Bringin’ it back: Cedar Shoals alumni Stevie King reminisces on his years in high school

Cedar Shoals High School alumni Stevie King attended Cedar from 1988-92. When thinking back on his time as a student, King remembers his teachers and role models within the school the most. Some of the teachers that came to mind were Beth Tatum, Shirley Daniels, Anette Jackson, his principal Charles Worthy, and his baseball coach Mike Hall. 

“I remember really amazing teachers. So many of the people that were my teachers in high school are my friends now. They were just great people, they really cared. They really worked hard as educators and on preparing the curriculum,” King said. 

Growing up in Athens, King was friends with the same people he’d spend time with at Cedar. He played baseball prior to entering Cedar, so it was only natural that he continued the hobby. 

“Baseball is what all my buddies did, we grew up playing together at Satterfield. I just kind of stuck with it. We’d all been playing together since we were five or six years old,” King said. 

When King was in school, the only two schools in Athens were Cedar Shoals and Clarke Central High School. As there continues to be today, there was a major school rivalry between the two, which led to a mass amount of school spirit. 

“Honestly we were good at every sport, so everybody went to football games, basketball games,  soccer games, baseball and track. We supported everyone because we were always good at everything,” King said. 

In middle school, King played in his school band, but never planned to continue playing into high school. After the Cedar band director, Larry McClure, was able to convince him, King made the decision that changed the course of his life. 

“Deciding to be in band in the ninth grade totally changed my life. I went to college on a music scholarship. It got me out of town and completely changed the direction of everything I do,” King said. “That one adolescent decision that my parents didn’t know anything about changed my life.” 

While King has many takeaways from his years at Cedar, the biggest one is learning the ability to think for himself.

“Something I told my son before college was ‘I don’t really care what you study, I just want you to learn how to think.’ One of the things that I feel was great about being at Cedar was we not only had really smart students, we had thoughtful and intelligent teachers that challenged us to think for ourselves, ask questions and be critical. There’s no other skill that you use every day other than the ability to critically think,” King said. 

After graduating in 1992, King attended Florida State University where he pursued a musical education degree, though he decided to not become a band director.

“I got to take all that thinking that I learned in high school and actually put it to use,” King said. “Nobody in my family had ever been to college. Looking back at that little period of time, I’m proud of myself for not flying the plane into the side of the building. We had two suicides in my class within 18 months after we graduated. Life got hard quickly and people’s lives changed.”

After moving back to Athens, King worked in collaboration with the Rabbit Box, a local organization whose aim is to keep Athens history alive through storytelling. He told stories about growing up playing baseball and his family’s cookouts. After volunteering with Rabbit Box, King joined its board to continue giving back to the community.

“Inside of it (Rabbit Box), you won’t run into a better group of people that just love this town and love stories of this town, people that just want to give back to the community and that choose to volunteer their time,” King said. 

After having the time to reflect on how his high school years shaped his life, King has a few words of advice for current students. 

“There’s something to appreciate when you’re in high school. You’re not going to be there forever. You’re trying to get in, get out, turn 18, grow up and do whatever for the rest of your life as fast as possible, and I get that,” King said. “I wish 17 year old me would have slowed down just a little bit. You’re going to blink and have bills and a job.”