Our words issue 3

And the school was built

JACK SHELTON PACERS Executive Director

Our Words, a publication of PACERS Rural Community Newspaper Project (PRCNN), shares themes, selections and perspectives from its four member newspapers: The Pintlala Ledger, The Packers Bend Times, The Beatrice Legacy, and The Camp Hill Chronicle This issue concerns schools. In the first thirteen PRCNN editions there were twentyseven school-based articles plus references in other stories referring to academic and even national professional accomplishments by graduates.

The numbers are testimony to the significant place schools hold in these communities schools that are in jeopardy of closing or as is the case of Camp Hill where its Edward Bell High School has already been closed. School closure is the chosen perhaps exclusive route for education officials dealing with small rural schools in Alabama and elsewhere.

At least thirty-five states have legislation that favors consolidation. Closure is an established protocol in Alabama and seldom includes imagination, experimentation with alternative approaches, or the use of the tools of these digital times. For example, PACERS created more than two decades ago the Alabama Online High School offering asynchronously and computer-based all the high school courses needed for graduation taught by Alabama teachers.

AOHS worked well partly because its founders realized that it was then and is now easier to move information and instruction than to move people. This asynchronous computerbased instruction is now widespread, especially used by post-secondary institutions.

A new governor thought that television was the way to go and replaced the AOHS the tv’s might have been useful, but the approach was technologically going backward. It lacked the currency and flexibility of Internet-based instruction, and it is an example of old patches on new wine skins i.e., an example of a failure to explore and apply the tools of the times that can greatly assist small schools facing decline in numbers and the dreaded ax.

Rural schools matter greatly to their communities. PRCNN editions like this one will underscore the value of schools and their place in a healthy rural community infrastructure. Rural communities matter to their school but in my experience if their strengths are tapped can add significantly to the formal education of their young people

“Rural communities matter to their school but in my experience if their strengths are tapped can add significantly to the formal

The Pintlala Ledger, The Beatrice Legacy and The Packer’s Bend Times are three of the four papers in the rural newspaper project.

Editors share thoughts on their schools

SARA L. HUFF EDITOR THE PACKERS BEND TIMES

Maybe We Just Belong to Each Other

Our school and our community mean “the world” to each other. They are very rural, small, and isolated. The nearest school to it is at least thirty miles away. The nearest Monroe County school is 60 miles away.

Both our school and our community are separated from all other Monroe County schools and townships by the Alabama River. There are no businesses here. Isolated or not we take pride in our school and its graduates whose stories can be found in every edition of The Packers Bend Times.

The isolation means that our school and our community need each other. So, they do support each other. Maybe it’s best to say we just belong to each other. The community raises funds for school activities.

Community members volunteer to assist teachers and tend to the PACERS garden and greenhouse. Monroe Intermediate School educates our children well. School events enrich our community. Its public events are on our calendars. Sometimes we co-sponsor events like the May Day celebration.

Neither our small school nor our very small community can operate effectively independently from each other. We would be lost without each other. Three churches and the school are our highlights. That’s really all that’s here, but we’re totally happy. Most of us wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

School Closings: Challenges for Students, Communities

Freddie

Like people in many small rural communities, I worry about the closure of our school. Closing rural community schools disrupts and further destabilizes communities that are already burdened with other forms of loss. Our school gives our community a full sense of selfworth.

Therefore, PACERS members have worked with the school and the school system to add highly benefi-cial programs including a large passive solar greenhouse; a garden that has thirty-five raised beds; and a state-of- the-art aquaponics unit.

These are science programs that teach life skills and testify community commitment to J F Shields. They have created a space where students, teachers, and community members can work together to further the education of our young people.

Students have a sense of belonging and of being supported byhe school. Closure jeopardizes that togetherness and the self-esteem that comes with it. It s a home for our young people. Its loss would be a blow to their learning and sense of belonging. Its loss would do irreparable damage to our community

Freddie Howard is president of the PACERS Board of Directors, and the leader of the widely respected PACERS school community garden and aquaponics unit at JF Shields High School.

“We would be lost without each other. Three churches and the school are our highlights. That’s really all that’s here, but we’re totally happy.”

Howard Beatrice Legacy

It's More Than Losing a Building

Jean Mosley Editor at The Camp Hill Chronicle

We knew, when we fought so hard to keep Camp Hill’s Edward Bell High School open that we were trying to save more than a building We knew that the heartbeat of this community was imbedded in that school. It was a place where we knew each other. Families knew each other, teachers knew

each other, children knew each other. Everybody knew each other.

