Click here to see the story on the Sullivan School Shooting from WJHL-TV's Noon News.
Click PLAY under the TV screen, and the story comes up after the Biltmore House advertisement.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Thanks for supporting pageant
Little Miss Vision Pageant thanks the following persons, because our pageant was very successful this year. Anthony Adams (presided); the Rev. James Snapp, Lyons Church (prayer); Zavier Hall, (comedy, very funny); dance teams, For His Glory and Nevaeh and Makyiah Goodwin, (danced); Tiara Jordan, (Songs of Praise); Casey Mc-Clintock played two instrumentals with both of his instruments; judges Mrs. Terry Kazmier, Mrs. Paula Snapp and Mrs. Jackie Charles; counters Ms. Jacquelynann, Ann Reese, Ms. Victoria Price and Kay Roller; photographer, Billy Leeper (for seven years); Chris Murray (sound and lighting); donations, Mrs. Jackie Charles, Van Dobbins, Mrs. LaVonda Price, Dr. Terry Hunter, Mrs. Jackie Ross and Mrs. Mary Hamilton; and parents of the girls.
Our new Miss Vision is Qu’edence Somerville. First runner-up is K’Miyah Williams. Second runner-up is Makyiah Goodwin. She also was named Miss Congeniality. Contestants were Ja’Naya Hamler, Da’Nayhah Somerville, Abriana Batman, TaTionna White and Olivia Huff. LMV is not a beauty pageant. We are a pageant that represents girls from ages 5 to 12 also teaching them the 3A’s, ability, appearance and attitude, given to the girls by Mrs. Virginia Ellis (retired guidance counselor at D-B).
Lillian Leeper
Kingsport
Our new Miss Vision is Qu’edence Somerville. First runner-up is K’Miyah Williams. Second runner-up is Makyiah Goodwin. She also was named Miss Congeniality. Contestants were Ja’Naya Hamler, Da’Nayhah Somerville, Abriana Batman, TaTionna White and Olivia Huff. LMV is not a beauty pageant. We are a pageant that represents girls from ages 5 to 12 also teaching them the 3A’s, ability, appearance and attitude, given to the girls by Mrs. Virginia Ellis (retired guidance counselor at D-B).
Lillian Leeper
Kingsport
Friday, August 27, 2010
Info on the 2011 Douglass Alumni Cruise
Ship: Royal Caribbean (Freedom of the Seas)
Sail date: May 1, 2011 (7 days) Western Caribbean
Port: Port Canaveral
Deck 2:
Inside category M: $789.77 per person
Outside category H: $ 929.77 per person
Balcony category E1: $1,179.77 person Deck 6
The rate for a third person in a balcony will be 799.77. The balcony will accommodate 3 people.
A deposit of $250.00 per person will be due December 1, 2010 and final payment is due February 1, 2011.
Deck 6:
There are 4 oceanview rooms at the rear of the ship $969.77 (if they are available).
The only interior they have available is the Promenade deck and the rates are $859.77 per person.
All the above rates are cruise only per person and include taxes.
As of 8/20/2010 US Air round trip is $311.80 and can change at anytime.
The travel Agrncy is The Travel Authority/ American Express
Lee Vaugh
1567 North Eastman Rd., Suite 9
Kingsport, TN 37664
423-392-1111 or 1-800 392-1055 and tell Lee that you are with the Douglass Alumni.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Neighborhood Watch meeting scheduled
• KINGSPORT — South Central Kingsport Weed & Seed will hold a Neighborhood Watch meeting Monday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Mount Zion Holiness Church, 386 Dunbar St. For more information contact coordinator Mary Alexander at 392-2578.
Parks & Rec Transfer Stuns Riverview Community
The V.O. Dobbins Sr. Complex will be transitioning into its new role as the area's non-profit center, recreation hub and Douglass-Riverview centerpiece... without one of the community's adopted sons.
Kingsport Parks and Recreation Program Coordinator and V.O. Dobbins Sr. Complex building manager Mark Kilgore has been transferred to another post within the Parks and Rec Department. He was moved into a municipal position with the Bays Mountain Nature Preserve and Planetarium.
"I cannot talk about the transfer," said Chris McCartt, Assistant to the Kingsport City Manager. "Our city personnel policy is a long-standing policy that we do not discuss external or internal actions involving personnel. I cannot discuss (the transfer) and neither can our Human Resources Department."
Mr. Kilgore was a popular and well-respected person in the Riverview neighborhood, and the move shocked members of the community who relied on him for assistance and considered him a liason with the city in administering programs for residents.
"Oh I was just tore up," says New Vision Youth Kids Director Johnnie Mae Swaggerty, who worked with Kilgore on a regular basis. "Mark has been a pillar in our community. He helps us with the kids and the seniors. He worked overtime, even coming over on Saturdays and Sundays to help us with projects and special things going on in the neighborhood."
"He was always there, he was part of us," she says. "He just went over, above and beyond helping the community. He got us buses quickly whenever we had to take the kids or the seniors to places. He would set up Halloween activities, he would get door prizes and gifts. Mark and Moose (Henry) were always there, but it was Mark that saw to it that we had what we needed, with Moose's help, too. And Mark was always honest with everybody.. if he couldn't get what you needed, he explained why and we could understand it."
