East High News Stories

The East High Alumni Page presents:

In the news...
East High School, Memphis, Tennessee

News of East, its alumni, and faculty
Stories are in reverse chronological order (most recent first) based on date of publication.

The posting on this page of some stories is delayed several days but often those stories are referenced, with links to the original source of the article, on our Daily Update page.

East High students plan restoration of one-room schoolhouse
By Jane Roberts, Memphis Commercial Appeal
April 30, 2010
   About 6,500 community volunteers showed up at city schools Thursday, pen in hand, ready to grade student artwork, engineering projects, computer programming and sophisticated themes. East High School seniors Devin Mcbe, 18, (left) and Shakila Boyd, 17, explain the layout for the future site of the restored one-room schoolhouse once at Presidents Island that will be moved to the East High campus.
   At East High School, they nearly dropped their score pads over work to move and restore the one-room segregated schoolhouse that in 1964 -- a decade after Brown v. the Topeka Board of Education integrated public education -- was still serving African-American students on Presidents Island.
   "I was so impressed. I was just blown away," said Donna McCraw, juror in the fourth districtwide student exhibit.
   "I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I don't think the students have the life history to realize what an impact their work is going to have.
   "Years down the road, they are going to be able to say they did that," she said.
   The exhibit's image was retooled this spring with the pro bono help of Clear Channel and Red Deluxe, which created the name ThinkShow! and produced and placed billboards to tell the story.
   District officials say the campaign attracted 500 new judges.
   "We had a lot more professional people sign up this time. I think Stinson Liles with Red Deluxe has really helped us a lot," said Judy Jackson, director of project-based learning.
   If plans go well, the city of Memphis this summer will move the one-room schoolhouse to East, and build a foundation under it to shore up the dreams students are sketching out, blogging about and acting out in skits.
   "We hope to one day have an amphitheater outside the museum for lectures and programs," said Daphanie Johnson, 17.
   "This project means a lot to me. I'm grateful for what I have. I think a lot of students might look at this and say they don't care because this old building doesn't mean anything to them.
   "But it helps me see how far we've come."
   At schools across the city, teachers and jurors said the work was more sophisticated than when the show started in 2008.
   "In real life, you're not often given a simple task like adding up a column of numbers," said Sam Shaw, principal at Berclair Elementary.
   "If you're buying a car, you have to consider economics, aesthetics and practicality and make a judgment about style. That is the real world."
    For East history teacher Mark Scott [Faculty], the school house lodged in his brain back in 2008 when Memphis Heritage used a picture of the school in its calendar.
   The idea crystalized when Scott found June West, head of Memphis Heritage.
   "This is a once in history thing as far as I am concerned," she said.
   The school, long displayed at the Mid-South Fairgrounds, lost its home when the fair moved.
   "Not only are we looking at preserving one of the only artifacts left, but we're also educating the youth of the city of the importance of historic preservation."
   The building "is on wheels, ready to move," she said.
   Most of what the students know about it -- the last one-room schoolhouse in the county -- comes from a 1964 news clipping they found in the Memphis Room at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library.
   "These pictures will help us restore it," said Jaylyn Johnson, 17, tapping the clipping showing African-American children in the school with no electricity or plumbing.
   "This has helped me realize how bad it was. Even though the government said it was illegal, black people were still left without equal facilities."

Read a summary of the student proposal written by the students themselves.

Princiapl Fred Curry suspended, then removed from East High
[The following is compilation of news stories regarding the suspension, then removal, of Mr. Fred Curry as principal of East High School. These are in reverse chronological order, most recent first.]
A copy of the City Schools internal audit of East High School for the majority of the 2009-2010 school year is available.
June 23, 2010 - A newspaper article Wednesday, June 23 reports on the audit of former East High Principal Fred Curry's <(Faculty 2005-2010) administration. "East High School principal replaced for lack of control; student funds, laptops missing" can be read in The Commercial Appeal.
[Editor's note: Monday night Memphis City Schools Superintendent Kriner Cash told The East High Alumni Page the report was "available," but declined to otherwise comment on it. Tuesday, an e-mail was sent to the e-mail address linked on the City Schools web site as being the director of Communications requesting a copy or access to the report. The link and the listed address were not the same. The City Schools e-mail system reported that the linked e-mail address was not in their system.]

