Baldwin High School (Georgia)


Baldwin High School is located at 155 Highway 49 West in Milledgeville, Georgia, United States. New additions since 2003 include a classroom wing, a JROTC building, and a fine arts wing, with more additions under construction. Baldwin is the only public high school in Baldwin County, and the largest of the three total high schools. The other two are private schools: John Milledge Academy and Georgia Military College.

Early days

During segregation, Boddie was the black school and Baldwin was the white school. To integrate the schools in 1971, many years after Brown vs. Board of Education, the main buildings of Baldwin became the high school, containing grades 10-12. Boddie became the junior high school, containing grades 8-9, with one of the buildings at Boddie called Sallie Davis Middle School and containing grade 7.
In 1988, Baldwin County built the current Baldwin High School and graduated its first class in June 1989. The old Baldwin High School became Baldwin Middle School, and Boddie became Boddie Middle School. Around the year 2000, Baldwin Middle and Boddie Middle were closed, and were merged into Oak Hill Middle School, a short distance from Baldwin High. A new condo development called the Bellamy is at the old Baldwin Middle site, and an apartment complex known as Baldwin Park is located where the old football stadium used to be.

The new school

Though Baldwin High was outdated compared to Baldwin County's middle school and four elementary schools, new areas have been added, such as a new 900 wing and the JROTC building. A performing arts center which includes a new auditorium, band room, and chorus room has opened, and a new administrative suite is now in use. A new football stadium was completed in time for the 2006 season. For all of the 2005 football season, the stadium had only one side of stands constructed. The stadium, called Braves Field after the football team, replaced the field at the old Baldwin High School. In 2016, the Braves field is again under construction to add in new additions, like metal stands, a black track, new fences surrounding the stadium, new fences to go in front of the stands, and new turf. The stadium should be finished by 2017.
BHS has many athletic teams including football, basketball, track, cross country, softball, soccer, and swim. Its marching band is the Band of the Braves, also called the Baldwin High School Marching Pride.
Mike Stanton served as principal of Baldwin from the new school's opening in 1988 and was succeeded by Lyn Chandler until he retired in December 2009. Dr. Jessica Swain is the new principal after serving as interim principal from January 6, 2010, through March 22, 2010. Jessica Swain retired from the principal position at the end of the 2014–15 school year. Dr. Cloise Williams is now the principal. Now, Mr. Flanders is the new principal of BHS of 2018-whenever he retires

Football team

The sports teams at Baldwin High School are known as the Braves, with the football team being the most widely followed. Under Jesse Hicks as coach, the team went to the first round of the playoffs. The Braves have reached the playoffs almost every year since then. The Braves also hold a preseason scrimmage game against Wilkinson County High School. Every year since 2005 or earlier, the Braves have defeated Wilkinson County. The Braves won the Region Championship in 1963, 1983, 1986, 2008 and 2009. Former Braves football stars include Earnest Byner, Nick Harper, Leroy Hill, and Darius Marshall. The Braves have had greats running backs throughout their history, majority of them had all rushed for 1,000 or more rushing yards.

2002–2006

Jesse Hicks arrived at the school as head coach in 2002, and led the team to the first round of the playoffs. Although they did not make it to the playoffs in 2003, the Braves did make it to the second round in 2004 despite five regular-season losses. In 2005 the Braves made it farther than ever before, playing in the AAAA semifinals at the Georgia Dome. The team has not made it this far since, but has enjoyed overall better seasons than 2005 each year. In 2006 their record was 10–2, and they made it to the second round of the playoffs.

2007–2009

In 2007, the Braves had an unexpected loss to Fayette County in the first round of the playoffs, ending the season with an 8–2 record. In 2008, Baldwin High School was moved from class AAAA down to class AAA, which was beneficial for the Braves. In 2008, the Braves became region champions and had the school's first undefeated regular season. Losing to Flowery Branch in the third round of the playoffs, Baldwin completed the season with a 12–1 record. In 2009, Baldwin became region champions again despite two losses early in the regular season. Making it to the second round of the playoffs, the Braves lost to defending AAA state champion Cairo High School, ending the season with a 9–3 record. For the 2010 season, the school has been moved into AAA Region 2 from Region 3, giving the school several new teams to play in the upcoming season. In March 2010, head football coach and athletic director Jesse Hicks resigned, intending to relocate to Dougherty County High School in Albany, Georgia. On April 28, 2010, it was announced that Twiggs County High School's football coach, Dexter Copeland, would succeed Hicks.