"We wish the city could tell us why he was transferred," says Johnnie Mae. "The community wants to know why."
"To be honest with you, I knew that Mark was well respected in the community," Mr. McCartt says. "That's something tht I have known for a long time, and I wasn't surprised to have folks call in and comment on how much they appreciated the work that he had done (in the Riverview community)."
"The one thing we want to assure the community about, is that programs and partnerships between various groups that were established with the city, will remain in place," he says. "We've got to get that message out, that the things we did in the past, will continue. The programs that made up the heart and soul of the community will continue. There's no reason why they can't, because they make the neighborhood such a wonderful place to be. With the new (V.O. Dobbins Sr. Complex), we've got a new gym, a new community room, we've got programming that we didn't have before. We're going to bring in those things that are now available to us, that we know the community wants us to have."
Johnnie Mae says, all of that comes with a certain amount of trust, and Kilgore earned that trust over the years. "He was always there, he did things with us, we trusted him and could lean on him for support. That trust is hard to find nowadays."
Can the city rebuild that trust in a new Parks and Rec program coordinator and V.O Dobbins Complex manager?
"Well I hope so," Mr. McCartt says. "That's the path I'm taking and that's the path that I'm directing my staff to take. It starts with the interview process. We'll advertise the job, and one of the main things I want to do is make sure that a representative of the community is involved in the interview procress. They are a stakeholder, just like anybody else is, who lives, who works where ever there is a stakeholder at the table. We want to make sure that stakeholders have a voice.. it is the group decision that will make a difference in continuing the programs and partnerships that are there."
"Sometimes we have to make tough decisions, and sometimes those decisions are not always popular, but we try to make decisions that are in the best interests of the community, the organization and the city."
But Johnnie Mae says, the decision to transfer Kilgore, will hurt for a long time.
"We probably will never understand," she says. "But we want Mark to know that we all love him, we support him, and he has always been, and will always be our friend and welcome in the Riverview community."
Kingsport Parks and Recreation Program Coordinator and V.O. Dobbins Sr. Complex building manager Mark Kilgore has been transferred to another post within the Parks and Rec Department. He was moved into a municipal position with the Bays Mountain Nature Preserve and Planetarium.
"I cannot talk about the transfer," said Chris McCartt, Assistant to the Kingsport City Manager. "Our city personnel policy is a long-standing policy that we do not discuss external or internal actions involving personnel. I cannot discuss (the transfer) and neither can our Human Resources Department."
Mr. Kilgore was a popular and well-respected person in the Riverview neighborhood, and the move shocked members of the community who relied on him for assistance and considered him a liason with the city in administering programs for residents.
"Oh I was just tore up," says New Vision Youth Kids Director Johnnie Mae Swaggerty, who worked with Kilgore on a regular basis. "Mark has been a pillar in our community. He helps us with the kids and the seniors. He worked overtime, even coming over on Saturdays and Sundays to help us with projects and special things going on in the neighborhood."
"He was always there, he was part of us," she says. "He just went over, above and beyond helping the community. He got us buses quickly whenever we had to take the kids or the seniors to places. He would set up Halloween activities, he would get door prizes and gifts. Mark and Moose (Henry) were always there, but it was Mark that saw to it that we had what we needed, with Moose's help, too. And Mark was always honest with everybody.. if he couldn't get what you needed, he explained why and we could understand it."
"We wish the city could tell us why he was transferred," says Johnnie Mae. "The community wants to know why."
"To be honest with you, I knew that Mark was well respected in the community," Mr. McCartt says. "That's something tht I have known for a long time, and I wasn't surprised to have folks call in and comment on how much they appreciated the work that he had done (in the Riverview community)."
"The one thing we want to assure the community about, is that programs and partnerships between various groups that were established with the city, will remain in place," he says. "We've got to get that message out, that the things we did in the past, will continue. The programs that made up the heart and soul of the community will continue. There's no reason why they can't, because they make the neighborhood such a wonderful place to be. With the new (V.O. Dobbins Sr. Complex), we've got a new gym, a new community room, we've got programming that we didn't have before. We're going to bring in those things that are now available to us, that we know the community wants us to have."
Johnnie Mae says, all of that comes with a certain amount of trust, and Kilgore earned that trust over the years. "He was always there, he did things with us, we trusted him and could lean on him for support. That trust is hard to find nowadays."
Can the city rebuild that trust in a new Parks and Rec program coordinator and V.O Dobbins Complex manager?
"Well I hope so," Mr. McCartt says. "That's the path I'm taking and that's the path that I'm directing my staff to take. It starts with the interview process. We'll advertise the job, and one of the main things I want to do is make sure that a representative of the community is involved in the interview procress. They are a stakeholder, just like anybody else is, who lives, who works where ever there is a stakeholder at the table. We want to make sure that stakeholders have a voice.. it is the group decision that will make a difference in continuing the programs and partnerships that are there."
"Sometimes we have to make tough decisions, and sometimes those decisions are not always popular, but we try to make decisions that are in the best interests of the community, the organization and the city."
But Johnnie Mae says, the decision to transfer Kilgore, will hurt for a long time.