May 15, 2010, The East High Alumni Page - Mr. Harry Durham is serving as interim principal at East during the paid suspension of Mr. Fred Curry while the school system conducts an audit/investigation into issues at East High. Mr. Durham, a city school principal, also served as interim principal at East 2002-2003 after another principal was removed from the position.

April 28, 2010 - Television news report: Audit of principal Fred Curry's administration at East High completed: WHBQ-TV

April 19, 2010 - Television news report: suspended principal Fred Curry says he's proud of East High: WREG-TV

April 19, 2010 - Television news report: superintendent is reported to be "very worried about the culture and safety" of students at East High: WREG-TV

April 16, 2010 - East High Principal Fred Curry was suspended with pay Thursday, April 15, by the Memphis City Schools superintendent pending an internal investigation by the school system. East has recently been in the news when about 10 girls got into a fight in a hallway requiring the use of pepper spray by security personnel to bring things under control and after a girl and several boys left campus during the school day, with 3 boys eventually being charged with rape.
Principal Curry had brought considerable stability to the position of East High principal, serving in that position since 2005. Prior to that, East had been plagued with turnover at the top spot for several years, with two principals being removed for financial irregularities, one asking to be reassigned after faculty and parents resistance to his management style, and a retired principal serving most of a school year before a permanent principal was assigned.
Source: The Commercial Appeal, The East High Alumni Page

'91 Grad is new East High principal at East High

The East High Alumni Page
June 21, 2010
Eric Harris ('91 and Faculty), a 1991 graduate of East High School, has been appointed principal of his alma mater. Mr. Harris comes to East after serving as 11th grade principal at Memphis City Schools best academic performing high school, White Station. Harris and White Station principal David Mansfield face misdemeanor charges November 3 in Shelby County Juvenile Court for allegedly failing to report to police an on-campus attack upon a student at White Station last September which resulted in injury. State law requires such reporting. Mr. Harris replaces 5-year East principal Fred Curry (Faculty 2005-2010).

Jason Smith: East's Brian Kimbrow turns up heat
Junior RB runs 4.28 at combine

By Jason Smith, The Commercial Appeal
June 4, 2010
   As he's traveled from one scouting combine to another this spring, East High rising junior running back Brian Kimbrow has made a habit of calling his Mustangs head coach, Marcus Wimberly ['92 and Faculty], and reporting his performances in the 40-yard dash.
   "He calls me every time from every camp if I'm not there," Wimberly said.
   So it wasn't unusual that Wimberly received a call Saturday from the 5-9, 165-pound Kimbrow, who had just been clocked at a ridiculous 4.28 seconds in the 40 at the Byron De'Vinner Elite Prospect Combine at Crump Stadium.
   "We knew he was 4.3-fast," Wimberly said. "I didn't realize he was 4.28-fast."
   Kimbrow, who averaged an area-best 9.9 yards per carry on 85 rushing attempts as a sophomore, has also been clocked at 4.31, 4.35 and 4.37 this spring.
   "Quite a few (programs) have been inquiring about him," Wimberly said. "They want to see him at their camps so they can further evaluate him. But it's clear to them that he has plenty of speed."
   In April, following a standout performance in the BadgerSports Elite 7-on-7 passing camp in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Kimbrow was one of five underclassmen named to Scout.com's Tuscaloosa Fab Five. Rivals.com also selected Kimbrow as one of the camp's top performers.
   On Saturday, Kimbrow's 4.28 40 at the De'Vinner Combine was apparently enough to convince the remaining prospects not to run.
   "No, sir. Nobody else ran after I did," Kimbrow said. "I saw it coming, though, because I've been clocking low 4.3s, like 4.31s and 4.30s, all spring. Coach Wimberly has worked me hard to better myself."

