Orchard Knob Middle School parents and community leaders criticized the principal Monday for not being more available to them and criticized the school for not making take-home textbooks available to students.
"In my opinion, our kids are not getting their fair share and something needs to be done to promote success for our future," said Annette Thompson, president of the school's Parent Teacher Student Association.
Mrs. Thompson was one of about 20 people, including four parents, who met Monday at the Avondale Recreation Center. Several people stated a need for more parent involvement at the school, but community leaders applauded the parents present and said they would work with them and principal Maryo Beck to accomplish goals at Orchard Knob Middle.
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Staff Photo by Matt Fields-Johnson/Chattanooga Times Free Press George Ricks, the District 4 school board member, voices support for the leadership of Orchard Knob Middle School principal Maryo Beck at a meeting at the Avondale Community Center on Monday to address the lack of textbooks and other issues at the school.
Mrs. Thompson said students didn't receive science books until April, six weeks before school is dismissed for the summer. And many of the textbooks students use at the school are outdated, she added.
Mr. Beck said he's doing "everything" to prepare students for success. Beyond not having textbooks, students don't come to school with pencil and paper, he said, so he gives it to them. He said he has to tell others to comb their hair or how to properly dress.
"This is not just a job to me. If it was I would leave the building at 2:15 every day and go home and deal with my own kids," he said. "But I'm there because I want the kids to succeed."
School officials say money isn't available for textbooks, but they are using online information to teach students.
And Orchard Knob Middle is not the only school without current books, said Hamilton County school board member Jeff Wilson, who graduated from the middle school.
Jack Murrah, former president of the Lyndhurst Foundation, got so upset when speaking about Orchard Knob, he left the meeting. He said the problem with the school is one of leadership throughout the school system.
"They have disadvantaged your children for their futures and it makes me angry and it makes me sad," he said. "I'm just about finished because I can't seem to get people to have a moral conscience, a moral commitment to do what is right."
School board member George Ricks told the parents that they are pushing improvement at the school by being vocal.
"Thank you," he said. "If you sit back, nothing happens. Thank you for making noise."
He said some improvements for Orchard Knob Middle already have been in the works. The school is expected to get lockers and a renovated bathroom this summer, he said.
Parents need to be concerned about the quality of education at Orchard Knob, said Joe Smith, regional director of the YMCA Community Action Project.
"We have kids every day who come from Orchard Knob and it's difficult to work with those children because they're unprepared," Mr. Smith said. "They don't have textbooks to complete assignments. It's frustrating seeing kids in the eighth grade who can't read a two-syllable word."
SCHOOL POLICY
Because some schools don't have textbooks for students to take home, school officials implemented a policy in April that states if the school does not have enough textbooks to give every student a copy, then no homework assignment will be assigned from that particular textbook. That does not mean that students won't have homework assignments because there are lots of ways students can do homework to extend the learning that should take place in the classroom.
Source: School Superintendent Dr. Jim Scales
What's next
A PTSA meeting will be hosted 3:15-4:30 p.m. Thursday at Orchard Knob Middle School.
Yolanda Putman has been a reporter at the Times Free Press for 11 years. She covers housing and previously covered education and crime. Yolanda is a Chattanooga native who has a master’s degree in communication from the University of Tennessee and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Alabama State University. She previously worked at the Lima (Ohio) News. She enjoys running, reading and writing and is the mother of one son, Tyreese. She has also ...
EDUCATION: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE HOWARD ALUMNI BANQUET 5 DECEMBER 2009
SACRED LETTERS FROM OUR ANCESTORS
The Black experience has lasted since the time that man’s records began. Many tales, many letters have been passed down. Many scholars also have never been heard.
PART I: UNFORGOTTEN PAGES (NOTES) IN BLACK HISTORY & EDUCATION
We began our story in 1619 as some came as slaves, free and as indentured servants. However, the rule throughout the slave-holding south was a restriction on education for the slaves.
Meanwhile, some stole their ABC’s by the light of the moon and hidden candle light in dark cold slave cabins. Here our story is about those in the cotton fields in the southern region.
But some that were Black did see the inside of a School-house in the north, but the restrictions remained. Meanwhile the letters that were stolen were not seen as a crime. Because the crime was leg irons and shackles.
There was also the crime of long hot hours in the mid- day sun toiling from day to night and starting as soon as God broke the day. Beasts of burden had to rest some time they also needed water and food to eat.
So as the Afro-centric scholars look back in time we reveal that the enslavement of the African was for economic reasons as race were not the question. Racial hate did not cause the economics of racism. Meanwhile as the dust, blood, sweat and tears settled and flew through the air, racism came upon the invention table. Thus, race came to justify slavery as it harbored some of the greatest ills of humankind.
I looked back and saw Black men, women, boys and little girls and babes carried in arms running for freedom. Christianity was thrust upon some and accepted by many. It also gave rise to slave preachers that also became leaders in the rebellion for freedom.
Thus, we hail Denmark Vesey, Gabriel Prosser, Nat Turner and John the man Brown. We also call your attention to the first and last Black abolitionist and those that were on the outside that also stood up for our freedom. During these times the initial Freedom’s Journal was born.