"We probably will never understand," she says. "But we want Mark to know that we all love him, we support him, and he has always been, and will always be our friend and welcome in the Riverview community."
D-B runs wild on Farragut
THIS ARTICLE COURTESY THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS
By BILL LANE
blane@timesnews.net
KINGSPORT — Like vintage wine, Dobyns-Bennett’s Chris Sensabaugh seems to get better with age. The 200-pound senior fullback rushed 22 times for 168 yards Thursday night, propelling the Indians to a 28-7 victory over Farragut in their football season opener. It increased his career yardage total to 3,271, the most in modern history by a D-B player. “We had it together and were ready to play tonight,’’ Sensabaugh said. “Our offensive line was phenomenal.’’ Sensabaugh, targeted by the Admirals’ defense, got much of his yardage on second effort. “I took the hits and kept on going,’’ he said. Farragut coach Eddie Courtney said Sensabaugh was harder to handle than he’d expected. “We didn’t get the hits on him like we did last year,” the Admirals coach said. “Putting him at fullback was a good thing for D-B’s team.’’ Tribe coach Graham Clark was pleased with most phases of the game. “It was kind of like leaning back in a recliner — it felt good,’’ he said. “We had a couple of great stands by our defense. We played the style of defense we like — aggressive. The offensive execution was good, overall. We made some big plays with athleticism.’’
D-B outgained Farragut 356-137 with its newfangled Georgia Tech offense controlling the ball.
The Indians assembled three long scoring drives — 80, 77 and 80 yards.
D-B dodged a bullet early on. Farragut blocked a punt and recovered the ball on the Indians’ 12-yard line but was unable to punch it in. The Admirals missed a 25-yard field goal with 2:53 remaining in the first quarter.
The Indians then drove 80 yards for their first touchdown. Sensabaugh plunged the final 2 yards.
Again, D-B turned Farragut away from the goal line. The Admirals got to the 23 but defensive coordinator Darrell Watson’s adjustments halted the drive.
The Indians moved goalward for their second TD. With quarterback Sean Seabolt directing traffic, D-B got to the 4 on a 21-yard pass to Devaun Swafford. When Seabolt passed again, the ball was tipped and landed in Maurice Cannon’s hands for a score.
Jacob Johnson intercepted a pass at the Farragut 8 to set his team in motion for a 92-yard scoring march, capped by quarterback Cody Rule’s 4-yard keeper.
The play of the game occurred as the fourth quarter opened. D-B — ahead only 14-7 — was in a fourth-and-3 situation at midfield. Clark refused to punt. Seabolt, barking a long count in an effort to draw a penalty, planned an option play to the right but checked off and went with a naked bootleg.
It was a gamble that paid off. He managed to get around a defender and passed to Cannon for a first down.
“I was going to keep the ball but spotted Maurice at the last second,’’ Seabolt said.
It kept the drive alive and Swafford later danced around three defenders to score on an end run covering 15 yards.
“The play was designed to go inside,’’ Swafford said, “but I saw an opening outside.’’
Seabolt had 127 tandem yards — 63 running, 64 throwing.
Leading 21-7, D-B took the life out of Farragut with a fumble recovery on the kickoff after Swafford’s touchdown. Derrick Steele got possession at the Farragut 30, setting up a 1-yard TD by Seabolt.
By BILL LANE
blane@timesnews.net
KINGSPORT — Like vintage wine, Dobyns-Bennett’s Chris Sensabaugh seems to get better with age. The 200-pound senior fullback rushed 22 times for 168 yards Thursday night, propelling the Indians to a 28-7 victory over Farragut in their football season opener. It increased his career yardage total to 3,271, the most in modern history by a D-B player. “We had it together and were ready to play tonight,’’ Sensabaugh said. “Our offensive line was phenomenal.’’ Sensabaugh, targeted by the Admirals’ defense, got much of his yardage on second effort. “I took the hits and kept on going,’’ he said. Farragut coach Eddie Courtney said Sensabaugh was harder to handle than he’d expected. “We didn’t get the hits on him like we did last year,” the Admirals coach said. “Putting him at fullback was a good thing for D-B’s team.’’ Tribe coach Graham Clark was pleased with most phases of the game. “It was kind of like leaning back in a recliner — it felt good,’’ he said. “We had a couple of great stands by our defense. We played the style of defense we like — aggressive. The offensive execution was good, overall. We made some big plays with athleticism.’’
D-B outgained Farragut 356-137 with its newfangled Georgia Tech offense controlling the ball.
The Indians assembled three long scoring drives — 80, 77 and 80 yards.
D-B dodged a bullet early on. Farragut blocked a punt and recovered the ball on the Indians’ 12-yard line but was unable to punch it in. The Admirals missed a 25-yard field goal with 2:53 remaining in the first quarter.
The Indians then drove 80 yards for their first touchdown. Sensabaugh plunged the final 2 yards.
Again, D-B turned Farragut away from the goal line. The Admirals got to the 23 but defensive coordinator Darrell Watson’s adjustments halted the drive.
The Indians moved goalward for their second TD. With quarterback Sean Seabolt directing traffic, D-B got to the 4 on a 21-yard pass to Devaun Swafford. When Seabolt passed again, the ball was tipped and landed in Maurice Cannon’s hands for a score.
