School to Celebrate Its 50th Anniversary

HAINES CITY | Just imagine driving from Winter Haven to Ocala and seeing nothing along U.S. 27 North except orange groves and cattle - and, yes, one truck stop.

That was the Florida landscape 50 years ago.

That memory, plus many others, will be recaptured by the friends and alumni of the Shelley S. Boone Middle School in Haines City when the school celebrates its 50th anniversary May 20.

And, just as the agricultural landscape has changed over the years in Florida, so too has the academic landscape of the school that began as Haines City Junior High School in 1957, accommodating grades seven, eight and nine.

"In 1962 the student enrollment was 515 students," said Nancy Leonard, the school's principal. "We've doubled that amount since then. For 25 years we were the only junior high school in the area, covering a 26-mile radius."

Students came from Loughman, Davenport, Haines City, Dundee, Lake Hamilton and Waverly.

Now, the middle school for grades six, seven and eight serves areas to the north and east of Haines City.

"We serve Poinciana, Four Corners, Bass Lake, Haines City, Davenport, Loughman, and north to (U.S.) 192," said Leonard, who began her career at the school as a seventh-grade language arts teacher.

The school became a middle school in 1985, and the name was changed to Shelley S. Boone Middle School. Now the school is referred to simply as Boone Middle School.

"Shelley Boone, now deceased, was a principal at Haines City High School for a short time," Leonard said. "He then became a principal in Auburndale; later, a superintendent of schools and served in the Florida Department of Education in Tallahassee."

Many former middle school students hold prominent positions in the areas of education, law, medicine, and local government.

Some of Boone's alumni are Circuit Judge Charles Curry; Jane McTeer, a retired principal of the school; Wayne Gandy, who played professional football for 15 years, including with the Atlanta Falcons; Assistant State Attorney Paul Wallace; Sharon Knowles, principal of Bethune Academy; Ernie Pinner with Center State Banks; Roger and Terry Donnelley of Donnelley Harvesting; and Haines City Commissioner Adam Burgess.

Several entered the citrus industry, following their parents. The list of alumni includes teachers, principals, superintendents, lawyers, doctors, and business managers.

Some have returned to Boone to teach, work as administrators or serve on the school advisory committee.

One such "returnee" is Gill Broadaway, who attended Boone in the 1960s when it was known as Haines City Junior High School.

"I remember where I was sitting in Mrs. Jenkins' ninth-grade math class when President (John F.) Kennedy was shot (in 1963)," Broadaway said. "Mr. Conrad, our principal, made the announcement over the public address system. He later announced the president's death."

There were no TVs in the classrooms in the 1960s, Broadaway said.

But, then, the students didn't need TVs to see the Gemini and Mercury launches.

"We all went out to view them from the school grounds," she said. "It was a big thing."

She also remembers civil defense drills during the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

"If the siren blew, we would get out early and go home," she said.

Broadaway's children later attended the school.

"It was no big deal to them," she said. "But I thought it was."

Broadaway returned to the school in 1996 for a 10-year stint as a teacher, teacher trainer and computer network manager. She now serves as network manager at Alta Vista Elementary School in Haines City.

Judge Curry attended Haines City Junior High School from 1964 to 1967.

"We had wonderful teachers," Curry said.

He especially remembers his driver education instructor, Mr. Szymczyk.

"To successfully complete the course, we had to spell his name," he said.

Sports such as basketball and football were strong at the school, recalled Curry, who played basketball.

It was during these years that Curry began thinking about a career in law.

"I was greatly influenced by Judge John Dewell, the city judge in Haines City, and later, circuit judge," he said.

Curry received his law degree from Florida State University and has served as circuit judge since 1988.

One of the first students to attend the school when it opened in 1957 was lawyer Tom Floyd.

Memories of his years at the junior high school prompted him to unearth his small book, "Memories of My School Days."

This little pictorial "yearbook" chronicles life at the school in 1958 and 1959, and contains photos of classes, clubs, and sport teams.

Floyd remembers his school days as more personal than today, referring to the closeness of classmates, families, teachers and principal.

"It was a simpler time; there were no frills," he said. "Many afternoons we would move the desks and chairs in the classroom and have dance period."

Floyd shares Curry's memory about the spelling of Mr. Szymczyk's name to successfully complete driver education.

"I never forgot how to spell his name," said Floyd.

A native Floridian, he remembers the excitement a surprise snow flurry caused one day - the first time many of the students had ever seen snow.

Floyd recalls the time Smiley Burnett, a cowboy actor of the 1930s through the 1960s, came to the school to do a magic show.

Movies did not come to Haines City until the early 1960s, he recalls, and the nearest metropolis was Tampa, so to have entertainment at the school was exciting.

While some students, such as Curry and Floyd entered professions such as law, many students focused on agriculture for careers, said resource teacher Karen Murphy, who also attended Boone.

"The livelihood of most families was citrus and beef," she said. "Students followed in their parents' footsteps."

Although the school has experienced many cultural and curriculum changes over the years, the belief that all children have the right to an education hasn't, Leonard said.

"It was 'old school' education and we very much have the same belief and standards now that every student has the opportunity and the right to learn," she said.

"That's still our belief," said Leonard. "And we have great partnerships with all the area schools to communicate what we need, what we want and where we are going."