Those A-C Aces

Recently in the Columbus Dispatch, there was an article about school mascots and team nicknames. The author had researched 31 teams who names began with A in Ohio and concluded that they were mostly very macho names. The A reference caught my attention immediately.  With some names being very militaristic, such as Warriors or Knights, he decided they were politically incorrect. Some were aggressive animals, others flying fanatics, and Amanda-Clearcreek Aces were, in his opinion, some of the “obscure oddities”. Instead of cards or tennis, the writer, Mr. Rozenman, thought of Eddie Rickenbacker and the Red Baron when he studied our name, the Aces. He has not seen the logo we use mostly, has he? I began to wonder what our own community, alumni, and students think of when we say “Aces.”

 

I thought I might go back to the sources of that name and ask their thoughts. A bit of the history first is as follows. A county magazine came out 4 times a year for the county schools, The Fairfielder. In February or March there was always a basketball issue.  In the February 1940 issue there was an article on the Varsity “A” history. A Varsity “A” Club of Amanda High School was founded in the 1936-37 school year by a group of letter winners. The basketball teams, both boys and girls, had been very successful in the late 30’s and early 40’s. The club even built a tennis court in ’39, which I suspect many didn’t know we ever had.  The club raised money for an electric scoreboard; the first, I am sure. The Varsity “A” Club then ran a contest to name the basketball team in the 1939- 40 year. No football at that time. This was written by Wayne Hiatt, ’41, who played on the basketball team that went to the State Tournament twice. He stated that an undertaking of “this year”, 39-40, was choosing a name for the school teams. The winning name was the “Black Aces”.

 

 There were two winners, it seems. Virginia Meister, ’40 remembers submitting “Black Aces” and  “Aces” was submitted by Joan Barr Beguhl, ‘42. They were both given credit earlier, but the first reference in the Fairfielder to our team as the “Black Aces” in print was in the 1941 winter issue.

 

Neither of the ladies remembers when the spade was first used as the symbol or when the word black was dropped. Both had graduated shortly after. The winter issue or basketball issue in 1946 still referred to the team as the Black Aces.  The March 1954 basketball issue shows our team’s pictures around the edge of the black spade shape with a black spade on the jackets, but we were called the Aces by that time. In 1955 when the yearbook was changed to the name “The Ace,” that class used the spade shape in their colors on the cover. Currently we use the deck of cards as a reference many times along with the spade shape alone.

 

But let’s get back to the meaning. I asked Mrs. Beguhl what her thoughts were on the meaning. Her immediate response was someone top notch. Ms. Meister quickly responded to the question about her choice, that the black ace of spades is the highest in value in the deck of cards, of course. So the spade may have been is use from the beginning. One dictionary meaning of ace is, “one who excels at anything, first rank, or surpassing, in excellence”. What do you think of when you think of our Aces? One alumnus added that they think of our tradition. Another expressed it this way, a feeling of pride in the past and the future. One said just take the name itself, Amanda Clearcreek Educational System, ACES. Most alumni see it much more than just the sports teams; they see it in every aspect of the school, academic and activity achievement, and sports achievement. 

 

When asked, some present fifth graders also mentioned the highest card in the deck of cards and therefore, meaning to be the best. Several wisely decided ACES could stand for Amanda Clearcreek Elementary School, their part of the system. Most agreed that it was good to be “different” from other logos or names.

 

One class of high school students when asked about the meaning of the ACE to them, had such great answers that it as hard not to quote them all. All seem to agree that it meant trying to be the best, as that value of the Ace of Spades means. One person certainly felt that you don’t have to be a student or an alumnus, but the whole supporting community are Aces, also. The students mentioned pride in the school and community and always representing them well whenever and wherever they go. The students already realize as the alumni always have that, Tradition Never Graduates!

 

 

We have told the story of the early schools in the four townships in the A-C district today. We have told the beginnings of the village schools in Amanda, Stoutsville, and Oakland which had its own school until 1944.  The stage-auditorium-gymnasium and classrooms were added to the Clearcreek-Stoutsville 1921 building by 1950. The changes in the Amanda school were shown in the last story.  All of the one-room schools had closed by 1937 in the area, and all had come into the Amanda and Stoutsville village schools. Parts of two townships went to neighboring school districts.

