The echoes of the Clarkson High School Alma Mater were heard for the last time in the gym of Clarkson Elementary School Saturday evening during the annual alumni banquet.

The future of the building that holds so many memories for the graduates was on the minds of the 300 plus alumni that attended the 78th Annual Banquet.

The old school will soon be torn down and replaced by the parking lot of the new Clarkson Elementary School.

One of the many principals of the high school, Larry Lee, was in attendance and recalled a few memories.

“I was a principal and now my daughter is a teacher here,” said Lee. “It will be interesting to see them tear this building down. The original building is poured concrete and will not come down easily.”

Gayle Prather was the first principal of the high school in 1917 when the first three seniors graduated.

The school mascot became the Red Hawks and the teams of the elementary school today are known as the Clarkson Red hawks.

In 1941, the building that is currently Clarkson Elementary was built and completed in 1943. The first graduating class in the new building was in 1944. Many classrooms have been added to the original structure.

Thirty more classes of seniors followed that first one, until 1974 when the three local high schools consolidated and Grayson County High School was formed.

The building was then turned into the current elementary school.

On April 24 at 12 p.m. the Grayson County Board of Education will have the official ground breaking ceremony for the new elementary school.

The plans for the school were on display in the gym during the alumni banquet.