Renaming a local elementary school to the Dr Benjamin E Mays Elementary School

THE DEDICATION

OF THE DR. BENJAMIN E MAYS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

In the fall of 2019 Mayor Brandon Smith addressed the board of Greenwood School District 50 and challenged them to rename a school in his hometown after Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays. The mayor made a strong case that evening for why the board and the community of Greenwood should embrace renaming a school after a ‘native son’ who accomplished so much in education and civil rights in America. The atmosphere in the room that night was optimistic about the possibility and inquisitive about the man who was being described as the “Principle founder of the Civil Rights Movement” and mentor to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Following several months of discussions and hearing from the community, the school board voted on Monday, February 17, 2020 on the proposal to rename Springfield Elementary School the Dr. Benjamin E Mays Elementary School. The board unanimously approved the proposal. Anne Marie Glawe said, “The story of Dr. Mays needs to be told. He is the teacher of Dr. King and he is a local hometown hero from Greenwood.” Mrs. Glawe was a teacher for gifted students at Springfield Elementary and the driving force behind the legacy of Dr. Mays being taught there. Mrs. Glawe has brought her GATAS students to the Mays Site on all-day field trips for seven years to experience the Site and learn about the life and legacy of this iconic American who shares the same hometown as her students. Her work was the foundation in many ways for Springfield Elementary being the school that Greenwood School District 50 chose to rename in honor of Dr. Mays. After months of planning, meetings, and learning more about the life and contributions of Dr. Mays, member of the school district and the community came to the former Springfield Elementary School to rename the school in honor of civil rights leader Benjamin E. Mays. It was an inspiring morning and ceremony that

DR. MAYS WILL CONTINUE TO INSPIRE STUDENTS IN THE COUNTY OF HIS BIRTH TO FIND A STAR IN THEIR LIVES TO REACH FOR.

included representatives from the school district, the school’s administration and teachers, civic leaders, local clergy, members of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., and the Martin Luther King Jr. Mass Choir. Mays told his students at Morehouse College, “It isn’t a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for.” All who were in attendance that day seemed to look to the future of the Dr. Benjamin E Mays Elementary School in hopes that Dr. Mays would continue to inspire students in the county of his birth to find a star in their lives to reach for.