As we speak and write we also hail in 2009 the FreedomJournal Press on-line and off- line as an independent Publishing House. The smoke cleared and the loud and silent guns, cannons and rifles cease to burn bullets against brother and kinsmen as the Civil War ended.
So did the institutionalized slave system that ruled the south. But we still wanted our letters and to read and write. If no education was not bad enough we heard Carter G. Woodson say “Mis-Education of the Negro.” How did Blacks miss education? Who threw the book at Black education?
Cont. Part 2
Part 2: EDUCATION: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE HOWARD ALUMNI BANQUET 5 DECEMBER 2009
John paused as my participant spectator and said there came a time when enslavement education spoke of the destruction of the natural inclinations to be self-sufficient for one’s own survival. This was a sad replacement for no education at all.
All things fail and have success in someone’s eyes. The missed education thus rendered to some and not just a few a permanent dependence on the former slave masters. Control the mind and control the hands. Thus newly freed slaves were not free.
But why was there a need by former body keepers to control the minds of the slaves that were now said to be free? Is education, was education a panacea for freedom? Or was this just a guise and ruse to keep us confused? Would an independent and free education defeat the historic control of Black people?
As I sit, I cease to wonder asking what is education? Why is it important? My great great grandfather Samuel Arnett rose up one day and found education as the smooth development of knowledge, skill, ability. There had to be some teaching, study and experience said Grand Ma Louisa.
Therefore the definitive qualities of this thing education reveal what? There is the sheer logic of educational need in a developing world? There are no great thinkers in an uneducated society. Does one actually live or function in a world absent of any intellect? Slaves and free need to eat, work and sleep.
At Howard School we once had grades 1-12. However, education is on many levels. The schools of higher learning take us away from our 12th and last year of public education. There are Trade Schools, Business Schools, and Colleges and Universities. There are also various degrees A.A., B.S. M.A. and Ph.D.
Meanwhile, Carter G. Woodson continued to write about Mis-education. Was he radical or just an independent Truth-seeker? Could you really change the way a man would think? His actions are now known as the plots continue. One man thought he was inferior. He soon accepted that status.
Thrown away and an outcast he sought out the back door on his own. He assumed that all things backward and less than less was his way not his destiny. Was it a righteous nature that assured him that inferior was his way and his byways would always be wretched he demanded.
But I heard and felt John say that education is power, free the independent mind and control your destiny and station in life. Let not the oppressor control your education as adversity will lead to confusion. John said don’t allow something good for you to be a tool of those that wish you to stumble.
A system that we wish to defeat as we grow in Truth took shape as enslavement soon after freedom was mandated. Does it still exist? If not in form in fashion and a lingering philosophy of many that still crowd the planet earth.
Cont. Part 3
Part 3: EDUCATION: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE HOWARD ALUMNI BANQUET 5 DECEMBER 2009
Since the time the school house door was open certain philosophical aspirations have directed and guided the educational experiences of Black folk. There was Neo-Colonialism and Neo-slavery. So there was no education and then mis-education. There was the church, abolitionist and the philanthropist as some of the first to lean on education Black.
The precedents were set. Before the Red, Black and White blood was dry spilled on the battle fields defeated in a Rebel cause the Freedmen’s Bureau came as teachers for the newly freed slaves. They needed to know their duties as new citizens.
Getting closer to the contemporary times there was a great disagreement over industrial education and classical education. Some love Booker T. while others saw him as a buffoon and clown of dependence and a waiter and busboy that thrived on carrying out the slop jars of those that still rested in mint Julep heaven.
Some also got kick-backs for leading us astray as concessions historically came to the boss that thrived on straw. Who was the head man in charge in the cotton fields? Who handed the overseer the fresh well water and the rifle to annul rabbits of the field and fleeing Black bodies on the run.
Someone who had never looked upon a book in 1865 posed a difficult task to educate. The missionaries came south to see. Some said they had more classes on social programs than reading, writing and arithmetic. But the not so freed Blacks were still seen as basic economic tools to be seen with pity.
We hear Woodson, Carter G. once again. Had the Negro man, woman and child reaped such good White benefit from slavery that his mind revealed exactly what was desired of him mired in a submissive nature? Was this enhanced in books and teaching methods designed do miss an uneducated the Black mind?
John now moved without pausing and said Dear Howard School. Should we close the doors of the schools that miss and call on Black independent Schools? Should they be our primary and secondary schools? Will the community Black in which one lives provide the educational needs of those that live there?
Will those that are Black at Howard School are any other Black school be able to petition the state for their own curriculum? Will truly Afro-Centric curriculums ever be a part of the Black experience? Woodson: As we look to contemporary times and the times in which we now live:
"Blacks who are trained under racism in institutions that do not protest are cowards, and in life will continue as slaves in spite of their limited emancipation."
Cont. Part 4
PART II: CONTEMPORAY PAGES IN BLACK HISTORY & EDUCATION TURNED
As we step into the times we now live I saw Old Howard become New Howard and move from the west side to the south side. These were the days when there was only one high school for Black people in Chattanooga. The schools were determined for Black and for White.
