Cross Country

This past weekend, the Decatur High School cross country team had their first meet of the 2023-24 season, the Fowlkes Memorial Invitational. This ended with a top-ten finish for the Boys’ varsity team, and number one for Girls’ varsity. This was a strong start to the 2023 season to follow up on last season’s success. Decatur won the 5A GHSA State Championship for the Girls’ and Boys’ teams in the prior season and has now started the hunt for a title repeat. Varsity Boys captain and senior Brian Chilik is confident that Decatur is capable of such feats and was full of praise for his team’s performance in its first meet. “I really liked what I saw. I think that we have a lot of young talent that has the potential to be really special.” 

Football

On Friday, August 11th, the Decatur High School football team had their first game. The Varsity team played against Carver High School while the DHS JV team, cheer team, and fans watched in the stands, decked in neon clothing. Though it began raining at the start, players continued through the weather. The game ended with the Carver Panthers winning 24-0, but DHS still fought hard.

Student Government

On Aug. 10, Student Government Association (SGA) elections were held at Decatur High School (DHS). The students selected to be SGA members will represent DHS to administration, in planning school events, organizing and leading community service efforts, and taking initiative on behalf of the students. 

Students voted for nine people in their grade to be on SGA. The top two candidates with the most votes will serve as chairperson for their grade, and the other seven will be senators. Students also got to vote for two Student Body Co-Presidents. Student Body Co-Presidents are the head members of the SGA. Then there are nine senators from each grade. The two chairpersons from each grade are the most powerful members behind Student Presidents.

The voting for the SGA elections was held online. Each candidate posted one video for their campaign. Students would watch each video and choose whoever they wanted to vote for, and then place their vote in Google Forms. Students had two days to vote, August 10 to August 11.

Our new principal Mr. Duane Sprull has done a great job in his new position this past week! Sprull said, “The best part so far has been seeing the instruction at DHS.”

Principle Sprull

Mr. Duane Sprull has been working in CSD since 2007 serving as the Career, Technical, Agricultural Education (CTAE) and the Decatur Career Academy (DCA) director. “It has been fast-paced in my new position, and no two days have been alike,” Sprull states.

Sprull earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Education from Fayetteville State University, a Master’s degree in Instructional Technology from Troy State University, and an Educational Specialist degree from Jacksonville State University. We are so excited to see Mr. Sprull as our principal!

Pan-African Festival

On August 19, The Beacon Hill Black Alliance hosted the third annual Pan-African Festival in the Decatur Square. The festival was a celebration of Pan-African culture and entertainment, which featured performances from Capoeira Maculele, and a Pan Steel Drum band. They also had pop-up stands selling jewelry, clothes, artwork, and more.