Obama is lightning rod for hatred
Letters to the Editor, The Commercial Appeal
June 3, 2010
    It's hard to believe that you printed the June 1 letter "Engineer has a cheap idea." I have lived in Memphis all my life. Not since I was the fat Jewish girl at East High (the country club high school) have I seen such blatant hatred as I have seen since Barack Obama became our president.
   This country was founded on religious and political freedom. All of us do not have to be the same color and the same religion to have rights. If these same people would try to befriend even one person who was different, this city might have fewer problems. It has to start somewhere.
    I hope the letter writer never needs a policeman, firefighter, doctor or nurse. They might not be someone she would want to touch her.
   Helen Tower
   Memphis

[A Helen Levy, now Helen Tower, is a member of the Class of '62.]

Awards honor 5 Memphians with diverse backgrounds
Each has worked to help community By Linda A. Moore, The Commercial Appeal
Posted May 27, 2010
   The tie that binds five Memphians being honored by Diversity Memphis is their commitment to the community.
   At 7 p.m. today, those Memphians will be recognized during the fifth annual Humanitarian Awards Dinner at the Esplanade Banquet and Conference Center, 901 Cordova Station.
   Founded in 2005, Diversity Memphis is a human relations organization that brings together and promotes tolerance and respect for people from all walks of life.
   "These individuals reflect the diversity of our community and challenge all of us to do more," said Herb Wells, board chairman.
   The recipients are:
   W.J. Michael Cody ['54] is an attorney and a former Tennessee state attorney general. He is a partner with Burch, Porter & Johnson, where he has spent most of his career. He is listed with Mid-South Super Lawyers as one of Tennessee's Top 100 attorneys.
   His community involvement includes work with Rhodes College, the Memphis YMCA and the National Civil Rights Museum...

Memphis Memories By Staff, The Commercial Appeal
May 27, 2010
   [The following was republished on May 27, 2010, in the Memphis/Mid-South Memories item in The Commercial Appeal, originally published May 27 1953. "East High School representatives gather for photo: Elected as officers of the East High School student body in May 1953 are Donna Hurt (front row, left) , commissioner of activities; Suellyn Scott, junior high girls vice president; Nina Braswell, commissioner-at-large; and Mary W. Glass, senior high girls vice president. Other officers include Mike Cady (back row, left), senior high boys vice president; Gerrald Graber, junior high boys vice president; David Johnson, commissioner of traffic; Robert Bessire, president; and Reed Knight, commissioner of sanitation."

Memphis Memories By Staff, The Commercial Appeal
May 23, 2010
   [The following was republished on May 23, 2010, in the Memphis/Mid-South Memories item in The Commercial Appeal, originally published May 23, 1987. "East High Alum get their fill of Krystal burgers Mary Moorman and other Krystal employees serve burgers and fries to about 250 East High School alumni at a parking lot picnic on May 23, 1987. The group downed 650 Krystals and 250 orders of fries at a gathering of the class of 1967 at their favorite hangout on Poplar, across from the school."

Needed: A cap for grad spending
Senior costs too high, judge warns board
By Jane Roberts, The Commercial Appeal
May 20, 2010