2010

The 2010 season marked the inaugural season for new head coach Dexter Copeland. The season was just as successful as other recent seasons had been. The Braves' final record was 10–2, losing the last regular-season game to the Peach County Trojans, the 2009 AAA State Champions, as well as losing to the Burke County Bears in the second round of the playoffs in tight game with a final score of 21–20, despite the Braves having defeated the Bears in the first game of the season.

2014-present

In 2014, Lee Hannah arrived in Baldwin County ready to improve a struggling Baldwin Squad. The 2014-2015 Baldwin Braves football team boasted a 7–5 record at season's end. Baldwin played for the 2014 Region 2-AAAA Championship, but fell 55–21 to the Mary Persons Bulldogs. With a revived Baldwin that went to the second round of the playoffs, Lee Hannah and the Braves looked ready for the future. A record, 7 players, received scholarships and went on to college. In 2015, the Braves struggled, as they fell to a 4–6 record. The Braves look to build for the future with some young stars. In 2017, Jesse Hicks returned as head coach for the Braves hoping to turn the program around.

Naval Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps

A NJROTC unit was established at Baldwin in 2000, including a drill team, academic team, rifle team, and orienteering team. The drill team is composed of two divisions: the Warrior Guard and the Lady Bravehearts, or Lady B's for short. Baldwin High School Warrior Guards and the Lady B's have competed in many drill meets.
In 2003 and 2004, the NJROTC competition team finished second and third in the state and went to the Navy Nationals in Florida, where they finished sixteenth and seventeenth in the nation. They were led by LT Frank Hernandez, SgtMaj Primm, SCPO Williams, and CPO Lee.
Baldwin High School NJROTC would continue to be a force until 2012. The unit went without a single trophy for 4 years. In 2016, Baldwin High School NJROTC made a resurgence. The unit is led by LCDR Thomas Johnson, CPO Ronald Bailey, and SCPO Manaani Jefferson.
LCDR Thomas Johnson is commander.

Basketball teams

The boys won the AAAA State Championship in 1981. The girls won the AAAA State Championship in 1986, 1987, and 1988.
Former Braves basketball stars include Donald Hartry, Georgia ; Michael S. Reaves, Iowa ; Audra Smith, Virginia ; Tasha Butts and her aunt Valerie Freeman, Lisa Webb College, Tennessee; Gerald Riley, Georgetown ; Larry Turner, UGA, and Nehemiah "da goon" Ingram, Temple.

Other sports

Former Braves track and field stars include Celena Mondie, Illinois, who won a gold medal at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics in the 4x100 relay. In 2008, the Bravettes volleyball team won a regional championship in region 3-AAA. Former Braves wrestling star Keith Fraley compiled a school record of 43 straight wins in 1994 at the 189 pound weight class.

Band of the Braves

The “Band of the Braves” is Baldwin High School’s award-winning band program.  The National Association of Music Merchants has ranked Baldwin County as one of the best communities in the country for music education on numerous occasions.  The ensembles currently offered at Baldwin High School are the Concert Band, Jazz Band, Percussion Ensemble, Marching Band, and numerous Chamber Ensembles.  The most visible organization, the marching band has participated in the Chicago St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the Hollywood Christmas Parade, the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Toronto Santa Claus Parade, the Atlanta Christmas Parade, the Rose Parade, the McDonald’s Thanksgiving Parade in Chicago, and most recently participated in the 2020 Allstate Sugar Bowl Halftime Show in the Mercedes Benz Super Dome in New Orleans.
The band is currently under the direction of James McMillan and assistant director is Chris Ryles.

2000–2012 (Clint Raburn, Director)

