>>Announcer>> This program was made possible with the support from Midland Education Foundation, Community National Bank, Diamondback Energy ConocoPhillips and Lissa Noel Wagner.

>>John>> Education has a long [background music] and diverse history.

It goes as far back as the very first written records were discovered.

The earliest non-tax funded schools date back to the 17th century.

Puritan New England Boston Latin School, 1635.

Then one man advocated for schools that were free, mandatory, and open to children of all backgrounds.

He pushed for well trained professional teachers, better schoolhouses, and the curriculum designed to foster common public ideals.

The man behind this revolutionary way of thinking, Horace Mann, known as the father of Common School, Horace Mann, was the first secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education in 1837.

Mann is recognized for formalizing and expanding the system on a state and eventually a national level, therefore establishing the foundation of the American public school system in Massachusetts during the 1830s and 1840s.

He championed taxpayer funded, nonsectarian and universal education to promote democracy, good citizenship, and social mobility without undervaluing any other human agency.

It may be safely affirmed that the common school may become the most effective and management of all forces of civilization.

Horace Mann.

[upbeat intro music] Education institutions help [background music] build community and stability.

It allows businesses to grow and flourish as families move in and set roots.

This is certainly true for Midland, Texas.

Midland's first school was a one room schoolhouse built in 1885 for 64 students by 1893, and new two story brick schoolhouse was built, with the top floor dedicated to secondary education.

[background music] In 1907, not only was the Midland Independent School District formed, but the first superintendent, W.W.

Lackey, was hired.

Mr.

Lackey served Midland ISD for 35 years.

He retired in 1941.

Midland School District saw a huge growth surge after World War Two as urbanization took hold.

With growth comes diversity.

The first school for the Hispanic children was known as the Mexican School, which opened its doors in 1929 and later was named after Lorenzo DeZavala In 1933, the colored school opened for the African American children to attend.

It later became the George Washington Carver School.

>>Christina>> My parents were actually born and raised here.

[laughs] You don't hear that very often.

But they were they were both born and raised in Midland.

[background music] At that time, it was called the Mexican School.

And then they went to Cowden and then Midland High.

My both growing sets of grandparents were all born all over Texas.

Um, and then, my my mom said they spoke a lot of Spanish.

They spoke all spoke in Spanish.

And they went to that school ans and there, I can't find this picture, but there's a picture of all the students in front and then of the little deal, [laughs] and it was called the Mexican school.

And she said that they didn't have a whole lot.

Of teachers that that worked real hard with them, but.

I can't remember the name of one.

She said, just work so hard to teach them English and to get them to learn everything she was trying to teach them.

And then they said that when when TV came out is when they really learned English.

>>Barbara>> I didn't speak English either.

When I started the school, I was the black, funny talking girl in an all black school.

I was born in South Louisiana, and uh we spoke well French Creole Cajun, and uh they would tell me, ooh she talk funny dont let her talk, so I thought okay, I talk funny.

So I, my goal when I started teaching English as a second language was to tell folk, you have to stop.

Back up.

Take a little at a time.

You learn a little bit to be sure that you are all diligent.

You're going to encourage yourself.

You're not going to drop off the tree like a rotten apple.

You got to stay the course because English is a difficult language to learn.

- In 1954, the Supreme Court ruling in Brown versus Board of Education declared that racial segregation in public schools violated the 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause.

Integration was a slow process, rezoning school districts, transportation, logistics, and classroom requirements was not a small undertaking.

It took many years for schools across the United States to fully integrate.

[Israel] We didn't know any different back then because DeZavala was our home school kinder thru sixth.

We live three blocks away.

Uh, the grocery store had a little supermarket.

That was our that was our world.

So one of the things that really made a difference for me were those teachers who would come from other parts of town to come to teachers, because you're talking 1965.

So it really is a battleground.

But I, I admired them because they did what they had to do to help us.

Uh, actually, my first grade teacher still, uh she just retired.

Well, well, several years ago, but we still stay in touch.

She is my, oh, my I, I cant ever describe her, well enough to let her know how much I appreciate that she took an interest throughout my elementary years.

I mean, through college.

Well, I was DeZavala Elementary, uh, San Jacinto and then at that time, it changed to Lee Freshman, and then Lee High School.

