BLACKSHEAR, Ga. — Lee Street High School was once located in rural Blackshear, Georgia and served as the only access to education for African Americans in the area for nearly five decades, opening up in the early 1920s.
In 1969 the school integrated and its last graduating class said goodbye to Reginald Taylor, the school's band instructor and social studies teacher who forged a bond with many of his students.
Described as one of the sharpest dressed teachers at Lee Street High School, on Saturday evening Taylor, adorned in a black suit and white bow tie, was honored by his former students.
More than one hundred people gathered in the Lee Street Resource Center on Sycamore Street to simply say 'thank you' to their former teacher who served as a father figure to many of his students.
"He paid for a lot of things for students out of his pocket," said Jerry West, Class of 1966.
West who owns DJ's Record Shop in Jacksonville says he and a lot of his classmates owe their success in part to Taylor who made sure his students always had someone to talk to, something to eat and a way to get to and from school safely.
Taylor, 83 was brought to tears Saturday at the site of the crowd filled with members of the Lee Street High School Alumni Band.
West said the group wanted to make sure to give Taylor his flowers while he was still alive and able to enjoy being celebrated.