Jacob Johnson intercepted a pass at the Farragut 8 to set his team in motion for a 92-yard scoring march, capped by quarterback Cody Rule’s 4-yard keeper.
The play of the game occurred as the fourth quarter opened. D-B — ahead only 14-7 — was in a fourth-and-3 situation at midfield. Clark refused to punt. Seabolt, barking a long count in an effort to draw a penalty, planned an option play to the right but checked off and went with a naked bootleg.
It was a gamble that paid off. He managed to get around a defender and passed to Cannon for a first down.
“I was going to keep the ball but spotted Maurice at the last second,’’ Seabolt said.
It kept the drive alive and Swafford later danced around three defenders to score on an end run covering 15 yards.
“The play was designed to go inside,’’ Swafford said, “but I saw an opening outside.’’
Seabolt had 127 tandem yards — 63 running, 64 throwing.
Leading 21-7, D-B took the life out of Farragut with a fumble recovery on the kickoff after Swafford’s touchdown. Derrick Steele got possession at the Farragut 30, setting up a 1-yard TD by Seabolt.
Monday, August 16, 2010
New Ramp Just Tickles Riverview Resident!
In Riverview, Mrs. Lillian Smith is just beside herself.
She couldn't wait to tell us about the new handicapped ramp that was installed for her a few weeks ago. It was a wonderful set of circumstances that got Mrs. Smith the new ramp. She says, the new ramp is a big improvement over the old one.
"I'm really enjoying it," she says. "I can go up and down myself. It's something. They did a wonderful thing for me, 'cause now I don't have to worry about falling down or thing else. The old ramp was too short.. I was hardly able to get up and down it like I used to could. It makes me dizzy sometimes now." (The old ramp is in the picture to the right)
"That old ramp, you remember that one, don't you?" she asked. I wasn't able to hardly get up and down it. At the time, I was glad to have it, but after a while it got bad on my circulation, you know. I had to have someonebody help me get up and down it. Got so I couldn't go up and down it myself."
Click here to see the new handicap ramp built for Mrs. Lilly Smith.
"They" are a group of high school students from a church in Denton, Texas. They spent their summer in Kingsport, fixing and repairing things for seniors, as a ministry of Carpenter's Helpers. That is one of the missions administered by the First Broad Street United Methodist Church. April Watts is the assistant to the mission director, Danny Howe.
"We've had a partnership with the Kingsport Housing Authority and Terry Cunningham," Ms. Watts says, "to do home repairs for people who are elderly, living alone, and are low income.. people whose homes are in need of repair."
"There's a certain amount of money available that people can quality for," she says. "If it's a small job and you can get volunteer work to do it, the money you save on labor costs, will pay for another job to be done for free."
The teenage church group impressed Mrs. Smith the most.
"They're the sweetest bunch I ever witnessed," she says. "And they just fell in love with me. They call me 'Mama Lilly.' Them children respected me. They came in a big bus, and they'd bring their dinners and things. They'd come in the mornings and they left about 4. The buses would take 'em to different places. They were Christian children. When they would take a break, they would come in here, the girls, and they would have a break. The boys would stay outside and the girls would come inside."
"I was a little uneasy about it at first," Mrs. Smith says, "'cause they never worse any hats or anything to keep the sun off 'em. They had water, plenty of water, and their lunches. The boys had on shorts, but no hats, in all that hot weather we had. I made 'em take breaks every once in a while."
"It was the sweetest, I mean it was something," Mrs. Smith remembers. "And then they tore down that old garage of mine in the back. They didn't have no bulldozer or nothing. They did it all by themselves. I had things out there that'd been there for years. We had that old house out there, you know, for the children long years ago, and the garage was 'bout ready to fall down. Them children wouldn't throw anything away yet, until I looked at it first. They let me pick what I wanted to save, but there wasn't much. I wasn't able to get out there and see. They carried all that stuff away in a dumpster."
"The last two summers, we've tried to take on a variety of repair projects throughout the city of Kingsport," says Ms. Watts. "We also work with ASP, the Appalachian Service Project. With Carpenter's Helpers, ASP and the Home School Mission, which got the group out of Denton, Texas, they'll take on anywhere from 8 to 12 homes, and spend a week doing the home repairs."
It's a connection, that has been helping seniors in Kingsport for the past 20 years, especially one senior in Riverview.
"I tell everybody about them children and how generous they were," says Mrs. Smith. "Never had that much generosity. I'm 91 years old, and nobody's ever been that nice. That's something to be proud of... THEM."
"They could have been doing something else this summer, but they were here."
"The friendships made, are lasting ones," Ms. Watts says. "We actually had another group in here from Wadamlaw Island, South Carolina to do a porch and a ramp for a gentleman over on Park Street near the (Holston Valley-Wellmont) hospital. His parting words to them when they left, was that he hopes they don't forget him. The kids from last year, went over to his house just to say hi to him."
"Ultimately, the city would have had to hire contractors to come in and make repairs," she says, "but this way, the work gets done free, and it utilizes young people who can spend their summers doing something productive. There's nothing like helping someone on a fixed income, get the work they need done for free."