Uh, was Mr.

Gronalas was there the whole time I was there, and, uh but that built the foundation, though, that I, I can honestly say that when I left there, I was prepared.

So there is no, no watering down.

No, that it was it was expectations all the way around to then start from the principal.

So.

[background music] >>Michael>> I was part of the cluster system.

So I got to live the, the busing going back and forth from school to school.

[laughs] Growing up we moved around a lot.

So I went to elementary, uh [smacks lips] for kindergarten.

I went to, uh Santa Rita for first grade, I went to Washington for second grade, I went to Santa Rita, uh for third grade, I went to Travis and I was a part of the cluster system to where we bused they bused us around.

So fourth grade, I went to Rusk.

Fifth grade, I went back to Santa Rita, and then sixth grade, I went to Travis and Washington because we moved.

The cluster system was where they bused students from different schools to be able to integrate the the minorities in with the, with the whites.

So, um [smacks lips] they bused like us, Southside kids over to the north side of school, and they bused the Northside kids over to the south side of school so that we can all integrate and, uh get to know each other.

>>Dodie>> My mother was a bus driver, my sister, [laughs] uh my step grandmother, my auntie, uncle.

And so you know, they moved on.

My mother retired and my sister as well, and grandmother passed on.

But, um and then my uncle worked, you know, for the city.

But it's just that bond with those students that you can make a difference in somebody's life.

You never know what they going through.

And so you have to be a listening ear and have your heart open, because they may not can talk to somebody, but they trust you.

And trust is very important in education, you know.

And so you meet those students where they are in order to help them to grow.

- My mom was a bus driver.

So, uh riding the bus was pretty cool.

She was actually my seventh grade bus bus driver.

So that was that was awesome to be able to ride the bus with my mom.

- No matter what school you go to the teachers and staff set the standard of expectations as Midland grew and times changed the staff at Midland ISD stepped up and nurtured the children that they were entrusted with.

>>Conrad>> I am a midland native although I did leave and go up north to school.

I went to Texas Tech.

I graduated from Midland High School in 1972.

I went to Bunche, Ralph J. Bunche Elementary through fourth grade.

And, uh it was the old Bunche.

It's not the one that's there now.

They tore the one down that I went to, and then I was in private schools for two years, fifth and sixth grade.

And after that I went to Carver.

Carver Junior Senior High School, seventh and eighth grade.

And what's interesting about that is since it was seventh through 12th grade, I still see people.

And I'll say, I went to school with you and now I'm 75, 80 years old.

I said, you were a senior when I was in seventh grade.

So they had all of us in one building.

So I was there for two years.

My father taught at Carver, and I had him for science, uh one year, which was interesting.

And then they closed Carver and I was bused to at that time, Edison, which is now Midland Freshman School, and I was in the first group of the integrated group that went to Edison.

And that was, a change.

- School was interesting.

I had some very interesting teachers because I never forget we had the low first and high first.

[background music] Low first, that meant that was the time you were from a September to Christmas.

And that was one whole semester.

And then you could get promoted to the high first, depending upon how well you had done in the low first.

And if you didn't, they they remained you remained in the low first before you, because in January you could be promoted to the high first.

And everybody wanted to get promoted to the next grade level that was it was all the way through low first, high first, all the way through sixth grade, low six, high six.

So you want to be in the top number because that means you were doing well.

I started school in 1939, in kindergarten.

Preschool.

My mom was started putting me in a private kindergarten.

I was four years, three years old.

And I thought, oh, Lord its so boring because I was with my grandfather.

He had a blacksmith shop and you were doing things hands on.

And when I teach my in the classroom, I like to do hands on stuff with the kids because they remember we bring that reading and the activity together and, oh, that's what it is.

And they get it.

>>Kevin>> I went to Emerson Elementary School and then, um Goddard Junior High and then Midland Freshman.

At that time, it was called Austin Freshman School.

And then three years here at Lee High School.

Yeah.

So Emerson was first through sixth grade.

Um, great experience really.

I had I had really good elementary school teachers.

They were very nurturing, as I think back on that.

You know, uh Mrs.

Robinson was my first grade teacher.

And, um you know, you don't know anything about anything.

You know, the tone of elementary school at um Emerson was just very positive.

You know, for the most part, kids were interested in getting up and going to school every day.

