MILFORD-MIAMI ADVERTISER
Your Community Press newspaper serving Miami Township and Milford
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 2016
BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS
Pioneering Milford, Princeton educator McCallum honored “Who said so?” program among her many achievements in long career in education By Jeanne Houck jhouck@communitypress.com
Virginia McCallum points a long, slender finger at a picture of herself with her husband, his right arm draped protectively across her shoulders. “Who is he?” she asks. “Who is she?” “She” is Virginia McCallum, the first black administrator in the Milford Exempted Village Schools. “She” is 74 and can get confused, but taught thousands of children English and reading during the nearly 30 years she worked for the Princeton City Schools. And “She” was the driving force behind “Who Said So?” – an after-school study group designed to encourage children other people wrote off to reach for the academic stars. For a dozen years, McCallum ran the program in the basement of her church, Miami Baptist Church in Milford. On a recent, unseasonably warm Sunday, McCallum was back at the church – this time in a front-row pew in its first-floor sanctuary. And although McCallum now has memory problems, a parade of people took the pulpit at a church service in her honor to say they have not forgotten her. It was clear by the way McCallum nodded encouragement to speakers, dipped her face in modesty and dabbed at her eyes during hymns that she knew she was in God’s house and that she was surrounded by people who love her. “She cared about the whole child: their academics, their actions and their future,” said McCallum family friend Weldon Dixon, pastor of Mount Olive Baptist Church in Camp Dennison. “Her light shines so brightly in this community in the children whose lives she’s touched, in her family, in her career, in Who Said So? and in her church, Miami Baptist Church. “I thank God for people like Sister McCallum, because they basically
JEANNE HOUCK/THE COMMUNITY PRESS
Virginia and Napoleon McCallum at a reception honoring her at Miami Baptist Church in Milford.
shine the light on the path for us,” Dixon said. McCallum was born in Girard, Kan., the baby of 13 children and the daughter of a Methodist minister. Tragedy hit early in her life. McCallum’s mother died when McCallum was 12 years old. The family had to split up and McCallum went to live with a sister in Springfield, Missouri. McCallum found a refuge in school and embarked on her career of “firsts.” “Virginia loved school,” said her husband, Napoleon McCallum, whom she would marry in 1962. “In high school she was a member of the speech and debate team. She was
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the first black graduation speaker at Central High School in Springfield, Mo.” Virginia McCallum attended Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri, on an academic scholarship, majoring in English with a minor in psychology. McCallum was active in student government and a member of a thespian group. “She had a major role in several of their productions,” Napoleon McCallum said. After graduating college with honors, Virginia McCallum took a job with the Princeton City Schools. See EDUCATOR, Page 2A
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Milford votes to buy Milford Main By Jeanne Houck jhouck@communitypress.com
Demolition of the former Milford Main Middle School may begin in as early as a month. Milford City Council recently voted unanimously to buy the property at 525 Main St. from the Milford Exempted Village School District for $360,000 – what it will cost the school district to demolish the building before the property transfer. City council’s decision to buy the 3.5-acre property at the Five Points intersection comes about a year after it rejected a zone change that would have allowed a developer to tear down the century-old former Milford Main Middle School and erect a three-story apartment building for people 55 years old and above. “City council will not begin to discuss future options or plans for the property till we actually own it,” Milford Mayor Laurie Howland said. “It is a decision we will not rush.” Milford is seeking a new city manager and Howland said the new manager should be in place as the city begins discussing plans for the former Milford Main Middle School. “It was important to council that we have some control over the future of the property, which is why we made the decision to purchase it,” Howland said. “With the property sitting in the heart of the city and being a part of its history for 100 years, its future use is vital to the community.” The future of the former Milford Main Middle School was a hot topic that packed city council and school board chambers for two years. The Milford Exempted Village School District said in a statement on its website that other potential buyers have toured the building, but made no See MILFORD, Page 2A
FILE PHOTO
Milford City Council has voted to buy the former Milford Main Middle School property for $360,000 - what it will cost to demolish the building before the property transfer.
Vol. 25 No. 50 © 2016 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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