Some Tyner Academy students have a new Facebook friend request waiting for them as the result of a program recently hosted at the school.
Their new friend is Chattanooga native Dr. Orlando Taylor and he’s a “history maker.” He’s one of dozens of African Americans who are a part of the HistoryMakers program, the nation’s largest African American video oral history collection, which is located in Chicago.
Last week, Taylor visited Tyner Academy to help get students inspired about their futures by spending the day with them. To the students sitting in the auditorium during his Monday visit, it was a better start than normal to their week – and not because they missed instruction.
“It’s great that he came back [to Chattanooga] to talk to us. It shows us he cares about his culture and about his city, where he came from,” said senior Daonta Wilson. “He inspires me and encourages me to find out what I truly want to do in life and be successful.”
For the fourth year running, a HistoryMaker has visited Tyner Academy to give a talk and answer questions. Taylor’s talk centered around his life growing up in Chattanooga in the 1940s and 1950s, and also how he surpassed racial discrimination and became an established and well-known psychologist and educator.
“When I was growing up, every day, my father went to work in a suit and tie. Until much later I didn’t know he worked in a factory. He had a sixth-grade education. But he had pride and he carried himself with dignity and respected people, and I wanted to be like him,” Taylor said to the students. “Remember that. Be yourselves.”
Tyner English teacher Dr. Elizabeth Renneisen and history teacher Neil Prigmore accompanied their students, who have used and researched Taylor’s work through HistoryMakers, after the assembly. Students shared lunch with the psychologist and got to hear more about his life and wisdom.
“Just hearing his walk of life and seeing all he has achieved is good for these students to see,” Prigmore said.
Taylor shared with the students inspirational messages, excerpts from Langston Hughes’ poems, simple lessons learned in kindergarten – and the idea that safeguarding a dream is important to success.
For many seniors considering life after high school, the advice and well wishes were welcome.
“He said if I have a dream, I should follow it, I should do whatever I can do, and do it,” said senior Raymond Howard. “That’s true and I’m going to do that.”