Friday, January 12th
at noon, we held the groundbreaking for Clarksville
Academy’s Sports Complex. We estimated that between
250-300 people were in attendance for this historic event on
our property, which is next to Jostens on Highway 48.
It was a great pleasure for me
to be able to participate in our groundbreaking ceremony ...
an event which, I know, was meaningful to all the students
who will be playing on these fields and the 824 alumni
before them.
For 36 years, CA has
participated in hundreds of athletic games and events.
The story is one which we are all familiar. It is rich
with celebratory victories and heartbreaking defeats.
There have been traditions established such as pre-game
Cougar tunnels with the release of hundreds of blue and gold
balloons and the end of season post-game coach soaking with
a shocking tub of cold ice water. But while these
stories are known to us all, the setting for these memories
has always been on a leased or loaned athletic field.
We are grateful to all of the organizations that have
assisted us by sharing their facilities including Austin
Peay State University, Clarksville-Montgomery County
Schools, the city of Clarksville, and local baseball
leagues.
Clarksville is growing and
Clarksville Academy is growing-not just in enrollment
numbers but academically, socially, ethically, and
physically. Today, 90 percent of our students
participate in fitness and wellness activities, intermediate
school and varsity sports, and team extracurriculars.
Clarksville Academy’s, Board of
Trustees members penned and adopted a five year strategic
plan in 2006. Within this comprehensive plan, they
affirmed our commitment to the importance of the
availability of outstanding facilities and the value for
opportunities of student athletes within our student body.
They confirmed a commitment to planning and completing our
own athletic field complex, within a specified mileage
circumference, during the next 5 years. The faculty
and staff and school administrators support the importance
of this commitment to student excellence in leadership,
participation, athletics, college preparation, and fun.
Learning does not only take place in classrooms, studios, or
in labs, but also in the gym, the fitness room, and on
athletic fields.
This groundbreaking was the
result of extraordinary amounts of time, energy, and effort
on the part of many people. We continue to thank Patsy and
Wade Smith and Margaret and George Fleming for strongly
supporting this project and honoring the memory of their
loved ones. Through their love, energy, and vision we
will be playing ball on both the Wesley Smith Memorial
Baseball Field and the George R. Fleming Sr. Memorial
Football Field beginning the 2007-2008 school year.
The Board of Trustees, the
faculty and staff, the students and I, thank every donor and
every person who has given time and money to this sports
complex. To date, CA has a commitment of $660,500 for
this project. This total will go far in helping us
with Phase I. But there is still time to support this
athletic field initiative and many more naming opportunities
are still available. I encourage you to join in the
support of this project ……for the love of competition, for
the love of the games that will be played here, for the pure
joy of being a part of a team, and for the love of
Clarksville Academy. The Sports Complex, the Wesley
Smith Memorial Baseball Field and the George R. Fleming Sr.
Memorial Football Field are results of our school’s
commitment to build and grow together while meeting our
students’ needs and honoring the standards we have set for
excellence at Clarksville Academy.
Kay D. Drew, Head of School
