ROCKLEDGE, Fla. – History was uncovered at a Central Florida high school.
Construction workers renovating Rockledge High School’s cafeteria discovered murals painted by students more than 50 years ago behind the walls.
“I was just floored when I saw them because it was like finding a time capsule. There were pictures of football players, books, art and there was surfing,” said Leslie Shinault, the Rockledge High School media specialist. “The paint was in remarkable condition.”
Shinault’s connection with Rockledge High School, located in Brevard County, goes well beyond her long-standing career teaching at the school.
“I’m a fourth generation student here. My mother went to this school and graduated in 1956 when it was Cocoa High. I graduated in 1979 and my kids went here,” Shinault said.
What you may not know is that the campus sits in the former Cocoa High School building that opened in 1952.
The murals were painted in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s on the original concrete walls in the cafeteria. The colors of the football uniforms represent the Cocoa Tigers.
“They have on orange uniforms with black letters. Not sure who the opponent was in the painting, but you can definitely tell it was Cocoa High. The stadium isn’t really recognizable. It’s not McClarty Stadium we host games in now,” Shinault said.
Taking a closer look, she noticed the paintings are signed and dated.
Ron Shepherd ‘69′ appears under several of the paintings.
“We found another mural behind the trophy cases that was painted by Eddy Jonas,” Shinault said.
She pulled out old yearbooks from the library to do a little research on the former students. Both Shepherd and Jonas have passed away, but photos in the yearbooks give insight into student life in the ‘60s and ‘70s.
“In (Jonas’) mural, you can see it was painted a year or two after they integrated the school. You can see there’s a Black student painted in the mural,” Shinault said. “Jonas made a career out of art which was unusual. He graduated what was Cocoa High at the time and went to Florida State University, majoring in fine arts.”
Jonas was an internationally well-known sculptor and painter who created the FSU bronze sportsmanship statue and the student statues standing in Landis Fountain on campus.
Shinault is encouraging current and former students to dig into the history of their school and the students who used to walk the halls. The old Cocoa High yearbooks reflects U.S. history.
“(The year) 1967 was the first year Cocoa High was desegregated, and they hired their first Black administrator in 1986,” Shinault said. “It’s also noticeable, the timeframe was around the Vietnam era, so a lot of the students in these yearbooks either went to college, or they were drafted into the military and served in Vietnam. It’s really fascinating to see history come alive. To be part of it and actually see it on display through the yearbooks and murals on the wall. It’s kind of humbling.”
As for the murals, construction has continued and crews framed up new drywall in front of the original structure, but made sure the paintings remained untouched.
Photos of the murals were shared on social media and some people were wondering if the murals would be cut out, but some administrators said there was little conversation about that due to the size of the murals and the fact that they are on the concrete structure so it would probably take a lot of time and money.
Do you recognize any of the former students in this story or keep in touch with their families? Did you attend Cocoa High school before it became Rockledge High? We’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments section below.
INSIDER TIP: News 6 Anchor Crystal Moyer graduated from Rockledge High School in 2008. Shinault was her English teacher freshman year.
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