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A hard-hit coal mining community has a lesson to teach Chattanooga about the power of community bonds, the impact of humble leadership and the healing effect of restored trust.
ONCE CLASSES ENDED and the school bell rang, scores of bouncy children flooded into the cafeteria for dinner at Southside K-8 School, one of seven elementary schools in McDowell County, West Virginia.
But just as the children were digging into their food and cartons of juice, several sprang up and ran. In the corner of the room, a familiar face appeared and the children raced to be noticed.
Debbie King, a mild-mannered and gray-haired 61-year-old former teacher, had been retired from the school system for a few years, but she came back almost every week to check in on her babies, as she called them. She combed fingers through their hair, held their small faces in her hands and hugged a few into her side.