 

Financial hardship necessitated further consolidation. Attempts to consolidate with Pickaway County Schools were blocked by the Clearcreek Township residents on many occasions. However, a 1958 vote to join the Logan Elm District was overturned by the Ohio Supreme Court, and in 1960 the Clearcreek Township Schools became a vital part of the Amanda-Clearcreek consolidation.  Madison and part of Hocking Townships were already a part of the Amanda schools at that time.

 

The people of Clearcreek Township had always strongly supported educational programming. Pride in their achievements caused resistance to consolidation between Oakland and Stoutsville, between Clearcreek and Pickaway County, and finally between Clearcreek and Amanda. It is that same pride however, that has helped make the Amanda-Clearcreek Local School District an excellent educational program.

 

The Amanda-Clearcreek Local School District held its first Board of Education meeting on January 4, 1960. At this meeting Carl Azbell, Wayne Beck, Ernest Francis, Herbert Ruff, and Cecil Warner were sworn in as board members. Ernest Francis was elected president and Phyllis Harmon was clerk-treasurer. Robert Schmidt was named acting local executive and Hubert Cole as named assistant.

 

The 1959-60 school year was completed without moving students between the existing districts. On March 8, 1960, a consolidation plan was agreed upon for the 1960-61 school year. District students in grades one through six would attend their local elementary building. Students in grades seven and eight would attend the Stoutsville building. Students in grades nine through twelve would attend the Amanda building. The first graduating class from Amanda-Clearcreek High School, the class of 1961, had 48 graduates. It was soon realized that existing facilities would need upgrading.

 

The residents of the new district passed a bond issue on the first try in November of 1962 for $825,000. William A. Smith was the district superintendent as of July of that year. At the Amanda site nine classrooms, kitchen facilities, a multi-purpose room, and a treasurer’s office were added.  A high school library was added to the front of the Amanda complex. At Stoutsville, six rooms, a science lab, a library, and an office complex, and an industrial arts shop were built. These were completed in 1963-64.

 

The Athletic Boosters donated the field house in 1974.  After some success and failures, a bond issue and an operating levy were passed in two elections in 1976. By 1977 the district would have four new classrooms and a band/physical education storage area in Stoutsville and six new classrooms and a new physical education facility in Amanda. That gymnasium stands today behind the new Primary Building.

 

In 1980, Dr. Ralph Hosler, a well- known doctor for over 50 years in the A-C and Ashville areas, passed away. In his will he established the Hosler Memorial Scholarship Fund. This provides for financial assistance for any pre-med and medical school student that is a graduate of A-C or Teays Valley High School. 

 

The community has come together in many endeavors. A vocational agriculture building was built with community help in 1987. The A-C Alumni Association was recognized by the IRS as a charitable educational organization in 1991. This recognition permitted the formation of the Endowment Fund to collect, invest, and distribute earnings as scholarships to the Amanda-Clearcreek High School graduates. To this date the Association has given over 1100 scholarships totaling more than $2 million dollars.

 

The Alumni Association celebrated the 100^th anniversary of the first Amanda graduating class in 1998 with several special activities  around banquet time in June. Paintings by Shirley Hochradel were commissioned of the 1921 Stoutsville building and the then present complex of A-C High School and  Amanda Elementary.

 

After being placed on the Ohio School Facilities Commission list, the district received notification of the help. A levy was passed by the residents in 1999, and the state planned a K-12 building.  Soon it was realized by the state that we were growing as the local district had stated, and it was decided that two buildings should be built. The state of Ohio agreed to help with the same 85-15% formula for the second building. The 3-12 building opened in 2003 on acreage behind the A-C High School and housed all district students while a Primary-K-2 was planned. This meant that the old Amanda complex would be demolished except for the 1977 gym. This was sad for all and even worse, since state aid would help with demolition, but not renovation, the Stoutsville complex was completely demolished in 2004. Pieces of the two old original buildings have been saved and were placed in a Legacy Wall on the 3-12 grounds. The Primary building opening in the fall of 2005 sits on School Street, and the 3-12 building faces Main Street. These beautiful buildings and the athletic facilities are situated on an approximately a 50- acre site. We as a district and community are very proud of our facilities and our achievements of the Amanda-Clearcreek Local School District.