Also a slave education still lingered, but gained fertile ground in the more rural south as the urban north and east also the west brought up the rear. Some schools Black were falling down and in need of repair. Also many books were missing but at Howard there was an exception. Dedicated teachers made up for many things lacking.
Then, they had compassion for the students their younger brothers and sisters. I remember as I left with a class in 1963 which was the last to be segregated as City High became Riverside and a place also for Black education. For those that loved history will always remember T. R. Gaston the greatest history teacher and coach in the south east.
The famed “Hustling Tigers” the maroon and gold will always pay tribute to the legendary coach “Chubby James” who led the Tigers to numerous undefeated seasons. R. O. Vaughn was allowed corporal punishment but he was still much loved for his care and concern .We will also love Ms. Blackshear for the great memories and her love.
Meanwhile as high school students we look forward to college and the thrill of life’s experiences. Those steeped in intellect also latch on to the independence to think. What has been the grave and often stale state of independent thinking and the Black community?
So as John and that other man of letters looked on, the Black independent intellectual was thrust although often hidden and unseen into the vanguard of the struggle for freedom and liberation long over-due. What did a young man know of these things in 1961, 62 and 1963?
Dear Howard and illustrious alumni, students and teachers thanks for the young adult memories that can never be re-lived or wiped away from the smorgasbord of life’s events and dramas. This was a learning experience and an educational experience that would carry me through life.
We moved through, I moved through the educational process as young folk growing up in Chattanooga, TN. Most had been taught as our parents and their parents looked back to slavery and beyond realizing that education is a necessary ingredient to relieve many of the problems of second-class citizenship.
There was also something significant about the time period from 1619 to 1900. So Black education for some made a significant leap forward by 1900. We are now in the year 2009. So as we still grasp the reality of the need for education we look on.
Cont. Part 5
Part 5: PART II: CONTEMPORAY PAGES IN BLACK HISTORY & EDUCATION TURNED
Howard O’ dear Howard the first public school in the Chattanooga area. Established in 1865 Howard took its name from Oliver O. Howard a well known Commissioner of the Freedmen’s’ Bureau and Civil War General. Is Howard then oldest public school and Black in Chattanooga?
Historic Register material and just cause to never tear down again. From Howard School (1-12) Howard High and now Howard School of Academics and Technology. Howard has made a leap forward but we the alumni must continue to support the academic schools and of course the Howard Marching 100 and the athletic programs.
I also saw a dedicated and committed alumni association taking a more direct interest in the school's curriculum and the teachers of the school. One said the educational wheel keeps rolling with concerned, committed and talented teachers.
Where will the future take us? One man had stopped looking nor did he pray and see Heaven. He had given up hope when things had been tough. Times were rough, but God would not allow you too much to bear as the saints walked in the Spirit.
Cont. Part 6
PART III: THE FUTURE OF THE BLACK EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE
One day for sure the world will cease the great debate regarding Truth. There will be a methodology for obtaining Truth. The Spiritual Scientist will be common place as he will be in no assigned place but Truth can be seen and will be seen in a better Light.
John proclaimed that Truth equals Spiritual Science squared. Truth which is Light thus also rest in the principles of non-conformity. John never conformed to the established church. He also never bowed to a world of conformity.
“Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist” so said Emerson.
Cont. Part 7
There Is Limited Truth Without God
We come boldly proclaiming that the greatest outlook is through spiritual eyes. Hence a great theory is born and established. This man saw not the ways that are pagan often evil of the world.
He also vowed not to compromise his principles and his independence to think, for a job, bread or butter. He saw no favor in joining any group no matter what prestige or fortune it brought if it called on him,
To become not a creative artist but a robot a clone and clowning puppet only told, commanded and programmed what to do. Never in this mode could he cause anything into being for the first time. When the Arts die so does man.
Thus, he would never paint the Rainbow as the group saw it and not in his own eyes that saw it as he dreamed. Political aspirations chosen or appointed saw those that laid principles, values aside as votes were more important.
Independence broke the back of tradition and custom. As a man called to please Jesus he frowned on the man pleasers. However in the church is where the greatest nonconformity should take place.
Cont. Part 8
Cont. There Is Limited Truth Without God
Sadly the preachers that conformed to the world spoke not for God. He clearly found this to be a great abomination. But who had the courage to stand up against the established culpables in the Church? He then saw Jesus standing, so was John the Baptist.
All the Great Apostles and Prophets passed by his eyes and lips. However they lingered in mind as he digested their tenure and he gained from what they were inspired by Almighty God to render to the lost and found brethren. Just where is the remnant?
In the great forest he was never alone as many stood with him. Silent although vocal as they made a testament as to who really controlled the world. Meanwhile among those described as humans he saw few as supporters as the world to them was most important.
But what of the life after, the resurrection and Peace and Paradise? Struck by his on-going conversion process he looked back as he conformed not to a bankrupt mis-guided educational system. He knew little though before saw the single Light of Christ.
But he soon saw the T=ss² as this is where Truth begins, started and would never end.
Peace and Paradise, Carl A. Patton, FreedomJournal Press, Howard Class of 1963 Murfreesboro, TN 11 November 2009
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