"Mark Haga (Special Projects Coordinator) runs a wonderful program in the Kingsport Housing Department," Ms. Watts says. "Contractors come in and do the really big, serious repair work for seniors and there's a long waiting list. The little things, we can get done with the church groups."
"The program will be back next year, for sure."
"I can see in my health what it's done for me," says Mrs. Smith. "I was afraid to walk down the old one, I had to use a cane. But this one, I go two or three times every day, just because I can. My legs are gettng stronger and I don't get as tired and everything. I look forward to it. My children don't even have to help me."
"I think God sent them children," she says, "just to show what they could do for the older people. I've never been with young people like that."
"I just love 'em for what they done for me."
Sunday, August 15, 2010
AHERN's Distinguished African-American Awards Banquet
"How well we support and embrace our African-American leaders and youth, will determine the future of our communities and our nation."
With that theme from AHERN President and CEO Rev. H. Roger Mills, Jr., the 2nd Annual DAPS Awards was held on Friday night, August 13, 2010, in the Holiday Inn Ballroom in Johnson City, Tennessee.
Please click here to see a slideshow of the DAPS Awards Banquet in Johnson City.
Please click here for downloadable pictures from the DAPS Awards Banquet in Johnson City.
AHERN Magazine, formally Fellowship Today Newsmagazine, stands for African American Health, Education, Religion, News , and the newsmagazine was founded July 12, 2005 by Rev. Mills, with the purpose of improving and establishing communication throughout Morristown/Hamblen County, TN., and Northeast Tennessee. The scope of the magazine in black communities now reaches from Chattanooga on it southern end, to Bristol on its northern end. The DAPS Awards stand for Distinguished African American Pastors, Professionals, and Students.
Guest speaker for the 2010 Banquet was Dr. Janice Marie Houston-Little, retired school teacher in the Albany, New York School District. Dr. Houston-Little is also a licensed Psychotherapist and Writer in Albany, and a native of East Tennessee.
Dr. Houston-Little published a book this year, entitled "African-American Men and their Daughters," with emphasis that "the most powerful relationship an African-American woman will ever have with a male, is the one she has, or doesn't have, with her father. If young African-American girls grow up with a loving involved father in her life, the young girl seems to do well and lead a balanced life. She doesn't seem haunted by serious emotional and physical illnesses. While on the other hand, when a young girl does not have an relationship with her father, or one that she perceives is less than adequate, serious issues may occur."
"I wrote about what I know the most about," Dr. Houston-Little said in an interview after the banquet. "I continue the research because there's something new every day. One of the most helpful things the research has shown me, is how it works in prisons where I minister. When I leave, there are men who want to give me a not to get it to their daughters. It is to say 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry I beat your mother. I'm sorry I abuse you when you were a child.' As many notes as I get, I take 'em and I look for the daughters and I deliver the notes, because that's my mission."
"If you got a daughter and you're estranged from her, go find her," Dr. Houston-Little told the group. "Some people say to me 'their mama's not gonna like it,' and I say 'so WHAT?' You know, down in your heart that if you got a daughter somewhere, I'm gonna ask you to go find her."
After the address from Dr. Houston-Little, came the presentation of the DAPS Awards.
In the 2010 Student of the Year category, the winners are:
Honorable Mention: Mr. Alvin Hill, Mr. William Leeper
2nd Runner-Up: Desmond Pierce
1st Runner-Up: Ms. Alexandria Rodriquez
Winner: Ms. Sidney Goins (not present)
In the 2010 Professional of the Year category, the winners are:
Honorable Mention: Mrs. Pearl Luvene, Mr. Robert White
2nd Runner-up: Mrs. Phyllis Young Nichols (not present)
1st Runner-up: Mr. Calvin Sneed
Winner: Ms. Kathy Dykes Sims
In the 2010 Pastor of the Year category, the winners are:
Honorable Mention: Rev. Frederick Brabson, Sr.
Rev. Dr. Paul McDaniel
2nd Runner-Up: Rev. Jesse Jones
1st Runner-Up: Rev. Pamela Hoard
Winner: Rev. Leroy Franklin (not present)
2010 President's Award: The Hasson Street Christian Church, Rogersville
2010 AHERN Reporter of the Year: Jacqueline Collins
Rebel Flag Will Continue to Fly at Sullivan South; Five New Flags Will Join It
School spirit flags to join rebel flag at South games
DOUGLASS ALUMNI WEBSITE EDITOR'S NOTE: IT'S IMPORTANT TO MENTION THAT SULLIVAN SOUTH STUDENTS AND THEIR BOOSTERS HAVE BEEN ASKED BY NUMEROUS SCHOOLS THEIR TEAM PLAYS ATHLETICALLY, NOT TO BRING CONFEDERATE FLAGS ONTO THE PROPERTIES OF THE OTHER SCHOOLS THEY PLAY.
THIS ARTICLE COURTESY THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS
‘Nobody’s banned the (rebel) flag. What we have asked them (students) to do is try to diversify.’
— Sullivan South Principal Greg Harvey
By RICK WAGNER
rwagner@timesnews.net
KINGSPORT — The rebel flag will continue to fly this fall during home football games at Sullivan South High School, home of the Rebels.
