Camden High School (Camden, South Carolina)

Camden High School, located in Camden, South Carolina, is one of three high schools in the Kershaw County School District. It is the second largest high school, with around 1,036 students and is home of the Camden High School Bulldogs. Camden High School is located in the heart of the city of Camden in Kershaw County. In 1992-93, Camden High moved from Laurens Street, which became Camden Middle School, to its present location on Ehrenclou Drive. The main building houses classrooms, the Media Center, and a Lecture Hall. The two-story building houses the Freshman Academy. There is also a gymnasium and a mini-gym located at the back of the campus along with 4 parking lots. Three new structures are under currently construction: a cafeteria that will have a new kitchen and serving facilities, a performing arts facility which will seat approximately 350, and a wellness/athletic complex that will seat approximately 450. In 2004, the district started its iCan laptop program, and since then every incoming freshmen has received an HP laptop to be used for their next four years at the school. That same year, the Freshmen Academy was created, giving freshmen partial interaction with the upperclassmen while still keeping them mostly to themselves. This program gives freshmen extra time to adjust to high-school life. Camden High School's chief rival is Lugoff-Elgin High School, located across the Wateree River and also in the Kershaw County School District. The annual football game between Camden and Lugoff-Elgin is one of the most heated games of the season and always draws a huge crowd of thousands. This game usually means more to the student body than going to the state championship and earns them bragging rights for the entire year.

Renovations and additions

During the 2007-2008 school year, Phase One of the Kershaw County School District's facilities improvement plan began on the CHS campus. The construction includes: a 185-space student parking lot in the front area of the school, additions and renovations to the cafeteria, a 350-seat performing arts center near the existing band room, a wellness center near the existing gym, lights and restrooms at the tennis courts, press boxes at the baseball and softball fields, an eight-lane track and storage building on a 30 acre tract of land across Ehrenclou Drive, and the bus drop off/pickup areas will be relocated to a covered walkway area near the commons area. Unfortunately, in the summer of 2008, these renovations were stopped due to "misplacing" one million dollars.

History

The first separate building designated "Camden High School" was established in 1903. The 11th grade was added in 1915 and the 12th grade in 1947. These early schools stood in the vicinity of Laurens and Lyttleton Streets.Past the first half of the century, white and black students were educated separately. Black students attended the Jackson schools, founded in 1867 on Campbell St. In their early years both school systems used remodeled homes or churches to house the high schools. In 1936, the first buildings built specifically to house the two high schools were constructed. Both were two story brick structures.In 1965 the schools desegregated under freedom of choice, and by the 1970-71 school year, a unitary school system was in operation. All high school students began to attend the enlarged CHS campus. Originally Camden High drew its students from the environs of the city of Camden. Throughout the years populations of several rural county schools were consolidated into Camden High School, including Charlotte Thompson, Antioch, and Midway Schools. Students from the Lugoff area across the river also attended Camden schools. The consolidation with the rural schools as well as Jackson High yielded a CHS population of over 2,000 for a time. The building of Lugoff-Elgin High and North Central High in other parts of the county eased overcrowding and attendance lines were redrawn.

Academics

Camden High offers a variety of academic routes, so every student can pick a course that best suits their future needs. Advanced Placement programs are offered along with Dual Enrollment at Central Carolina Technical College. The Journalism Department has three classes which produce the "Palmetto Leaf" school newspaper, the "Gold and Black" yearbook, and the "Paw" freshman newspaper. The school offers language courses in Spanish and French to help prepare students for courses in college and later in their lives.

Athletics

Camden High has a very good athletic program although most of the focus is on football. The games take place at Zemp Stadium in downtown Camden. The CHS Bulldog Football Team was most recently the South Carolina State Champions in 1990 and 2001. Camden High offers a variety of sports including Golf, Cross Country, Boy's and Girl's Basketball, Track, and Soccer. Also offered are Baseball, Softball, Volleyball, Cheerleading, and Boy's and Girl's Tennis.

The City

Camden is a community that is proud of its history and its environment and is the county seat of Kershaw County. It is the oldest inland city that dates back to 1733. One of the many unique attractions in Camden is the Historic Camden Revolutionary War Park in which is located the Historic Camden museum and gift shop and the Joseph Kershaw House. Camden is home to one of America’s most complete horse training facilities, Springdale Race Course, which hosts the Carolina and Colonial Cup steeplechase races. It also offers other recreational outlets such as Lake Wateree with more than convert|13000|acre|km2 and convert|242|mi|km of shoreline. The lake is a year-round favorite of campers, fishermen, and recreational boaters. Campsites are available at Wateree Lake RV Park and Campground. In the center of town is the Fine Arts Center that draws national and international performers and sponsors many performances and programs to promote the local arts. Kershaw County has a population of 52,647 (2000 census) with the median age of 37.4. The ethnicity of Kershaw County is 71.6% white, 26.3% Black, and 1.7% Hispanic. Asian and Native American and other races account for less than 1%. The two largest employers in the county are Invista (formerly Dupont) and Target Distribution Center. The unemployment rate in 2007 was 5.5%. As of the census of 2000, there were 6,682 people residing in the Camden city limits in 2,874 households, and 1,813 families. The racial makeup of the city was 60.72% White, 37.19% Black, Hispanics composed 1.32% of the population. There were 2,874 households out of which 24.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them,42.6% were married couples living together, 16.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.9% were non-families. 34.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.88. The median income for a household in the city was $36,209, and the median income for a family was $53,056. Males had a median income of $37,342 versus $26,693 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,037. About 13.1% of families and 16.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 25.3% of those under age 18 and 13.7% of those age 65 or over. The diverse student population of Camden High School includes a large number whose parents and even grandparents attended the school as well as many transfer students who have been welcomed to the growing community.

Notable alumni

* Bobby Engram - professional American football player, Seattle Seahawks
* Vonnie Holliday - professional American football player, Miami Dolphins

External links

* [http://chs.kcsdschools.com Camden High School Homepage]
* [http://www.kershaw.k12.sc.us Kershaw Couty School District]