The staff at Statesboro High School is hoping to showcase more than a century’s worth of history within the halls of its building, but will need some help from the men and women who have donned the blue and white.
    School officials are calling on members of the Statesboro community — former Statesboro High students, staff or anyone else with ties to the school — to donate or loan memorabilia for the creation of a Memory Wall documenting the school’s past.
    The wall, according to Statesboro High School Principal Marty Waters, will hopefully highlight items that celebrate achievements as far back as 1901, when Statesboro High School, then Statesboro Normal Institute, first opened its doors.
    “When we first moved into our new building, one of the areas we designated in the front gallery was for commemorating Statesboro High School history,” Waters said. “We were thinking that we have a lot of folks here in Bulloch County who have had this school as an alma mater. What better way to preserve that legacy, than to shadow-box some of these items and put them in a safe place where everyone can come to visit and see them.”
    Waters said the contributed items would be located in a hall at the school’s entrance, situated in glass enclosures and hung along the wall.
    He said the school is looking for donations that commemorate significant achievements of all types and from all eras of the school’s history — even before a merger between Statesboro High School and Williams James High School in the 1960s.
    “We want any commemorative items,” Waters said. “Like a letterman jacket, old pom-poms and other things not sports related — literary ribbons or state and regional recognitions.”
    “We just want the kids to see that there is a very rich tradition and heritage of achievement and excellence here,” he said. “We’re looking for anything that was a highlight of years past.”
    The principal said a few items have already been collected or gifted to the school, including an original hand bell from the 1901 school building, newspaper articles, old yearbooks, a shovel used during the groundbreaking for the school’s newest facility and a picture of the 1923 Statesboro High Baseball team.
    “We are hoping for plenty of donations,” Waters said. “We would also be more than willing to showcase items on a loaned basis.”
    “The area is a protected area,” he said. “It is covered by video cameras and lighted at night.”
    If all goes well and enough donations are provided to create a full display, the Statesboro High School Memory Wall will be introduced at the school in time for the 2012-2013 school year that begins in August.
    Waters said staff and students are excited about the prospect of the new exhibit.
    “I think anytime you can show folks tangible things that are part of the past and give them a chance to see where we’ve come from and where we’re headed, then it is a valuable experience,” he said.
    Anyone interested in making a donation to the school, or lending an item, can bring the object to Statesboro High School or contact Waters, Assistant Principal Bobby Costlow, or Media Specialist Amy Altman by calling (912) 212-8860.
   
    Jeff Harrison can be reached at (912) 489-9454.