But it will be joined by five new school spirit flags, including the Bonny Blue, a traditional flag of the South, and four others designed with help of a South art class and produced by a Johnson City flag maker.
The principal of the school said the change is all about diversity. In response to a complaint via the Sullivan County school system’s Central Office in Blountville about rebel flags being flown during South athletic events, South Principal Greg Harvey formed a committee to look at the broader issue of school climate. Out of that committee, he said, came the idea of new school spirit flags. “Nobody’s banned the (rebel) flag. What we have asked them (students) to do is try to diversify,” Harvey said. “We want people when they come onto campus to see all kinds of flags,” Harvey said. “We designed five different flags encompassing school colors (of Columbia blue and gray),” he said Thursday.
That evening, pickup trucks on the South campus had both the rebel flags — actually the battle flag of Virginia — as well as the new spirit flags.
“I’m pleased that he’s created an excitement for the school spirit there at South,” Director of Schools Jubal Yennie said Friday.
Sophomore Jessi Holt buys a new spirit flag from parent volunteer Lynne Harvey during her lunch break at the school.
Sullivan South High School Principal Greg Harvey holds one of the five new spirit flags that are being distributed to students.
The first full-fledged flying of the flags will be Friday, Aug. 20, when South has its first regular season game with Knox West. The 2009 game of Central at Knox West was where South player Jake Logue fell ill and died from what an autopsy determined was a cardiac arrest stemming from a heart murmur.
Students under the supervision of graphics teacher Danny Arwood late last school year laid out and/or designed the flags.
The school has had an “official” school flag, but its use was limited because of the expense of producing a flag with writing on it and being able to see backward letters through the flag.
The new flags use stars, sabers and colors but no letters and cost about $20 each to produce 125, mostly 3-foot-by-5-foot ones but a few 5-foot-by-8-foot ones for use on the sidelines.
Poles for those larger flags will be the only ones allowed in the stadium during games because of safety issues.
Harvey said some students will wear the spirit flags as capes, while others will wave them in their hands.
Harvey said he gave away about 25 flags to students, and the flags went on sale Thursday for $10.
“I’m an economic genius,” Harvey quipped of selling flags that cost $20 to produce for $10.
Although Harvey said his sales model won’t win any economic awards, the spirit flags match the street price of rebel flags, and he’s hoping to get the new spirit flags in the hands of students who will display and use them.
The school and the school system paid for the flags.
Money from the sales will be rolled back into ordering more.
Jessi Holt, a 15-year-old sophomore South student from Colonial Heights, bought two flags during lunch Thursday. One showcases sabers, a symbol of South, and the other includes a large white star.
Holt said she planned to display them on her truck and use them as capes.
“I think it’s good news because not everybody agrees with one flag,” Holt said.
Harvey said the program, if successful, may evolve into every senior class helping design a new flag for use the next school year.
The spirit flags, however, are just one part of the school climate activities at South.
Harvey said administrators have been talking to all students during the first period of school about school climate issues.
In addition, South and every school in the system have an annual school climate survey. And this year at South, students are being split into focus groups of 12 to 15, led by a teacher.
That survey and the system’s school climate emphasis grew out of a 1990s agreed order settling a civil rights/racial discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of two black students at Sullivan East High School.
The groups are to address issues and topics members suggest and are meant to give students peers and an adult to talk with about things that might be bothering them.
“We hope it will be kind of a student-led thing,” Harvey said.
He said other efforts on the school climate front include expanding Black History Month activities in February to a yearlong effort to make students more aware of different cultures, religions and backgrounds of people living in the Tri-Cities.
“I don’t think there was anything formal. There was just concern,” Yennie said, adding that he didn’t know if the complaint about the rebel flags was from a student, parent, someone from another school or the general public.
The complaint came when Jack Barnes was still director. Yennie came on board in June to replace Barnes after the Sullivan County Board of Education chose not to extend Barnes’ contract.
Harvey said he believes most of the rebel flags displayed at South are by students supporting a 30-year tradition at South, which opened in 1980, not from those looking back to the Civil War of 1860-65 or racism the flag has come to represent for some since then.
Thinking back to 1980, which long predates his eight years at the helm of the school, Harvey said it was understandable rebel flags quickly became popular at a school named South with a Confederate colonel character as its mascot.
On the other hand, Harvey said he wants to get beyond the flag issue to focus on things like ACT scores, Skills USA winners, an ROTC flying program, athletics and other activities at the school.
“The only time you see rebel flags at South High School is at football games,” he said.
Harvey said he hopes diversifying the flags displayed at the games will help change any perceptions that the flag represents anything but South school spirit.
“You can’t go through life with blinders on,” Harvey said. “Our country has always been a melting pot.”
DOUGLASS ALUMNI WEBSITE EDITOR'S NOTE: IT'S IMPORTANT TO MENTION THAT SULLIVAN SOUTH STUDENTS AND THEIR BOOSTERS HAVE BEEN ASKED BY NUMEROUS SCHOOLS THEIR TEAM PLAYS ATHLETICALLY, NOT TO BRING CONFEDERATE FLAGS ONTO THE PROPERTIES OF THE OTHER SCHOOLS THEY PLAY.
THIS ARTICLE COURTESY THE KINGSPORT TIMES-NEWS
‘Nobody’s banned the (rebel) flag. What we have asked them (students) to do is try to diversify.’