Edward Bell was a fine place for learning basics, true enough, but we all learned and were exposed to so much more because PACERS community members stepped up assisting students to build and monitor by computer solar batch water heaters; to erect passive solar greenhouses; to raise catfish, tilapia, and bass in a fully equipped aquaculture lab; to operate an active and thriving hydroponics greenhouse lab where marketa-

ble vegetables were raised; EBS students were publishing a community newspaper, and they even ran a photo and print shop that also served the community. There was a lot of community love for that school. Every vein, muscle, artery in this community led to Edward Bell High School and back.

Publisher DR. JACK SHELTON

Mailing address: 3605 Ratliff Road Birmingham, AL 35210

Editor/Designer My Ly

Advertising inquiries

Dr. Jack Shelton jackshelton@prodigy.net

Designer: FRED FLUKER

inaccuracies unless special placement within the publication was purchased. Publisher reserves the right to place ads on a first-come, first-serve basis. No materials contained herein may be reproduced without exclusive written permission of the publisher. Opinions expressed by contributing writers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the publisher's opinion.

© Copyright 2022 by OUR WORDS: VOICES AND VIEWS FROM RURAL ALABAMA. all rights reserved.

Special thanks to all our advertisers, business associates, departments, contributing writers and all other supporting contributions involved in making this possible.

Student staff members of The Camp Hill Chronicle and The Beatrice Legacy. From left to right. Ki’ava Maddox, Za’mora Floyd, Harmony Harris, Deliyah Johnson and Za’naerial Marshall.

Jean Mosley is a member of the PACERS Board of Directors and is retired from teaching at Edward Bell High School.

And the school was built

Jack Shelton PACERS Executive Director

There is a long and profound history of community-based school construction in the rural South in the 19th and early 20th centuries. David Mathews wrote in Why Public Schools? Whose Public Schools? that the opening of schools was just another facet of pioneering. An example of pioneering community building shown below.

This kind of school had many relatives in rural Alabama and beyond. Their cousins included African American indigenous school-building initiatives in the 19th century. For example, Professor Christopher Span writes of early post-Civil War school building:

“Most schools established for freedpeople arose from the efforts of teachers from the North. These schools were not the first, however. Freedpeople had already established a network of grassroots schools for themselves and their children.

Those who had acquired some degree of literacy in secrecy during enslavement served as teachers, and those denied an education became their pupils. None were too young or old to learn. They built, furnished, and maintained these schools....”

Washington’s leadership, local people drove the nails, donated funds and built the schools almost 5,000 buildings across the South.

One of those buildings was in Beatrice as reported by Mary Howard in The Beatrice Legacy

(Booker T) Washington, working with (Julius) Rosenwald, came to Beatrice to discuss building a Rosenwald school. The community would have to provide a portion of the funds, but after several days, it seemed the community would not be able to raise the money. Washington reportedly said,

Students in Dr. Pam Horn’s class identified the Old School House as part of a PACERS-related project at the now closed Bibb Graves High School. They displayed the photo at the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

“The Rosenwald project was the largest school construction initiative in the South. It began c.1910. While much of the project money came from Julius Rosenwald and the organization was under Booker T.

“Well, I will get in my buggy and go back to Tuskegee.” (Then) Robert (Black) said his grandfather offered to mortgage his land in order to get the school. And so, the school was built. In 1921, Beatrice Rosenwald was opened

Continued on page 5

An Auburn University research team that includes faculty and students from the College of Architecture, Design and Construction, shown here at the Tankersley School in Montgomery County, is dedicated to preserving several of the 400 Rosenwald Schools that were constructed for African American schoolchildren between 1912-32.

Continued from page 4

I had the good fortune of attending meetings in the Beatrice Rosenwald school which, until it was torn down, served as a community center. Its loss reflects the fact that the Beatrice community did not in any way own the school—even though it was communitybuilt—and that the historical significance of the building was essentially overlooked. It is not particularly unexpected that, while the good names of Rosenwald and Washington have appropriately received recognition, the accomplishments of rural community members like Robert Black’s grandfather do not seem to have fared so well.

In the search for literacy and community, rural Alabamians built schools even with exceedingly limited resources. The buildings are a grand history. A history pursued by David Mathews, Mary Howard, Pam Horn and her students; and by Gary Burton as seen in his article “Possible Rosenwald School Restoration” in the Pintlala Ledger. Burton’s article confirms a continuing interest in community-built schools as evidenced by an Auburn University Rosenwald project. Burton wrote:

An initiative emerging from Auburn University may leave an interesting footprint in Pintlala. The Tankersley School is located at 198 School Spur just off Pettus Road. The Tankersley School is one of four Rosenwald Schools in Montgomery County targeted for study, renewal, and maybe repair.

