School Connecting to Community: An Exposition

By the end of the school year, the various middle school classes had developed projects and products worthy of presenting to the alumni who'd been the subjects, either directly or indirectly; of their research. An exposition of the work was held in early June to communicate and connect with the alumni who had inspired the project, for the students to view and present what they had accomplished and for all in the project to see one another’s progress and products. Alumni, students, parents, teachers, university professors and graduate students attended. The governor of North Carolina made a brief visit. Held in the school's media center, the exposition had several stations where visitors would see either virtual or actual exhibits or products. A variety of activities were included. Alumni gathered over yearbooks to greet old friends and share memories. Students shared their projects. Student exhibits included three GIS projects, the Ligon High School History web site, yearbooks, dendrochronology, the book of interviews: Capture the Past to Guide the Future, a video tape of selected interviews with photos of memorabilia, and architectural history students’ reports. Professors and teachers explained the collaboration and shared future plans for this project - an on site museum of school history and an "Earth Quilt" that will become a stop on Raleigh's Millennium Trail. Refreshments were provided by parents and students from Ligon's Silver Strings Orchestra provided background music.

Visitors were surprised and impressed by the level of sophistication the middle school students demonstrated in each of the interdisciplinary products. Honored guests included alumni, Johnny Burke (a former Ligon High School teacher and Wake County principal), Dr. Charles Haywood (a former Ligon High School alumnus and teacher and current Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs at NCSU), parents, community partners, and graduate students.
 
 

Alumni share memories with Dr. Anna Wilson

The Ligon Alumni Association, a vibrant and active organization, meets annually, organizes trips, and take frequent opportunities to reunite. Over twenty alumni attended the exposition. Some had been both students and teachers at Ligon High School. Some of those attending have already retired from productive careers. Many served in the military. Many are or were educators. Three are currently professors at North Carolina State University. One is currently Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs at NCSU. Several of the guests who graduated from Ligon High School have children who are students at Ligon GT Magnet Middle School.
 
 

Author Linda Simmons-Henry gets a GIS demonstration from a middle school student. Ms. Simmons-Henry learned of the project through an interview by a graduate student and became involved when she heard that the current principal supported in-school museum exhibit space. An invaluable source of knowledge about the community and Historically Black Schools in North Carolina, Ms. Henry looks forward to participating in the next phase of the project.

In the GIS section, there were five stations, including three GIS projects. Students at one station shared the GIS model of Mr. Hunter's Life Map. The street layers for this project were geocoded. With the alumni, students emphasized a named extent that showed the downtown Raleigh area, asking questions to glean information that will help us improve our map of Raleigh in the 1950’s. Students at another station used DOQQs overlaid with the geocoded county street maps to help people find their homes. Alumni were encouraged to find their high school home and their current home. Another student shared his GIS project that showed the historical development of railroads using scanned historical maps and new themes he created based on his research to show this development. The student explained how the development of railroads influenced the growth of the state with Raleigh as its capital. At the fourth station, GIS students shared the web site as it existed and the draft of the planned web site. Students encouraged the alumni to look at Mr. Hunter's biography to show how it was used to depict information for the mapping project. The final station was set up with a scanner and digital camera to collect archival information from yearbooks, etc. that alumni brought to share. Information collected at this station will be used to create hotlinks in GIS models and to enhance the web site and future books. Students introduced the technology, since most guests had no idea what GIS meant.
 

This student has taken every GIS elective offered. She demonstrates the Ligon High School History web site to visitors. A native of Southeast Raleigh, Dana was bused across the county during her elementary school years. One of the paradoxes of desegregation has been the uprooting of minority children and the fragmentation of their communities to achieve acceptable rates of integration across a county-wide school system.

A social studies elective in Historic Architecture taught by Neville Sinclair coordinated information on buildings important to the Black community and on the lives of two important men in the Southeast Raleigh community; J. W. Ligon and John Chavis. The social studies elective will continue this year's research next year with the help of faculty and graduate students from NCSU's Public History department and St. Augustine’s College.
 
 

Alumni who were interviewed received a copy of "Capturing the Past to Guide the Future" and a videotape of selections from the first round of interviews. Editor Betty Mackie plans to produce future interview compilations with her journalism classes. Students learned interview techniques, the writing and editing of oral histories, and established positive relationships with the alumni and facilitators.

Journalism students taught by Betty Mackie conducted the first fourteen interviews that are compiled and published in "Capturing the Past to Guide the Future."  Students learned interview techniques in demonstrations by Dr. Wilson interviewing Mr. Hunter and Mrs. Merritt. Students worked in teams to interview alumni with a graduate student, teacher, or professor as a facilitator. A graduate student transcribed the tapes of the interviews. The middle school students used their notes and the transcriptions to write a biography of each alumnus. Most interviews were conducted at Ligon.
 
 

Dendrochronologists displayed the tree cookies, the proposed museum display, this poster with pictures and details of the processing of the tree rings, and a PowerPoint presentation about their study.	Alumni were asked to contribute events that occurred during their high school years that could appear as part of the in-school "Ligon's History in the Rings" exhibit being developed by the science class.

A science class at Ligon studied dendrochronology as one aspect of this project. Using "tree cookies" cut from a willow oak felled during the renovations to help tell the school's story. Virginia Owens, a science teacher, partnered with NCSU Department of Wood and Paper Products to preserve the tree cookies. Students in the science classes learned how to date the tree rings and what information they could gain from them. They were guided through the process by foresters from the US Forest Service and NC Extension Service. They plan to trace the history of the school as it corresponds to the growth of the tree. Permanent displays will be created to tell the story of the school from the tree's perspective and for further study of dendrology. Becoming familiar with CITYgreen software, she hopes to expand the dendrochronology unit to include ecological health, urban forestry and to connect to her Neuse River watershed curriculum.
 
 

The interdisciplinary collaboration allowed us to record many aspects of the history of Ligon High School. Ann Thompson: Educational Technology, Ligon Historians, and GIS; Virginia Owens: Science: Dendrochronology; Rita Hagevik: Science and GIS; Neville Sinclair: Social Studies: historic architecture; and Betty Mackie: Journalism and oral histories.

Archivist/Author Linda Simmons-Henry and Dr. Marsha Alibrandi discussed the collaborative partnership. Dr. Alibrandi served the project as Principal Investigator and GIS education researcher.

University professors of Historiography and Middle School Education; one an author of school desegregation history; the other of a history of Raleigh, were among the project's partners. Both contributed time and expertise to the middle school classes involved. Dr. Wilson demonstrated oral history interviewing techniques, and Dr. Beal led field trips on Raleigh's history.

This exposition was vital to the success of the project. Teachers and students worked hard to prepare displays that effectively communicated their aspect of the project. For the first time everyone could see the scope of the project. The spirit of the evening and the synergy within this inter generational, multicultural group drawn together by their common interest in Ligon inspired all to commit to continue the project.