— Sullivan South Principal Greg Harvey
By RICK WAGNER
rwagner@timesnews.net
KINGSPORT — The rebel flag will continue to fly this fall during home football games at Sullivan South High School, home of the Rebels.
But it will be joined by five new school spirit flags, including the Bonny Blue, a traditional flag of the South, and four others designed with help of a South art class and produced by a Johnson City flag maker.
The principal of the school said the change is all about diversity. In response to a complaint via the Sullivan County school system’s Central Office in Blountville about rebel flags being flown during South athletic events, South Principal Greg Harvey formed a committee to look at the broader issue of school climate. Out of that committee, he said, came the idea of new school spirit flags. “Nobody’s banned the (rebel) flag. What we have asked them (students) to do is try to diversify,” Harvey said. “We want people when they come onto campus to see all kinds of flags,” Harvey said. “We designed five different flags encompassing school colors (of Columbia blue and gray),” he said Thursday.
That evening, pickup trucks on the South campus had both the rebel flags — actually the battle flag of Virginia — as well as the new spirit flags.
“I’m pleased that he’s created an excitement for the school spirit there at South,” Director of Schools Jubal Yennie said Friday.
Sophomore Jessi Holt buys a new spirit flag from parent volunteer Lynne Harvey during her lunch break at the school.
Sullivan South High School Principal Greg Harvey holds one of the five new spirit flags that are being distributed to students.
The first full-fledged flying of the flags will be Friday, Aug. 20, when South has its first regular season game with Knox West. The 2009 game of Central at Knox West was where South player Jake Logue fell ill and died from what an autopsy determined was a cardiac arrest stemming from a heart murmur.
Students under the supervision of graphics teacher Danny Arwood late last school year laid out and/or designed the flags.
The school has had an “official” school flag, but its use was limited because of the expense of producing a flag with writing on it and being able to see backward letters through the flag.
The new flags use stars, sabers and colors but no letters and cost about $20 each to produce 125, mostly 3-foot-by-5-foot ones but a few 5-foot-by-8-foot ones for use on the sidelines.
Poles for those larger flags will be the only ones allowed in the stadium during games because of safety issues.
Harvey said some students will wear the spirit flags as capes, while others will wave them in their hands.
Harvey said he gave away about 25 flags to students, and the flags went on sale Thursday for $10.
“I’m an economic genius,” Harvey quipped of selling flags that cost $20 to produce for $10.
Although Harvey said his sales model won’t win any economic awards, the spirit flags match the street price of rebel flags, and he’s hoping to get the new spirit flags in the hands of students who will display and use them.
The school and the school system paid for the flags.
Money from the sales will be rolled back into ordering more.
Jessi Holt, a 15-year-old sophomore South student from Colonial Heights, bought two flags during lunch Thursday. One showcases sabers, a symbol of South, and the other includes a large white star.
Holt said she planned to display them on her truck and use them as capes.
“I think it’s good news because not everybody agrees with one flag,” Holt said.
Harvey said the program, if successful, may evolve into every senior class helping design a new flag for use the next school year.
The spirit flags, however, are just one part of the school climate activities at South.
Harvey said administrators have been talking to all students during the first period of school about school climate issues.
In addition, South and every school in the system have an annual school climate survey. And this year at South, students are being split into focus groups of 12 to 15, led by a teacher.
That survey and the system’s school climate emphasis grew out of a 1990s agreed order settling a civil rights/racial discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of two black students at Sullivan East High School.
The groups are to address issues and topics members suggest and are meant to give students peers and an adult to talk with about things that might be bothering them.
“We hope it will be kind of a student-led thing,” Harvey said.
He said other efforts on the school climate front include expanding Black History Month activities in February to a yearlong effort to make students more aware of different cultures, religions and backgrounds of people living in the Tri-Cities.
“I don’t think there was anything formal. There was just concern,” Yennie said, adding that he didn’t know if the complaint about the rebel flags was from a student, parent, someone from another school or the general public.
The complaint came when Jack Barnes was still director. Yennie came on board in June to replace Barnes after the Sullivan County Board of Education chose not to extend Barnes’ contract.
Harvey said he believes most of the rebel flags displayed at South are by students supporting a 30-year tradition at South, which opened in 1980, not from those looking back to the Civil War of 1860-65 or racism the flag has come to represent for some since then.
Thinking back to 1980, which long predates his eight years at the helm of the school, Harvey said it was understandable rebel flags quickly became popular at a school named South with a Confederate colonel character as its mascot.
On the other hand, Harvey said he wants to get beyond the flag issue to focus on things like ACT scores, Skills USA winners, an ROTC flying program, athletics and other activities at the school.
“The only time you see rebel flags at South High School is at football games,” he said.
Harvey said he hopes diversifying the flags displayed at the games will help change any perceptions that the flag represents anything but South school spirit.
“You can’t go through life with blinders on,” Harvey said. “Our country has always been a melting pot.”
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
AHERN Magazine's Distinguished African-American Pastor, Professional and Student Awards Banquet
The 2nd Annual AHERN Magazine Distinguished African-American Pastor, Professional and Student Awards Banquet will be held on Friday, August 13, 2010.