It was built in 1922.

In a follow up article Burton wrote: Auburn University has received a grant of $499,799 from the National Park Service to begin the restoration of the historic Tankersley Rosenwald School Building (shown below). A team of experts from the Alabama Black Heritage Council and Tuskegee University will help to Implement the grant.

The community’s support and input are needed concerning ideas for future use.

PRCNN newspapers continue to tell stories of the descendants of these earlier community-built and community-owned schools. There is a great difference. The difference, for example, can be felt in the following account. Beginning in 1975 and for about twenty-five years, the Student Coalition for Community Health (SCCH), one of PACERS’ precursors, held multi-phasic health screening clinics in rural Alabama communities almost inevitably in schools the natural community centers.

Often the student program leaders seeking schools as a home base for their clinics were told “you need permission from the trustees to use the schools”.

Trustees, who were community members, are now basically a thing of the past. They were probably the last vestige of direct if limited community ownership of schools. County boards of education in conjunction with the State Department of Education are the “owners” of schools where small rural schools are left.

Principals and board employees, rather than trustees and community members, are their only agents.

Education has been standardized, professionalized, and centralized. There are many pluses to these developments. There are minuses for small rural community members who are generally not allowed to put their hands on the tiller or drive a nail. Their communities lack political clout.

However, there is building—at least symbolic—that has been and is being done through PACERS including passive solar greenhouses, aquaponics units, and gardens.

Also, I am hoping that additional alliances can be made between the PRCNN newspapers and schools because the newspaper staffs are building! They are building significant learning opportunities for students opportunities through which young people can serve their own communities. In fact, as newspaper contributors and staffers, they can be builders of stronger schools and communities.

While doing so they can learn to write in authentic writing contexts about matters of local personal interest; develop computer and business skills; collaborate across generations. Already Auburn University has provided paying work opportunities for high school students as staffers, and Mayor Messiah Williams-Cole of Camp Hill has done the same for young staff members of The Camp Hill Chronicle.

Some words from and about alumni

Continued on page 6

The PRCNN newspapers routinely collect and share information on graduates from local schools. That information reflects the solid accomplishments of the schools and their alumni.

- Dr. Jack Shelton, PACERS executive director and founder

Continued from page 5

Sylvia T. Bozeman

Sylvia T. Bozeman, Ph.D., is a Camp Hill native and graduate of Edward Bell High School, Alabama A&M University, Vanderbilt University and Emory University. President Barack Obama appointed Dr. Bozeman to the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science.

I am proud of the town where I received a solid foundation from the school, parents, churches and all who helped to prepare me for a useful life. One of many reasons that I take pride in Camp Hill is its history of commitment and its contributions to education. In Camp Hill, the first school in Tallapoosa County was established where African Ameri-cans could complete a 12th-grade education.

Earline Rodgers

Packers Bend Times

Earline Rodgers, mother, grandmother, community member, is a 1979 graduate of Monroe Senior High School.

I was blessed to have attended Monroe Senior High for four years. The faculty, principal, office staff and cooks were great people. I have such fond memories of them. Ms. Sara Huff, Mrs. Bradley and Mr. George Dickerson were all great teachers. Though this school was small, the teachings were not. If ever there was a need for extra help, the teachers were always ready and willing to assist. In my opinion, I had the best classmates ever, and we are still close to this day. Sadly, we have lost five of our loving class family, but they will never be forgotten. I thank MSHS for the best school years of my life, graduating with the mighty class of 1979. Later, I attended Alabama Southern College for two years. Of all the rewards I’ve experienced in life, my greatest achievement is being a loving mother to my four beautiful children. I also have 10 adorable grandchildren. Thank you, MSHS for all you have given me, both in the books and in lessons on life. May God continue to bless everyone in our community.

