When you hear news or conversation about Lowndes High School, it’s likely about its championship sports teams and, hopefully, the academic success taking place inside its classrooms.
Lowndes seems to mean a lot of special things to a lot of special people, from the very top of the school’s administration to the students, all of whom call Lowndes High School home for a large portion of their day.
During a recent visit to Lowndes High School, ITG Next had the opportunity to speak with students, teachers, coaches, and members of the administration about what sets the home of the Vikings apart from other institutions.
‘One Lowndes’ Connects Students Across Lowndes County Schools
Sandra Wilcher, superintendent of Lowndes County Schools, spoke about the foundation of the entire school system, which prepares and guides students toward their ultimate destination at Lowndes High School.
“For me, what makes Lowndes County Schools is what we refer to as ‘One Lowndes,’ and being ‘One Lowndes’ speaks to who we are inside and outside the school system,” Wilcher said. “We try to offer opportunities for our students both academically and in extracurricular spaces, and we understand how one supports the other. Kids want to come to school and have something that they feel connected to, be it from athletics or any other activity, and they feel loved and cared about and have relationships with coaches and teachers. That makes them want to then invest themselves into the school district and to perform at a high level academically.”
Lowndes athletic director Josh Akers spoke about what it takes to make one of the largest high schools in the state a place where students and faculty can be the best at what they do.
“It’s a big place, it’s a big machine, and it takes a lot of people and a lot of support to make it work, but we feel like it’s worth it because, in the end, we are all here for the kids,” Akers said.
Lowndes High School Students Find Support and Opportunities
“My experience here at Lowndes has been amazing, the support I’ve received from all of my teachers for all of my endeavors,” student Yug Patel said.
Patel attended the Georgia Governor’s Honors Program for civil and environmental engineering as a rising junior.
“All of my teachers were very supportive, and they helped me out with the applications and answered all of my questions,” he said. “All of my teachers have made a major impact in my life.”
Student Bethany Spell is a varsity sideline cheerleader, serves as the senior class vice president, and was named Miss LHS for the 2026-2027 school year.
“I’ve never felt like I couldn’t ask them a question for help about anything,” Spell said about her teachers at Lowndes. “We are given so many opportunities through the academics and clubs that help prepare us for the real-world experiences for when we leave Lowndes.”
CTAE Pathways, GEORGIA MATCH Help Prepare Lowndes Students for Life After High School
Speaking of life after high school, Wilcher highlighted Lowndes High School’s CTAE pathways. CTAE stands for Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education and is designed to help students develop skills for life after Lowndes, whether they plan to attend college, enroll in a technical school, or go directly into the workforce.
“We’ve added to our CTAE pathways, where you can step into a green room that makes you feel like you’re in a major news network or into our healthcare center, where you can feel like you’re in an ER, or in our culinary arts program, where you’re going to think you’re running a major restaurant in a big city,” Wilcher said. “But when you extend beyond that, our desire is for our students to have the best of the best, and that’s what Lowndes County Schools always wants to provide.”
Krista Pearson, Lowndes High School principal, talked about how GEORGIA MATCH also helps prepare students for their choices after graduation.
“Our goal here at Lowndes is to make sure our students are connected to people first and what they can then lean on for their future possibilities,” she said.
“Through GEORGIA MATCH, our students are able to see possibilities that they may not have known existed before, so they are able to find out what colleges they actually match to and have an opportunity to attend that they may not have any knowledge of. But through GEORGIA MATCH, they are able to see colleges around the state of Georgia that would benefit them, and then we can open up those opportunities for students to go out and become better and really see what is possible for them and their future.”
Akers said the support throughout the school is a major part of what makes Lowndes special.
“It takes a village, and there’s huge support that makes Lowndes High School special,” Akers said.
