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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

After a vandalism incident earlier this month, the community in Jemison has rallied behind its high school with a number of people and businesses stepping up to make donations towards repairs.

The bond between Jemison High School and its community is unwavering, and it was on display again recently following vandalism inside Panthers Stadium. JHS has had issues of people breaking into the football field in the past. Each time, the school and authorities would take another step towards prevention of another incident with more safety measures like securing the premises and ensuring there was camera coverage in different areas.

Unfortunately, that did not deter the most recent offenders who got into Panthers Stadium in the late hours of Sept. 17 and stayed on campus until the early hours of Sept. 18. The vandalism was contained within the fencing around the football field, but there was significant damage done. Graffiti was spray painted around the grounds, the concession stand was broken into and $800 worth of food was lost, senior portraits were painted over, the football trailer was defaced and one of the speakers in the new sound system the school recently installed was damaged. The damage was first reported when students in first period were walking the track inside Panthers Stadium and saw the unsavory sights.

After notifying administration, it was less than an hour later when the Chilton County School maintenance department arrived to start the cleanup. The main concern for the JHS admins was to mitigate the number of eyes that saw the stadium, and getting ahead of future events there. The Jemison Middle School football team’s game on Sept. 18 was on the road, and the high school game the upcoming Friday and Jemison Youth Athletics games the upcoming Saturday were also away from the stadium. However, everyone was ready to offer a helping hand nevertheless.

“Everyone I called said ‘We do not have a game, but what can we do to help?’” Kendall Jackson, Principal at Jemison High School, said. “We did not focus too much of our attention (to the investigation) and we let our police department handle that and catch them. Our attention turned to cleaning up and how we are going to respond to this.”

Within an hour after the Jemison Police Department was notified and issued a statement on the vandalism, they had the names of the individuals and were in the process of making contact. Police arrested a 16-year-old and two 15-year-olds for the vandalism, and they are facing felony charges of Burglary and Criminal Mischief, and a Criminal Mischief misdemeanor. The three offenders did not attend JHS or any other CCS school, but they do live in the area. Jackson contributed having a Student Resource Officer on campus and the close-working relationship JHS has built between it and the JPD was a huge help in the quick resolution from a judicial standpoint.

In the end, the acts were more of an impact on the kids at Jemison, the football players and band members, which was the most disheartening for the administration and community. The food in the concession stand that was lost was valued at $800, but the profit that was going to come from selling it was also gone. The football trailer that was needed for the school’s road game in just three days could not be taken in the condition it was in, and a new wrapping for it would cost $2,500. For a school that funds their programs locally, that is money for repairs that would have to be taken out of another account. This could take away pregame meals, hydration on the football sidelines and other projects would have to be pushed to the side due to the funds being needed in this pinch.

“The man hours, the time and the materials that it takes to do (the repairs), all of these things add up,” Jackson said. “It is not necessarily what you have to replace, but there are other costs involved in that. That is money we would utilize to run a program, and it takes every single penny we raise to run our programs.”

The principal, who grew up in, graduated from and has lived in Jemison for her entire life, said the events affecting the kids is what hurts her the most. Jackson described the events as the football program taking a step forward with making things better throughout this past summer, to getting knocked back three steps due to the vandalism.

However, with the community’s immediate response, JHS was able to mitigate those repair costs. Numerous local residents and businesses made donations towards the school and the football and band programs, and as of Sept. 25, they are still having donations trickle in. The list of donors is incomplete because some people gave their donations directed to the programs, but those who donated towards repairs at JHS include American Lawn Care LLC, Capital Investment Advisors, Ellison Auto Sales, Jemison Internal Medicine, Jemison Lions Club, Jemison Middle School, Lake Lawn Landscape, Marion Community Bank, NAPA Auto Parts, Ramsey Santoyo, Strawberry Queens of Chilton County and the Dennis Family.

“One of the things we talk with our kids a lot about is pride, and having school pride, pride in yourself, pride in your program. And that is not being boastful, but you have a loving passion for something that is bigger than you,” Jackson said. “You give to it, you love it, you nurture it and you take ownership in it. The community has stepped up, and we are able to give our kids a real-life lesson in pride. Our kids need to see that we believe in them, we have pride in our school and community and we are going to take care of them. Everyone rallied behind the kids and the school, and that is invaluable.”