   Spring is not a pleasant time for Probate Court Judge Robert Benham, whose job includes approving expenses of minors in guardianships.
   One of his most vexing problems is "senior expenses," a laundry list that includes luncheons, class trips, "lock-ins," caps, gowns, rings and hundreds of dollars in clothing, souvenirs and food.
   "I've been seeing it for years, but it's getting to be more and more money," Benham told the Memphis Board of Education on Monday, handing over papers outlining $3,489 in graduation expenses for one student at Hamilton High, which he said is typical of what he sees in Probate Court.
   "This is a lot of money that could be used to go to college," Benham said, asking the board to make a policy decision on what is "reasonable" and asking whether anyone is monitoring people "attempting to sell goods to these seniors."
   Memphis City Schools says to expect no change in policy after wrapping up its own research on senior costs.
   "I don't know why (Benham) is requesting a policy change," said Deputy Supt. Irving Hamer.
   "That is not the right request," he said, adding that he has no intention of recommending a change to the board.
   Senior dues range from $65 at White Station High to $350 at Wooddale High and cover events, consumables, souvenirs and parties, depending on what the senior class officers decide.
   At some schools, prom is optional. That's the case at White Station, which suits Elizabeth Bailey fine.
   "If you don't want to go to prom, you don't have to pay for it," she said.
   She sees no way for the board to hold the line on discretionary spending.
   "What are you going to do, say you can't have a limousine or your prom dress has to be cheap?" she asked "It's not going to work."
   Phillip Piper ['10], a senior at East High, felt no pressure to spend more than the $400 he said his family shelled out for cap and gown, graduation costs and Advanced Placement test fees.
   "I didn't feel the need to go on a senior trip," he said.
   Ditto on the prom, "and I don't see myself needing a ring after high school."
   At Hamilton, $175 in senior dues does not cover prom ($50), senior lock-in ($45) or the senior luncheon ($45), ostensibly allowing families to tailor their senior's experience based on budget and personal preference, Hamer said.
   A minor whose expenses Benham is responsible for overseeing spent $400 for a senior trip to Florida, $613 for senior photos, $446 for a class ring, $1,500 for incidental travel expenses, plus fees for a luncheon, picnic, cap and gown, medallion and trip to Nashville.
   Benham says he is put in the position of having to be "the ogre."
   "What happens is that I disappoint these children," he said. "I don't allow the encroachments. I deny, even though their friends get to do these things."
   He wants the school board to create a list of sanctioned vendors catering to senior activities.
   "We all know there is a lot of easy money to be made in this town and in any community," he said. "It's not the way you need to start someone out by having a lot of peer pressure when you are 17 and 18."

Germantown man to head rail passengers association
By Bartholomew Sullivan, The Commercial Appeal May 18, 2010

   WASHINGTON -- The country needs a good railroad running regularly between Chicago and Florida through Nashville and Chattanooga, the newly elected, Memphis-based president of the National Association of Railroad Passengers said Monday.
   William B. Strong ['61] of Germantown, the Tennessee delegate to the association that he's been a member of before there was an Amtrak, was elected to a two-year term, the association announced in a statement Monday.
   "I'm going to do everything I can to get more and better passenger service for Tennessee," he said when reached Monday to ask how he'll use his new bully pulpit.
   Strong said he hopes to see not high-speed but higher-speed train service in the Midwest, where The Floridian used to travel from Chicago to Florida before it was killed by the Carter administration in 1979. Right now, to go from Chicago to Florida by train, passengers have to go through Washington.
   A graduate of East High School and Vanderbilt University with a degree in mechanical engineering, the 67-year-old Memphis native has been active as a passenger advocate since 1968. He is a vice president of Tencarva Machinery selling industrial equipment like pumps and air compressors, he said.
   He said that, being based in Memphis, he doesn't travel by rail "excessively," simply because it's not convenient. He said he averages about 3,000 miles by rail a year.
   The association is the only one of its kind advocating the interests of the rail passengers.

