Ike Sims Jr. of Austell was in the first group of students to
integrate when he was in the sixth grade. He recalled that the
first day of school all of the white students ran from the nine,
Sims said. “I was not intimidated,” he said. During the first
month some of the students would call him names and pick on him,
but by the second month all of the students started becoming
friends, Sims said. “Nobody ever touched me,” he said. Sims said
he believes his confidence, which his parents instilled in him,
was the reason other children befriended him so quickly. Sims
and retired teacher and counselor Joan Battle agreed Paulding
County had a smooth transition with integration of its schools.
Neither one saw any protests, or needed any security. In 1969
Dallas High School, Hiram High School and Matthews Consolidated
High School merged to form Paulding County High School. The
schools were brought together in the winter, which was the
middle of the school year, Battle said. Battle taught social
studies at Matthews bef