Anthony Davison

Anthony Davison is an Urban Regional Extension Agent (UREA) with Alabama 4-H at Alabama A&M University and a graduate of JF Shields

“I never imagined myself in this role but am loving every moment so far. This position and what it entails comes to me naturally, as I was in 4-H in elementary school. I …remember Mr. Ruffin doing activities with us through the program. This program was beneficial…,as we got the opportunity to develop a (PACERS) greenhouse at Beatrice Elementary…His accomplishments directly relate to where it all began, Monroe County in Beatrice, Alabama. “I do not take it lightly … where I am from, granted many have no clue when I mention the name. … Though home is not the same anymore, I am always assured that I will get warm well wishes from family and friends … when I visit. I hope that my story inspires someone to know that J. F. Shields graduates can go on to do … great things in their en-deavors! Go Panthers!”

Domoneek McCoy

Kimberly McCaskill

Packers Bend Times

DomoneekMcCoy,DNP,CRNA,isthedaughterofWilliamandGraceMcCoyofPackersBend.Shewasthevaledictorian ofhergraduatingclassatMonroeSeniorHighSchool.

On Dec. 10, 2020, Domoneek McCoy graduated from the University of Miami with a doctorate in nursing practice (DNP) and a specialization in anesthesiology. She began her doctoral training in January 2018 and finished her degree with honors… She was the valedictorian of the class of 2004 at Monroe Senior High School (now Monroe Intermediate School).

Her interest in anesthesiology began during summer 2004, when the J. L. Bedsole Foundation afforded Dr. McCoy the opportunity to shadow a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) at Grove Hill Memorial Hospital in Grove Hill, Ala.

Awarded a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Scholarship, McCoy graduated magna cum laude in biology from the University of West Alabama in 2008. She went on to pursue a master’s degree in biology in 2009 and finished with a 4.0 GPA, earning additional hon-ors. Determined to follow her passion and become an anesthetist, Dr. McCoy continued her education in Atlanta, Ga. She graduat-ed from Emory University in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in nursing, then trained further at Grady Memorial Hospital's Marcus Trauma Center, a Level 1 trauma and surgical intensive care unit.

With her DNP now completed, Dr. McCoy is practicing at Northside Hospital in Atlanta. “I plan to spend more time with my family,” _she said. “And once the world has more control in this Covid-19 pandemic, I hope to join a group that offers free surgical services to developing countries, and volunteer with them as an anesthesia provider.”

Homecomings and Reunions

By Detra “DeeDee” Odom

J.F. Shields high school teacher

Homecoming at J. F. Shields High School is a time where alumni, as well as supporters and current students, gather to catch up and interact with each other. It’s filled with hugs, handshakes, picturetaking, and more.

All of which are potentially lethal as Covid19 continues to spread around Monroe County, the United States, and the world. This year (2020), homecoming festivities were canceled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. But the energy of game day never dissipates.

Memories of tailgating sustain many graduates and current students at JFS, which has become the largest of homecoming celebrations in Monroe County and many surrounding counties, was a virtual affair for 2020.

Though the pandemic has impacted almost every school in the country, PANTHER NATION still managed to have a little fun this year with THE HOMECOMING VIRTUAL EXPERIENCE.

A week-long social media overload of Panther fans, alumni and student body sharing pictures and taking a walk down memory lane. In addition to sharing their love for JFS, The Virtual Experience also payed tribute to the victims, fighters and survivors of Breast Cancer. There was also promotion of the importance of voting.

Homecoming is more than just a chance to come back to the Panther’s Den and reminisce. It is a chance not only to reconnect with friends, but to be renewed by the shared experiences between you and them.

It is a time to be re-energized and know that you are not the only one breaking barriers and overcoming obstacles.

Clearly there are much bigger issues facing the country and the world than wheth-er or not people attend or interact at a homecoming. People continue to die dai-ly, and sadly many of them won’t have the option to attend the next homecoming — whenever it is.

Whenever this pandemic slows down, and history says that it will at some point, we’ll have to re-assess how we interact with each other socially. That includes getting adjusted to a new definition of “normal.”

It’s more than just a football game, or an excuse to party for many of us. Homecoming is a time-honored tradition that connects people, remember how far we’ve come, and making a commitment to ALWAYS REMEMBER HOME, OUR JFS. Editor’s Note: The 2022 homecoming drew thousands to J.F. Shields graduates.

Santa Wisdom from Students at Pintlala Elementary School (PES)

Thought you knew the skinny on Santa? Probably not until you read the inside information shared by the kids at PES. These excerpts from the Pintlala Ledger are filled with imagination, unexpected answers regarding Santa’s surveillance strategies, and concerns for the Big Man and for teachers who need a car, a vacation, and better pay.

If you could give any gift to Santa, what would it be?

-A new sleigh that is faster.

-Some healthy food because he is BIG!

-A million dollars because he is probably broke from spending his money on kids.