Clint Raburn first came to the school in 2000, when the band performed a halftime show called Cuban Fire, written by Raburn's predecessor Eldon Lundin. A part of this first show, "Johnny's Mambo," was later used in stands whenever Baldwin would play Jones County, where Lundin had become the band director. Raburn's early years saw the band play shows like Les Miserables, TV Land, and the Broadway-inspired show The Lion King.
The 2004 show, Reflections of Earth, was not as successful as past shows.
In 2005, the show was Spies Like Us, and used music from Mission Impossible, 007, and Austin Powers. The band achieved fourth place at the Heart of Georgia with this show, which was a higher place than it had achieved in previous years.  
In 2006, the field show was entitled Caliente!, and was based on music from assorted DCI shows. The band again placed fourth at the Heart of Georgia.
2007 is regarded as one of the best years in the band's history up until this point. The field show was called Funkadelic and contained pieces like "Shaft", "Give Up the Funk", "Jungle Boogie", "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", and "Superstition". The band received first place in music and overall first runner-up at the Heart of Georgia.  
The next year in 2008, the band hoped to continue its success with Dancing Generation, a medley of dance tunes from the 20th century, featuring Sing, Sing, Sing, Sway, The Tennessee Waltz, Hand Jive, Thriller, and others. The band placed third at Heart of Georgia, but placed second at the Bowdon Invitational Tournament of Bands in Bowdon, Georgia.
In 2009, the show was not a custom show like past shows had been. Gangsta' Jazz, made up of original music written in the style of 1930s jazz, turned out to be another third-place ranking at the Heart of Georgia.
In 2010, a new idea was tried out, in that the school would have two bands: a football band and a competition band. The football band, which is open to anyone, would perform at all home and away football games. The competition band, which is restricted to those who pass auditions, would perform at the three competitions the band attends, including the Heart of Georgia. The competition show, Dream, was formulated by Raburn and Percussion Instructor Marcus Hawkins and, like Caliente!, drew inspiration from DCI shows.
That 70's Show was the band's 2011 halftime show, which placed runner-up at Heart of Georgia.
The following year in 2012 the show was called Ray, and consisted of many of Ray Charles' most famous songs, including "Georgia On My Mind". Clint Raburn left the high school to work at a local church full-time. In 2013, Ryan Murrell became the new band director.

2013-2015 (Ryan Murrell, Director)

The band's halftime show for 2013 was entitled The Michael Jackson Experience, and featured the songs "Beat It", "Thriller", "Bad", and many other songs by Michael Jackson.
In 2014, the halftime show was entitled Fever, Pizazz, Spanish, and Jazz, which included the songs "Firedance", "Fever", "Moondance", and "Adagio".
The 2015 show was entitled Rockstar Revolution, and included many popular old and new rock songs like "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Detroit Rock City", "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark", "Creep", and "Paint It Black".

2016-present (James McMillan, Director)

In 2016 after the Departure of Ryan Murrell new band director James McMillan, who is a Baldwin Band alumni, and assistant Tim Pietrofere, were welcomed into the band program.  The 2016 halftime show was entitled “Phoenix Rising” meaning rebirth mainly as a rebranding of the program. This show included three parts, "Part 1: Life", "Part 2: Death", and "Part 3: Rebirth". With this show, the Band of the Braves place 6th overall at the Heart of Georgia, and 3rd overall at the Sound of Silver.
In 2017 the assistant Tim Pietrofere left the program and was replaced with Chris Ryles.  The halftime show was called “Wired” and was a depiction of the modern day worlds addiction to today’s technologies especially our smart phones and how they can take over your life.  The band program placed 1st in their class and 3rd overall at the Sound of Silver.  
The 2018 show “A Brave New World” was based off the music of Dvoraks Symphony No. 9 or his “New World Symphony”.  The concept was about literature and how with knowledge you can go anywhere you want in life.  At the Sound of Silver the band scored a 94.17 placing them second in their class and 3rd place overall.  This was the bands highest score under Mr. McMillan at this particular competition.
In 2019 the band program paid respect to all those that had served in our country’s military with their show called “Fallen Heroes”.  Previous years the show music had been purchased from various music companies, but with this show all the music was arranged in house by assistant director Chris Ryles. The model proved to be very successful as the band swept their class in all categories at both the Sound of Silver and Heart of Georgia Marching Competition.

Ongoing renovation

On September 18, 2007, voters in Baldwin County approved continuing the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax. The SPLOST, a penny tax, has already funded several operations within the Board of Education, and will cover the extensive upgrade of Baldwin High School. Phase I of the renovations included the construction of the fine arts center, the administrative office suite, three new classrooms, and a new hallway to bypass the main offices. Phase II, completed in 2011, included a new cafeteria and renovation of the interior of the existing school. It also included the demolition of the Vocational Building, which concluded in July 2010, and the construction of the Career Tech Building, completed in September 2011.
The largest addition of Phase I, which was completed in March 2010, was the fine arts wing, which included a band room, chorus room, art rooms, 986-seat theatre/auditorium with an orchestra pit that can be raised and lowered electronically, music theory and music ensemble rooms, theatre classroom, and dressing rooms. Soil testing was performed in late September 2008, and groundbreaking for the fine arts wing occurred in December 2008. Construction on Phase I and Phase II is now complete, and the band moved into its new home in March 2010.
An alumni concert was scheduled for 2010 but indefinitely postponed. It will feature many older alumni of the band, like notable saxophonist Otis Murphy, in addition to more recent graduates.

Mascot controversy

A Mascot Advisory Committee was formed by the Baldwin County Board of Education in 2016. After a year of discussion, the board decided to retain the "Braves" mascot name but remove some of the stereotypical imagery.

Notable alumni