Atkins High School and Winston-Salem Preparatory Academy celebrated their shared history with some friendly competition last week during their inaugural Camel-Phoenix Legacy Classic basketball game.
From 1931-1971, Atkins was located in the building that is now Prep. Atkins has since moved to its current location on Old Greensboro Road, but the Simon G. Atkins Alumni Association still has many members who went to school in the old building. As such, their activities often support Prep students, and the Legacy Classic is their latest effort to get involved with both of their schools.
“The alumni support Prep because Prep was Atkins,” said Shirley Carter, president of the alumni association. “We provide them with scholarships and with programs like this.”
The first game in this new tradition took place at Prep on Friday night. Members of the alumni association were invited to sign basketballs that were exchanged between team captains before the game, and they were also recognized in a special ceremony at half-time. Alumnus Ted East said that the occasion brought back treasured memories of his own time playing basketball in that very same gym.
“To be back in this gym again is heartwarming,” East said. “When I was a child, this was the only thing that I looked forward to. It was a blessing to play here.”
The alumni also got to meet current students and talk to them about their work with the alumni association. Prep Counselor Eva Bishop thinks that time spent with the alumni is good for students because it can give them a new appreciation for the history of their school. She hopes her students will be motivated to get involved in their communities so that they can still be active and engaged with their school decades from now like the alumni association is.
“It’s super important for both schools to understand their heritage,” Bishop said. “Our current generation can learn a lot from this generation and their successes.”
The alumni hope to keep having the Legacy Classic game every year, switching back and forth between campuses and bringing both school communities together every chance that they can get.
“As long as we have Prep in the old building and Atkins on Old Greensboro Road, we hope that this legacy will live on,” Carter said.