HALL OF PRIDE
2015 Hall of Pride Inductees
Vicki Atkins Baker
Vicki Atkins Oliver (Miss Vicki) Baker (1945-), a renowned dance, baton teacher and professional choreographer, has taught thousands of students (ages 3-18) during her 62-year career.
Vicki began teaching dance, at age 13, with her older sister Loree Atkins (1928-2018), at Loree’s studio, known as Dance Generation in Montgomery. She opened her own studio in Reeltown and Tallassee when she was 15. It was Vicki’s mother, Irene Still (Miss Irene) Atkins, who recognized the talent in her three daughters, Julia Atkins Mann (1926-2000), Loree Atkins (1928-2018), and Vicki. When they were very young, Miss Irene enrolled all three daughters in dance classes. Older sisters Loree and Julia began teaching dance at age 12.
A 1964 graduate of Tallassee High School, Vicki spent three summers in New York City and became certified, as a dance instructor, by the Dance Educators of America. Her dance styles include ballroom, tap, ballet, jazz. She has also taught baton twirling and gymnastics. Beginning in the 1960s, she served as aquatics director and diving coach for the Tallassee City Swimming Pool. Miss Vicki has conducted exercise sessions for senior citizens at Tallassee Senior Center.
Vicki is acclaimed for her baton instruction. For several years, she served as majorette teacher at Tallassee High School. Countless of her students have become majorettes at many universities across the Southeast. Some also became dance instructors.
For more than forty years, her studio, Heart of Dance, was located at 4 Sistrunk Street, in downtown Tallassee. In 2009, it moved to the Upper River Road.
She is the daughter of William Clyde Atkins (1903-1993) and Irene Still Atkins (1908-2001).
Bennie George Little
Class of 1936
Bennie Little spent 36 ½ years in the Tallassee City School system. A 1936 graduate, he attended Troy State Teachers College on a football scholarship and graduated in 1941.
A U.S. Navy Veteran, he earned his master’s degree in Educational Administration in 1952.
Mr. Little began his career as a teacher and coach, and then became principal of Tallassee High School. He ended his career as superintendent, retiring in 1983.
His life influenced his son, Ben, who taught at the Elmore County Technical Center, as well as his daughter-in-law Peggy, a media specialist in the Tallassee school system for many years, and his granddaughter Brooke, a teacher at Luella Elementary School in McDonough, Georgia.
A very civic-minded person, he was a long-time member of the Tallassee Lions Club and also served as president of the state’s high school athletic association. Mr. Little passed away on August 6, 2014. His influences as a Tallassee citizen will be long remembered by those who knew him.