What does your teacher need for Christmas?

-A new car because she had her car for a lot of weeks.

-My teacher needs some money to go on vacation because she doesn’t get paid enough.

-My teacher needs new glasses. My teacher needs some Dr. Pepper!

How does Santa know if you’ve been good or bad?

-Because we have a Santa camera in our classroom.

-He has planted little cameras in the houses to watch the children.

-He has a naughty list.

-He has an elf watching.

How fast does Santa’s sleigh go?

-Faster than a car and a cheetah.

-So fast like rocket boosters.

-Santa goes a million miles per hour.

Do reindeer talk to Santa?

-Yes, “Santa I want Starbucks!”

How old is Santa?

-49 years old

-88 years old

-100 years old

-141 years old

PRCNN director shares note of gratitude

By Nan Fairley Director PRCNN

In Alabama, as in states across America, newspapers are threatened as news deserts https://www.usnewsdeserts.com expand. Why does that matter with all the gizmos and “news” on demand available on the Internet?

As I have seen the emergence of PACERS Rural News Network, the answers are clear. Place matters, and the best way to see that is in the voices of people who call those places home.

As a veteran journalism educator who has preached the value of community news for three decades, I have been known to wring my hands in despair as traditional newspapers have faced unprecedented changes and sometimes disappeared. Was total extinction of these critical tools of democracy, particularly on the local level, possible I worried. I can spout facts and figures about the value of community journalism to democracy, to

enhancing a sense of place, to civic engagement. And I can despair as numbers and trends show what looks more and more like a danger to democracy and to the future of journalism. But then comes hope. That’s what my involvement with the PACERS Community Newspaper Network means to me. Despite what I perceive as impossible odds, this effort and the work of citizens in four rural Alabama communities gave birth to four newspapers. The first time I smelled the ink from the pages of the first editions I received, I felt hope.

I was transported back to my early years as a professional journalist working in community journalism. Beyond those happy memories, I saw potential in these pages for a future where others share my passion for the stories that can be found and need to be told, shared, and valued, particularly in rural communities. I know that is happening now in Beatrice, Camp Hill, Packers Bend, and Pintlala. Lauren Harris, in a Columbia Journalism Re-view article https:// www.cjr.org/

PRCNN Updates

Professor Nan Fairley continues to provide terrific leadership as the Director of the PRCNN. Seeking to secure much needed financial support for the network, she has made connection with the Daniel Foundation and set up a meeting with a Daniel’s program office and representatives from all the papers and the Alabama Humanities Alliance.

The meeting was positive with newspaper editors sharing stories and perspectives on their publications. A decision will be made by the foundation in November. Whether the network is funded or not, the meeting revealed the significance of the papers and the capacity of the editors to present the significance of their newspapers. Professor Fairley has established connections for the network with Auburn University.

business_of_news/reviving-democracyrequires-reviving-local-journalism.php, shared the disturbing numbers and outlined the threat posed by the loss of local news outlets. In her words, “Democracies are complicated, and so is the nuanced and specialized coverage that only a local newsroom can provide. Finding a sustainable model for democracy requires foregrounding local news. And finding a sustainable model for local journalism is more than a public good; it’s a civic necessity.”

Beyond a sign of hope, the PACERS

Community News Network, is, in my opinion, a “civic necessity” that is now building a solid foundation to become a sustainable model for other rural communities. Now as more editions are rolling out, I believe that innovation as represented by these PACERS newspaper is so much more than an experiment. I know that the citizens who are capturing the stories of their places can see it when they deliver the newspapers that are building community, sparking conversations, and more. And I can’t wait to see what comes next.

To that end papers will be put the University’s reading room. In addition, and very significantly, young people from three of the papers have been invited to participate in an AU program through which they will receive training and stipends to assist with the newspapers in Beatrice, Packers Bend, and Pintlala. A similar program is receiving funding from Camp Hill for two students in Camp Hill to join the staff of The Camp Hill Chronicle.

Many thanks to Mayor Messiah Williams-Cole for his support! These programs help to address the need all the papers have for building staffs. The best news is that the papers continue publishing and publishing quality newspapers!

Donations can be made to PACERS at mightycause.com/organization/Pacers/donate

For information on Our Words and the PRCNN papers—including how to receive copies online contact (jackshelton@prodigy.net.).

Covid has cancelled PACERS conferences for several years. Hoping that those days are over, the PACERS conference planning committee has set Saturday April 22, 2023, for the next conference. Details will follow.