What an invigorating night at Caroline High!
With a two-hour blast of vibrant student creativity, the evening of last Tuesday, Feb. 27, marked the culmination of Caroline schools’ “Interdisciplinary Project: Rise Up for Education.” The halls of Caroline High School were alive with art, excited students white and black, their inquisitive parents, and the powerfully joyful sounds of the Caroline High School Band.
Bringing Black History Month to a thrill of a conclusion, featured was the living history story of Irene and Jimmy Fields, 89 and 91, married 70 years, who told of the heroism of their fathers and a close friend.
Theirs was indeed a story to tell.
That story, which reaches back in history, was one Superintendent Dr. George Parker read of two years ago in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. “A Lesson in the Value of Education” by Bill Lohmann, the article told of the fathers of Irene and Jimmy Fields and their near superhuman effort to provide a school bus for their children.
The year was 1937, hard times for black students.
“The story inspired me,” Dr. Parker told me before the evening’s program began.
“I held on to the story about a year, sharing it with staff, and just suggested that we do an interdisciplinary project so the kids could learn from it. I’m glad to see it coming together and it attended so well.”
In the auditorium, the program began with a united choral group of jubilantly singing youngsters from the elementary schools Bowling Green, Madison and Lewis and Clark, performing the old Ella Fitzgerald hit, “It Don’t Mean a Thing.”
“It don’t mean a thing, if it ain’t got that swing, doo-ah, doo-ah! It don’t mean a thing, all you got to do is sing!”
Next, the Caroline Middle School Step Team came thundering down the aisle and up on stage, rhythmically stomping, clapping, dancing in unison. A splendid show.
Following them was a gentle impressionistic dance by white-gowned and very young Brooke Williams of Lewis and Clark Elementary. Dancing all alone on stage, her inspired performance brought the audience clapping and cheering to their feet.
Then, getting to the heart of the matter, high school junior Te’Shaun Cleckley spoke of the 1930’s Segregation dilemma of students in Dawn who had 14 miles to walk to get to Union High School in Bowling Green, a blacks only high school only a short ways from the beautifully built whites-only high school.
“At the time the county only provided bus service for white students,” Te’Shaun began. “Irene’s father, William Quash Sr., and Jimmy’s dad, Wortham Fields Sr., and, Lewis Tillman Sr., went to the county, year after year, requesting transportation be provided for the black students of Dawn. Eventually, the county told them they’d give them a bus if they bought the chassis.
“Wortham came up with the money to buy the chassis, but they would have to travel to Raleigh, NC, on their own dime to retrieve the bus body. They collected a few milk crates for seats and drove the chassis all the way to Raleigh to retrieve the bus body.
“They finally had their bus. Mr. Fields was the first to drive the children to school.”
For Te’Shaun Cleckley’s complete speech, see next week’s Caroline Progress.
Following this came an outstanding dramatic presentation. With a videotaped interview of Irene and Jimmy Fields projected on the stage, theatre teacher Jackie Picaniello’s drama students acted out the story of acquiring the bus.
The show featured Jamie Hatcher as Mrs. Fields, Isaiah Parker as Mr. Fields, along with student actors Amaya Pratt, Diamond Jones, CeshMaeri Cummings, Calvin Kearns, Shatique White, Madison Beilstein, Kaleb Nagy and Sarah Knicely.
The video was very nicely edited by students Burke Mullins and Eva Simulcik.
Next was guest speaker Dr. JoWanda Rollins-Fells, school board member and Caroline teacher for 15 years. Her message was “Be the One!”
“Research shows,” she told the audience, “that the significant difference in the lives of people who ‘make it’ and those who don’t out of poverty and other difficult situations is having one caring adult.”
She urged and challenged audience members: “Be the one!”
Look for her complete remarks in a coming issue of The Caroline Progress.
Bringing the evening to a conclusion was Caroline artist Darrick Claiborne who presented his painting “I Am the Union High Dream” to Caroline schools and Dr. Parker. The artist described himself as “so moved by the story and inspired.”
In final remarks, Dr. Parker challenged all to value education and strive like Wortham Fields Sr., William Quash Sr., Lewis Tillman Sr., Irene Fields and Jimmy Fields.
“With determination, perseverance and grit,” the superintendent said.
Indeed, the saga of the Union High school bus resonates through the years of the distant past, echoing in the present and reaching into the future. It is a lesson in courage, resourcefulness, service, high ideals and persistence that benefits us all.
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