books".
9. ^ "The Right to Read: Exploring Book Challenges and Bans" (PDF). Carolina K-12. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
10. ^ "Censorship foe wins recognition".
11. ^ "Columbia High School Lake City, Florida integration". Fort Lauderdale News. January 21, 1970. p. 16.
12. ^ "Columbia High School Lake City, Florida". The Bradenton Herald. January 21, 1970. p. 2.
13. ^ "Students end boycott in Columbia County". Tallahassee Democrat. March 21, 1979. p. 19.
14. ^ "Football 2006-07 Championship Records" (PDF). FHSAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 21, 2008. Retrieved November 16, 2006.
15. ^ "History - the Pride of Columbia County". Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
16. ^ a b "1960's State Championship Game Results | Florida HS Football".
17. ^ "1990's State Championship Game Results | Florida HS Football".
18. ^ "Boys Basketball 2006-07 Championship Records" (PDF). FHSAA. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 15, 2006. Retrieved January 3, 2007.
19. ^ a b [2] Archived May 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
20. ^ "Boys Track and Field 2005-06 Championship Records" (PDF). FHSAAZaccessdate=January 20, 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 25, 2007.
21. ^ "Scott Adams Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
22. ^ "Brian Allen Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
23. ^ "Usatoday.Com". Usatoday.Com. May 18, 2005. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
24. ^ "Shayne Edge". Foxsports.com. February 12, 2016.
25. ^ "Shayne Edge Past Stats, Statistics, History, and Awards - databaseFootball.com". Archived from the original on August 27, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
26. ^ Ankony, Jack (June 27, 2022). "Florida DB Amare Ferrell Commits to Indiana". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
27. ^ "Randy Jackson Statistics". JustSportsStats.com.
28. ^ "1998 All-USA Team". Usatoday.com. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
29. ^ "NFLPA". Nflplayers.com. Archived from the original on February 20, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
30. ^ "The voice is familiar.... (Pat Summerall, Super Bowl broadcaster)", Sports Illustrated, January 26, 1987. "His principal home is in the same north Florida town, Lake City, where he grew up as one of the best schoolboy athletes the state has ever known.... They lived a block from the Columbia High School football field, where he would later star. Summerall went on to a 10-year career in the NFL as a two-way end and kicker."
31. ^ [3] Archived November 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine

## External links

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* School Website[usurped]
* Columbia High School page at Great Schools

Authority control databases: Geographic |

* NCES

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