Southdown Raises Monies & Awareness for Pink Aid

Southdown Primary School students and staff always rise to the occasion. The Southdown school community recently came together to raise awareness of the scourge of breast cancer and to raise monies to support the victims of the disease and their families.

“Families and students bonded, while learning the importance of giving back to the community,” Southdown Principal Jill Amott-Erwig said. “All donations will go directly to Pink Aid in Huntington.”

Pink Aid is a not-for-profit whose mission is to help underserved breast cancer patients survive treatment with support and dignity; to provide screening and financial assistance to those in need and to empower breast cancer survivors to heal by helping and inspiring others.

Southdown students have always been kind, considerate and empathetic. The hundreds of boys and girls who currently attend classes at the school are bright, attentive and inquisitive. They are working hard and making everyone proud.

Southdown was officially dedicated on September 18, 1954, with School Board President Richard McCormack presiding. An open house was held beginning at 1 p.m. with the public invited to tour the gleaming new structure. A formal ceremony was held at 4 p.m. after earlier ones the same day at Flower Hill (2 p.m.) and Washington (3 p.m.) School trustees and teachers were on hand to answer questions. Representatives of the district’s architectural firm and the contractors that built the structures were also present. District PTA organizations helped plan the ceremonies.

Less than four years later, the district again was straining under the weight of increased enrollment. A decision was made to build a large new wing onto Southdown and each of its sister schools. The new sections were unofficially referred to as upper grade wings. The three additions cost a grand total of $800,000. The last payment on that bond was made during the 1982/83 school year.

Southdown’s new wing was delayed by construction problems. When the 1958/59 school year opened, many classes were doubled up and others used the cafeteria and gym as classroom teaching stations. The new wing finally opened in December 1958. It brought the size of the structure to 39,600 square feet. Every inch was needed as Southdown’s enrollment that year totaled 550 students.

Southdown Elementary School was guided through those early years by Principal James J. Sherman, who stayed in the top spot for 15 years. The building has served the community well for more than six decades and is expected to continue doing so far into the future.