Students entertain the crowd with songs after unveiling of sculptures.
A huge crowd of students, staff and alumni of Clear Lake City Elementary School gathered outside the front doors on Friday, May 22, 2015 to celebrate the campus’ 50th Anniversary. Principal Jepsey Kimble led the festivities with entertainment provided by the Clear Lake City Elementary 4th Grade Choir and Thunderbird Spirit Squad.
Russell Ramirez stands by sculptures representing the Six Pillars of Character: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship — which he designed for the Clear Lake City Elementary 50th anniversary celebration.
“Twenty-five years ago our school had a totem pole sculpted to celebrate our Silver Anniversary,” Kimble explained to the audience. “That totem pole still stands proudly today on the playground used by our younger students, on the Fairwind Road side of our building. As we reached the half-century mark we commissioned another totem pole and a series of sculptures designed to reflect who we are: Our character, our history, and our future.”
Designed and made by Russell Ramirez, the new sculptures will serve as another daily reminder of the importance of the school’s Six Pillars of Character: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship. They are represented by the six schools in the Clear Lake City Elementary School’s Pre-K – 12 Community: the elementary schools created from our area’s continued growth, and the two intermediate schools and the one high school to which the CLCE Thunderbirds will fly once they leave the CLCE nest.
Superintendent Dr. Greg Smith was on hand to help mark the golden anniversary and to announce that May 22, 2015 was proclaimed as Clear Lake City Elementary Day in Houston, Texas by Houston Mayor Annise Parker. Former Superintendent Dr. Sandra Mossman also was in the crowd.
Principal Jepsey Kimble addresses the large crowd assembled for the 50th anniversary celebration.
However, the school’s most famous alumna, Crown Princess Mary of Denmark, was absent from the celebration. Her schooling began at Clear Lake City Elementary in 1974 and 1975 when her father, John Dalgleish Donaldson, a professor of applied mathematics, worked at the Johnson Space Center. Today, she is busy raising four young children, while also attending to her royal duties.
CLCE is truly a school where, as their founding Principal Kenneth Royal said, “Children are Welcome, Wanted, and Worthwhile.” The campus is selling legacy bricks to fund an annual scholarship, the first of which was awarded to Kaitlyn Auger, Class of 2015 at Clear Lake High School.
CLCE is the second CCISD campus to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Earlier, Ed White Elementary in El Lago marked its 50th anniversary. Both campuses opened soon after the opening of NASA’s Manned Space Center to serve space agency employees and their families.
