A-2 • AUGUST 13, 2012 • BEARDEN SHOPPER-NEWS
‘All shook up’ about ‘blue suede’ jackpot Call it a treasure hunt, if you will, one that made me “All Shook Up” when I found the “blue suede” jackpot.
Jake Mabe MY TWO CENTS After I wrote a series of articles in the spring highlighting Elvis Presley’s first concert appearance in Knoxville on April 8, 1972, I got wind that an individual had recorded and kept 8mm “bootleg” film footage of three Elvis concerts at Stokely Athletic Center – the 1972
evening show, the March 15, 1974, evening show and Elvis’ last appearance here on May 20, 1977, three months before his death. Presley died 35 years ago this Thursday (Aug. 16) at age 42. Sure enough, I found him, and the film, which had been stored in a bank vault for more than 30 years. Fountain City resident John Stansberry, a retired sheet metal worker who also drove buses, bought his first 8mm movie camera after his mother-in-law bought one in the 1960s. They were expensive, but John was “a union man,” as he said, and earned good wages. He could afford it. His first camera was an Argus and John says, “every
time a new movie camera came out, I’d get it. Some of them cost $400 or $500, which was a fortune then.” He used it as a time capsule to film his family on holidays and vacations. And he used it to film Elvis when The King came to Knoxville. “Elvis was a showman. Those tickets cost $10. That was a fortune then, but he still filled the house.” Stansberry shot six minutes at each show. One reel of 8mm film could capture three minutes. The cameras at that time did not have sound. You see Presley in his prime in ’72, looking like a prince. You see him in ’74, just before the decline, introducing gospel singer J.D.
A heart for middle schoolers By Wendy Smith Research suggests that children’s perception of themselves and the world are concrete by age 12, says West Valley Middle School principal Renee Kelly. That gives her, and her staff, a small window of opportunity to reassure students that they matter and that they can make a difference. “We have so many teachable moments here that are not part of the curriculum,” she says. Kelly became principal this year after serving as an assistant principal at West Valley last year. In 2010, she was part of the inaugural class of the Leadership Academy, a 15-month program for aspiring principals
West Valley Middle School principal Renee Kelly wants students to know how important they are as soon as they enter her office. Photo by Wendy Smith that’s a collaborative effort between UT and Knox County Schools. She is hardly the stereotypical stern principal.
Instead, she is petite and bubbly, and any student who enters her office is affirmed with a series of signs that read, “When you enter
“He never lost his voice,” John says. Stansberry only got stopped once by security. He told them he left the film at home. (It was actually in his daughter’s purse.) He also has reels shot at Graceland in 1975 (you can see Presley’s uncle Vester backing a car up the driveway as the famous front gate closes) and in 1978. On one of them, Stansberry chats with Elvis’ father, Vernon, who was leaning out of one of Graceland’s windows near the swimming pool. “I said, ‘We sure hate all this about Elvis’ death.’ “He said, ‘Yeah, we still haven’t gotten over it.’ He talked just like a normal guy.” Stansberry says Elvis Presley Enterprises, which he phoned, and his children and grandchildren have no interElvis Presley arrives in Knoxville at McGhee Tyson Airport on est in the film. He is willing to entertain offers to sell them. April 8, 1972, for his first concert appearance here. File photo “What I’ve got is one-of-aSumner, swiveling his hips to the stage. And you see him in kind.” “Polk Salad Annie,” kicking ’77, sick and sweaty, but still Serious offers can be sent bodyguard Sonny West off singing from his soul. to 865-771-9595. this office … You are my students. You are wolves. You are respected.” Kelly admits that she doesn’t have a “mean” face to use on unruly students. But she does have a “mama” face that comes from having raised two kids who are now 16 and 19. “It says, ‘Stop what you are doing and get on task now.’ ” Kelly grew up in Knoxville and attended UT. Education was her second career. After working as a sales rep for Procter and Gamble, she was promoted to a training position. That’s when she realized she had a gift for teaching. She chose to teach children in order to give back to her community. “I wanted to be for someone else what I had,” she says. She taught language arts
at Bearden Middle School and served as an assistant principal at Spring Hill Elementary School before coming to West Valley. She replaces Jack Nealy, who is now principal at Shannondale Elementary School. Today’s culture poses special challenges for middle school students. Children are bombarded by the media, Kelly says, and girls are especially overwhelmed by “airbrushed, unreal images of people.” And the pervasiveness of technology, particularly social media, has potential to negatively impact communication skills, she says. West Valley teachers have the opportunity to reverse that trend during a 20-minute “intervention” period held every day during homeroom. The time can be used for either reme-
diation or enrichment and guarantees that a teacher is tracking each student’s progress. While creating a nurturing environment is one of Kelly’s goals, preparing students for college and career is a top priority, even at the middle school level. Last week, as teachers were decorating their classrooms in preparation for the first day of school on Tuesday, she met with principals from West Valley’s elementary feeder schools and John Bartlett, principal of Bearden High School, to discuss goals. Producing college-ready students doesn’t just happen, she says. It requires strategy. It also requires a highly professional staff, like West Valley’s. Teaching isn’t just a job – it’s a calling, she says. “You have to have a heart for this.”
EXCLUSIVE TRUNK SHOW INVITE
The Christian Academy of Knoxville seeks to build a vital partnership with Christian parents from a broad cross-section of the Body of Christ, to assist them in fulfilling their Biblical mandate to educate their children “...in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”
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