- During the 1970s, Midland ISD desegregated their schools.

Freshman Junior High's became the feeder schools and only serve ninth grade students.

Students were bused from all over town to two freshman schools, Robert E Lee and Midland High.

- It had to do with desegregation.

Um that was really the most economic and practical way to desegregate schools back in uh would have been in the 70s.

And so they just created, um freshman schools, um out of what used to be junior high's.

And that's how that got started.

You know, when we moved to junior high in Midland at that time, um we had kids that came from a number of elementary schools, obviously.

And so, you know, all new possibilities for friend groups and that kind of stuff.

A lot of social things happening.

Junior high is a really interesting age for me.

I had two exceptional, um English teachers in junior high, Mrs.

Cook for seventh grade and Mrs.

Biggs for eighth grade, and they, I didn't realize how much I would lean on the things that they taught me those two years back to back on the English language, on, um writing in general.

Vocabulary.

But that has served me well, really, not just through the rest of my education, to the university, but in, in business.

And now in my current position.

>>Stephanie>> I grew up, um in Blackwell for kindergarten.

So I went to kindergarten with the 11 students, a very small community.

And then between, um kindergarten and, first grade, we moved to Robert Lees.

We thought we'd moved to the big city and now had 22, you know, students in class.

But I went there from first grade to I graduated, graduated with 22 students.

And, um was determined not to go into education.

- The power of education breaks down barriers.

It allows children to find a safe place somewhere they can grow socially, mentally, and can give confidence to be who they are.

There's a place for everyone, no matter their economic background.

- My dad was a teacher and a coach, and then my mom was mom didn't graduate from high school.

Um, you know, back when she, you know, was was going to school, you know, that was a very different time.

And, you know, neither of my parents are living now.

And so, um you know, she was always and I think that's given me a really good perspective because I would here at home, she didn't like to go to school.

She didn't want to go meet with teachers because she didn't feel like she felt like they were the expert.

She might say something that you know wasn't the right thing to say or, you know, was a little intimidated by that, that formal schooling, if you will.

Um, so I've always, taken that perspective and and realized that not all of our families are going to feel comfortable coming to the school, um and, you know, and it also creates that real appreciation for the work that everyone on our team does.

<<Ashley>> What was amazing about, um just my experience with school when I was in third grade, I started at Rice Elementary and my mom had, uh been incarcerated, went to federal prison.

So when I walked in as a third grader, I came in with shame, I came in with low self-confidence.

I came in scared to death, and had just recently moved in with my grandparents, who I barely knew, um, at that point in time, and they they decided to take my sister and and me in, um, and through that process.

I learned about what it the power of love.

And what I mean by that is when I walked in my third grade, you know, classrooms scared to death.

I had two little girls come in and tell me that they wanted to be my friend.

And from that moment on, I knew it was okay.

I had the most amazing teachers starting in third grade, all the way up to my high school.

That just poured into me.

And what I figured out really quickly, I say really quickly took some time, but after a season, I realized that my circumstances did not have to define who I was going to become, and in fact, my circumstances didn't determine my value as a human being.

And it was those educators and um the people that were part of that school, those community members that poured into me and really, um helped me to find my voice and gave me confidence to move forward and pursue my dreams.

So um, you know, you all, you always hear this I don't, this saying, they were planting trees under shade they will never rest under.

And that's exactly what they did for me, um.

And I think that really helped to shape what I did as an adult.

If that makes sense.

So, um I learned a lot about being strong.

I learned a lot about the power of love.

And I learned a lot about, uh finding their own voice.

And it all started at that little school that did so much uh that for me and, helped me to to realize the power of just pouring into others.

So.

<<Billy>> I went to, uh Anson Jones K through four, Bowie and Milam.

And then we moved across town.

Uh, so that was rough.

I was actually in it was Lee, then Lee district.

U, and we moved over, close to SJ.

And so that's when I started on the Midland High track.

As a kid I just remember friends think that was so important for me.

Uh but but teachers that that told me they believed in me, um, didn't get a lot of that at home.

And I remember being advanced.

And so I would go in math and reading in English, I would go to the classes above me, um and sit in on those classes.

And it was the validation, uh, that I got from teachers there that, that I really think I was missing.

So yeah, some good memories.

