The Gainesville City School System held a ceremony Tuesday morning at Gainesville Exploration Academy for the unveiling of a street sign honoring a Gainesville High School graduate who piloted the space shuttle Challenger in 1985.
During the ceremony, Retired Major General Roy D. Bridges, Jr. was joined by his peers from the class of 1961 as well as students from Gainesville Exploration Academy. The Gainesville City School Board first announced in March 2021 that a street on the school's campus would be named Major General Roy Bridges, Jr. Boulevard.
Bridges, who went on to serve as the director of the Kennedy Space Center from 1997 to 2003, said his education at Gainesville High School set him up for success.
"I credit that to the quality of the curriculum and the great teachers that we had," Bridges said. "They really set me off into the world well."
Bridges moved to Gainesville from Pendergrass halfway through his ninth-grade year. He said his classmates were accepting of him, leading him to become senior class president.
Also during the ceremony, Bridges gave a first proof copy of his new book, "An Improbable Astronaut," to the school's library.
Gainesville City School Board member Sammy Smith said Gainesville Exploration Academy was the only school in the city that was considered a NASA partner school. This partnership made naming a street on the school's campus a natural fit.
Bridges visited with students at the school while wearing his original flight suit following the sign unveiling ceremony.
Photos from the ceremony can be viewed in the photo gallery above.