Each month AHERN Magazine recognizes an African American Pastor, Professional and Student who has made outstanding contribution to his/her community, by three standards: (1) Community; Involvement; (2) Achievement; and (3) Education.
These individual are eligible for the AHERN, Inc.® DAPS of the Year Award in their category. Each winner is chosen by the AHERN, Inc.® Board of Directors.
The Awards Banquet will be held at the Holiday Inn, 101 Springbrook Street, Johnson City, Tennessee at 7 P.M. Tickets are $30, and the doors open at 6 P.M (Formal/After Five dress).
Below is a list of the nominees for Distinguished Pastor of the Year, Professional of the Year, and Student of the Year:
PASTOR OF THE YEAR NOMINEES:
Rev. Pamela L. Hoard
Pastor, Russell Chapel A. M. E. Zion Church
Rogersville, TN
Rev. Jessie L. Jones, Jr.
Pastor, Macedonia Baptist Church
Newport, TN
Rev. Frederick E. Brabson, Sr.
Pastor, New Covenant
Baptist Church, Knoxville, TN
Rev. Dr. Eric L. Leake
Pastor, Greater Warner A. M. E. Zion Church
Knoxville, TN
Rev. Dr. Paul A. McDaniel
Pastor, Second Missionary Baptist Church, Chattanooga, TN
Rev. Leroy Franklin
Pastor, Mount Calvary Baptist Church
Knoxville, TN
PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR NOMINEES:
Dr. Kathy Dykes Sims, Executive Director, Human Resources, Knox County Schools, Knoxville, TN
Ms. Pearl Luvene, Probation-Parole Officers II for the Criminal Courts, Rogersville, TN
Mrs. Phyllis Y. Nichols, President/CEO, Knoxville Urban League, Knoxville, TN
Mr. J. J. Clark, Director of Track and Field, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
Mr. Calvin Sneed, News Anchor, NewsChannel 9, Chattanooga, TN
Mr. Robert White, Chief Public Relations Officer, City of Johnson City, TN
STUDENT OF THE YEAR NOMINEES:
Mr. Alvin Hill
Graduate of Cocke County High School
Newport, TN
Mr. Devin Mattison
2009 graduate of Austin East High School
Knoxville, TN
Mr. William K. Leeper
Senior, Tennessee Tech University
Cookeville, TN
Ms. Sidney Goins
2010 Graduate of Morristown West High School
Morristown, TN
Mr. Desmond Pierce
2010 Graduate of Morristown West High School
Morristown, TN
Ms. Alexandria Rodriguez
2010 Graduate of Greeneville High School
Greeneville, TN
Each month AHERN Magazine recognizes an African American Pastor, Professional and Student who has made outstanding contribution to his/her community, by three standards: (1) Community; Involvement; (2) Achievement; and (3) Education.
These individual are eligible for the AHERN, Inc.® DAPS of the Year Award in their category. Each winner is chosen by the AHERN, Inc.® Board of Directors.
The Awards Banquet will be held at the Holiday Inn, 101 Springbrook Street, Johnson City, Tennessee at 7 P.M. Tickets are $30, and the doors open at 6 P.M (Formal/After Five dress).
Below is a list of the nominees for Distinguished Pastor of the Year, Professional of the Year, and Student of the Year:
PASTOR OF THE YEAR NOMINEES:
Rev. Pamela L. Hoard
Pastor, Russell Chapel A. M. E. Zion Church
Rogersville, TN
Rev. Jessie L. Jones, Jr.
Pastor, Macedonia Baptist Church
Newport, TN
Rev. Frederick E. Brabson, Sr.
Pastor, New Covenant
Baptist Church, Knoxville, TN
Rev. Dr. Eric L. Leake
Pastor, Greater Warner A. M. E. Zion Church
Knoxville, TN
Rev. Dr. Paul A. McDaniel
Pastor, Second Missionary Baptist Church, Chattanooga, TN
Rev. Leroy Franklin
Pastor, Mount Calvary Baptist Church
Knoxville, TN
PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR NOMINEES:
Dr. Kathy Dykes Sims, Executive Director, Human Resources, Knox County Schools, Knoxville, TN
Ms. Pearl Luvene, Probation-Parole Officers II for the Criminal Courts, Rogersville, TN
Mrs. Phyllis Y. Nichols, President/CEO, Knoxville Urban League, Knoxville, TN
Mr. J. J. Clark, Director of Track and Field, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
Mr. Calvin Sneed, News Anchor, NewsChannel 9, Chattanooga, TN
Mr. Robert White, Chief Public Relations Officer, City of Johnson City, TN
STUDENT OF THE YEAR NOMINEES:
Mr. Alvin Hill
Graduate of Cocke County High School
Newport, TN
Mr. Devin Mattison
2009 graduate of Austin East High School
Knoxville, TN
Mr. William K. Leeper
Senior, Tennessee Tech University
Cookeville, TN
Ms. Sidney Goins
2010 Graduate of Morristown West High School
Morristown, TN
Mr. Desmond Pierce
2010 Graduate of Morristown West High School
Morristown, TN
Ms. Alexandria Rodriguez
2010 Graduate of Greeneville High School
Greeneville, TN
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