- My mom and dad were my biggest fans, um in school and work hard at home with me.

Um.

Dad on the math side.

Mom on the English side.

Um, I don't memorize very well.

And so, uh you know, spelling.

I'm still a terrible speller.

Even though I got blisters on my fingers from my mom making me look up a word, the spelling of a word in a dictionary.

I mean, just constantly.

And, eh, honestly, I don't I don't think it helped much.

[background music] - I been around black kids all of my school life in Midland, and I only had one white teacher at Carver.

All of my teachers were black and were personal friends of the family, and I discovered then that teachers, when they know you and know the parents, there's a little more push there.

And if teachers had problems with uh students, they might say, well, you know, I'm gonna see your mother at choir practice tomorrow night.

I'm gonna tell her how you acting in my class or how you did not get that assignment done.

And many of us lived on the south side of Midland.

So you might be living next door to your math teacher or down the street from your math teacher.

So it was a really good community.

And then with the closing of Carver, um a lot of our black teachers left, and there was a void left in the community for role models.

And, uh, uh but I survived, uh Midland Edison and, uh went on the Midland High School.

- So I think it was a when we talk about community, it really was a community that showed up.

So when I look at how did I know I was going to be okay, that, um you know, this little girl, this eight year old little girl was going to make it and it really came from these students that had no clue about what I was going through at that time, um tell me how much, and, you know, little kids will say that I love you.

You know, you're my friend, you know, and that made me feel special.

Like I was worthy.

And then I had teachers that would stay with me after school because I had, you know, a piano lesson.

And so my third grade teacher would stay with me until my piano lesson started.

We would play Yahtzee.

She would talk, you know, we'd just talk about family.

We talk about life.

But she made it her job, and it wasn't her job to just be present for me and to let me know that she cared and that this was a safe space.

So it was Mrs.

Bland.

It was Miss D, my my piano teacher.

It was my FFA teacher, my UIL teacher, Mr.

Smith, Mr.

Herring, our principal, um I felt like I, I never turned a corner where there wasn't an adult telling me that I was created for purpose, that I can do this.

And it wasn't that they really said those words, but it was just, you know, the fist pump, or that the side hug, or we're so glad you're here today.

That made the difference.

And it was like, okay, they're they're excited, I'm here.

I can go into this class and I can learn where in the past, you know, that was really hard for me.

- But it's interesting because school with me, it was all books.

You had homework and, um you had to take that homework back to school the next day.

And, uh a lot of times you didn't get help.

I remember one time we couldn't get the help.

We were home, my brother and I were homeless, so we had no one to help us.

But we had some fantastic teachers.

I never forget one in particular, Mrs.

Huckabee, Mrs Autumn Mickey Huckabee, who was the music teacher.

And she taught music.

She taught dance.

She taught everything that she needed to know.

When you got to her classroom for music, you excited, but you didn't know what she had up her sleeve.

- Most importantly, though, was my my senior year, at Midland High.

We had a long term sub, Mr Guerrero, and I wish I could find this guy to thank him, but, um, he was just a fill in.

I know he had worked at NASA and was laid off, and so he had taken the job at Midland High to be our chemistry teacher an and I was going through really rough time in high school, um, you know, home life and and some choices I had made.

And and he was the first person he pull me in the hall and he said, what are you going to do when you leave here?

I said, I don't have any plans to work.

He's like, you know, you have a gift in chemistry, right?

He's like, you hardly pay attention.

You aced the exams.

You need to think about doing something with chemistry.

And like, I literally walked away.

And I don't think he understands just that small 30 second conversation.

The impact that had on me.

Because that became my major.

I decided to go to school and I played soccer at UTPB and got my chemistry degree and my MBA.

And and I think a lot of that is attributed to Mr.

Guerrero, and I would love to be able to find him and thank him personally.

- Education not only provides the basics of reading and writing, but it also provides lifelong foundations for our children.

Education allows children to flourish in ways that seem impossible for some.

It opens up the child's world to endless possibilities of growth, creativity, athleticism and friendship.

School is not easy for everyone.

Some children are faced with learning, economic or social challenges, but school has a place for everyone, whether it's through academics, the arts or sports, children can thrive and become lifelong learners.

Please join us next time as we continue Teaching for Tomorrow.

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