Educating students and honoring tradition for 131 years

At Stephen F. Austin High School, the oldest continuously operating public high school in the state, the history of the school knits together a wide and diverse community of past, present and future students and staff.

The first day of school for AHS was Sept. 12, 1881, in two classrooms on the third floor of the West Austin School at 1100 Rio Grande St. That site is now home to Pease Elementary School. Since 1884, the school has moved six times because of growth and disaster, such as the 1899 fire that burned the Temporary Capitol Building of Texas where AHS was holding class.

The institution settled into its current location in 1975 on the banks of Lady Bird Lake and has an enrollment of about 2,100 students at the beginning of the 2012–13 school year.

The earliest mention of high school athletic teams at AHS was of the baseball team in 1898. The baseball team won a state title in 1916 and the football team won an official state title in 1942. In 1953, the school was officially renamed Stephen F. Austin High School after three other high schools were built.

Despite time, multiple campuses and fire, this history of AHS is not forgotten by its staff and students, both past and present. Thomas Kelly-Lieb, a 2002 graduate and student teacher at AHS, said it wasn't until he came back to the school that the motto "Loyal Forever" and the school's history took on significant meaning for him.

"I didn't really buy into it until I showed up here again," he said. "I saw these teachers that I hadn't seen in a decade almost, and it all of a sudden was so much more important. Now it's really cool that I get to be a part of this history, and I think being back here is what did it."

One way students and staff honor AHS's past is Dedication Day, a celebration that started in 1976. Leyla Cohlmia, a chemistry teacher who has been at AHS for 36 years, said the celebration is dedicated to the school and its history.

"It's the celebration of the past, the celebration of the present and the celebration of the future," she said, adding the students often come dressed in their Sunday best, and alumni are inducted into the Hall of Honor. "It's all centered around the idea of 'Loyal Forever.'"

Another aspect of AHS that sticks with its members is the fuzzy-looking mascot Mr. Maroo. Though not the school's first mascot, Mr. Maroo was first introduced to the school in 1956 as part of a campaign for class president and has been the symbol of the school ever since.

For interim Principal Sandy Compian, who has been at Austin High School for 18 years, she understands how the history and traditions of the school stay with students and staff.

"It's really hard to let go because you get ingrained with it all," Compian said. " I've been here so long, I know what it means to be 'Loyal Forever.' When I first entered Austin High, I never thought I would be 'Loyal Forever.' But over time, and knowing the culture of the school and what it means, you get engrained and proud to be a Maroon."