Camden High School (Camden, South Carolina)

Camden High School is located in Camden, South Carolina, United States, and is one of three high schools in the Kershaw County School District. It is the second largest high school. The school has approximately 980 students. It is home of the Camden Bulldogs.[2]

Camden High School
Address
1022 Ehrenclou Drive

Camden
,
SC
29020

United States
Coordinates34°14′27″N 80°36′57″W
Information
TypePublic
Motto"Honos Probitas Perfectio"
School districtKershaw County School District
PrincipalLesley Corner
Grades9-12
Number of students994 (2015-16)[1]
CampusUrban
Color(s)         Gold and black
MascotBulldog
Websitechs.kcsdschools.net

In 2004, the district started its iCan laptop program. Since then, every incoming freshmen has received a computing device to be used for their next four years at the school.

Campus

In 1992, Camden High School moved from Laurens Street, which became Camden Middle School, to its present location on Ehrenclou Drive.[3] The main building and two-story building house classrooms, the Media Center, and a Lecture Hall. There is a gymnasium and a mini-gym located at the back of the campus.

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 included a 185-space student parking lot in the front area of the school, additions and renovations to the cafeteria, a 400-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 (120,000 m2) 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.

The campus of Camden High School before renovations

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 Street. 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, 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

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.

Athletics

The athletic program consists of 27 teams with over 300 student-athletes. The teams include football, golf, cross country, boys' and girls' basketball, track, and soccer. Also offered are baseball, softball, volleyball, cheerleading, wrestling and boys' and girls' tennis. The newest addition to extra-curricular activities is a dance team.

SC State Championships:[4]

  • 1936 High School Football
  • 1957 High School Football
  • 1990 AAA Football
  • 2001 AAA Football
  • 2009 AAA Boys' Basketball

Zemp Stadium

Home to Camden High School football since 1929, Zemp Stadium is currently the oldest active use high school football stadium in the Palmetto State.supporter of the team. Its capacity holds 8,000. Camden High has a 122-year history in the sport.

Zemp Stadium has been the site of many memorable moments during its long, illustrious history. Two state championship games have been played there – a Thanksgiving Day game in 1936 that saw Camden defeat Honea-Path and again in 1957 as the Bulldogs defeated Lancaster before an estimated crowd of 6,000.

Named in honor of long-time Bulldog supporter, Blakeney Zemp, the stadium sits just off Highway 521 on the grounds of Historic Camden.

Prior to calling Zemp Stadium home, the Camden football program had previously played on the property behind the old Episcopal Rectory, Monument Square on the corner of Laurens and Broad Street in Camden, a “sand-spur infested” lot on West Dekalb Street on the site of the former Powe Veneer Plant, Polo Fields behind the old Kirkwood Hotel, the Wateree Mills Field, and the baseball field and Fair Grounds near the current Zemp Stadium location.

Two state championship games have been played at Zemp Stadium – a Thanksgiving Day game in 1936 that saw Camden defeat Honea-Path and again in 1957 as the Bulldogs defeated Lancaster before an estimated crowd of 6,000. On its way to the 1964 State Championship, Camden defeated Eau Claire 7-0 in what many long-time Bulldog fans call the most famous game ever played at the stadium.

Prior to the 1997 season, Zemp Stadium saw the largest renovation in its history. The stadium layout was flipped, with the homeside moving to what was the visitor's sideline. An increased-capacity grandstand was constructed with a new pressbox, new dressing and restroom facilities, a new home concession stand, and a new scoreboard in the south endzone.

Since the renovation, Zemp Stadium has continued to provide stunning moments for Bulldog fans. During a 2001 playoff game, Camden trailed Wilson with just nine seconds to play and faced elimination from a chance at a perfect season and a state title. On the game's final play, Kelvin Grant returned a kickoff 88 yards to lift Camden to a 19-17 win and allowed the Bulldogs to continue its march to Williams-Brice Stadium where the team eventually defeated Union to bring home the championship.

In 2017, the stadium received a new (refurbished) electronic jumbotron. The stadium is located next to the Camden city arena, near the grounds of the Historic Camden district.

Notable alumni
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References
  1. "Camden High". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
  2. "Camden High School Website". KCSD.
  3. "Historical Timeline | City of Camden". www.cityofcamden.org. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-08-05. Retrieved 2012-06-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Parrillo, Ray (August 29, 1994). "Lions' Engram Routs Troubled Past". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  6. Raffel, John (November 21, 2001). "Player Spotlight: Vonnie Holliday". NFL.com. Archived from the original on December 19, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  7. "CHS baseball camp features Rays' reliever Kohn". Chronicle Independent. December 2, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  8. "Devoted Alumna, former S.C. First Lady Lois Rhame West Passes Away". Winthrop University. 2014-05-08. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
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