Class of 2010 graduates
by The East High Alumni Page, May 15, 2010

   Two hundred fifty-one students were presented as candidates for graduation at the 60th Commencement Exercises of East High School Saturday, May 15, 2010. The East High Concert Band under the direction of Ollie Liddell, Director of Bands, played the traditional Pomp and Circumstance in the Cannon Performing Arts Center in downtown Memphis as the candidates marched in, lead by school and school system officials who would share the dias with the graduates.
   Thirty students received Tennessee Hope Lottery �academic� scholarships, with another 18 receiving other, more traditional, academic scholarships to colleges and universities. Note was made at the ceremonies of one student, Dariouis D. Hankins, who has been offered a full four year scholarship at Mississippi Valley University. Give that special notice, it might be assumed that scholarship offer was the only �full ride� offer made to the graduating seniors. Hankins also had other scholarship offers a paragraph long. Two students have been offered music (choral) scholarships or grants, one of which also received academic award offers. Eight students have received athletic scholarship offers. It was announced that more than 2 million dollars in scholarships were awarded, however, that number almost surely is the cumulative value of all the offers rather than representing actual funds that will be made available to the graduates. For example, if competing colleges offer the same student scholarships, only the school to which the student goes actually gives that student the money or services.
   There was no keynote speaker at this year�s ceremonies. Other than brief comments, the only speeches given were by Student Council President David Ross, Valedictorian Brandy Maclin, and Salutatorian Tevin McInnis.
   Interestingly, suspended principal Fred Curry was saluted about 4 times in the student�s comments, while Board of Education Commissioner Jeff Warren also credited Curry with the success of the Class of 2010. Curry was suspended with pay a month ago by schools superintendent Kriner Cash after a fight in a school hallway which allegedly involved a �girl gang.� A few parents complained that their complaints about security for their children at school were not being well received. There have also been other troubling incidents this year on campus or by pupils who left campus during the school day. According to one school staff member helping organize the graduation exercises, Curry was not in attendance at the commencement. It has been reported that the investigation/audit has been completed for nearly two weeks but the school system has refused to release any information saying that the school board needs to approve the findings before they are made public.
   Harry Durham, a retired city school principal who has served several times as an interim principal at city schools after his retirement, is again acting as interim principal at East. He filled that same role for the entire 2002-2003 school year when another East principal was removed from that position.
   As the morning ceremonies drew to a close, the East High Concert Choir, directed by faculty member Jeffery Murdock, and the band performed the school�s Alma Mater. The printed program gave appropriate credit for the words of the Alma Mater to Shirley Wilkes of the East High Class of 1951. The new alumni of East High then marched out of the auditorium once again to Pomp and Circumstance.

Letters: The MCS dike needs rebuilding
Letter to the Editor, The Commercial Appeal
May 23, 2010
   In response to your May 13 editorial "This is no time for pessimism": As a lifelong Memphian, and as someone who loves Memphis for what it is, and can be, nothing in Memphis is dearer to my heart than Memphis City Schools. As a 1972 graduate of East High and as a parent who has raised three children in the MCS system, I have witnessed the 25-year decline that now leaves the district on the edge of hopelessness.
   The debate in the press over Supt. Kriner Cash's "police force," or the debate over a $250,000 federal grant to stimulate reading once a week during the summer (May 12 article) only serves to provide the "perception" that something -- anything -- is being done to reverse the decline. These types of measures are too little, too late.
   Until the discussion is open, frank and brutally honest, the district will continue to decline. I'm not sure how much further it can go before it becomes beyond rehabilitation. The core issues are: the attitude of parents of MCS children, insufficient capital to fund a year-round program, the lack of political will to fight the inevitable pushback from parents, and the lack of support from the broader Memphis community for higher taxes to support this effort.
   The depth of the decline requires "outside the box" thinking, which naturally scares parents who are resistant to change, and going to a 12-month program will meet a lot of resistance. I would suggest that the federal government, which has no problem finding billions of dollars for almost any special-interest group, could belly up to the bar and fund a long-term experiment in turning around one of the most depressed school systems in the nation. There is no way increased local taxes can fund this type of gargantuan effort.
   No matter how loud the rhetoric or how creative the slogans, our propensity for "fingers in the dike" solutions will not stem the flow. We need to rebuild the dike from the ground up.
   Shep Fargotstein
   Memphis

All decked out: Buntyn Presbyterian preparing for 100-year anniversary celebration
By Pat Hickman, Special to My Life, The Commercial Appeal
May 8, 2010
   What do you do when company is coming? You spruce up the place and try to put your best foot forward.
   That's what members of Buntyn Presbyterian Church, 561 S. Prescott, have been doing for weeks in preparation for the church's 100-year anniversary celebration. The celebration actually began with a birthday party that served as a gathering for past and present church members, as well as some of the neighbors in the Buntyn community. There was also a special worship service on May 2 in recognition of the milestone anniversary.
   Next, there will be two organ concerts, given by former Buntyn organists; the first on May 15 at 3 p.m. featuring Dr. Angela Saunders, from Memphis, and the second one on June 13 at 3 p.m. featuring Scot Stout, from Seattle, Washington.
   Additionally, the Rev. Dr. Louis B. Weeks ['59], former President of Union Presbyterian Seminary, will preach at 3 p.m. on May 16 at Buntyn to celebrate the beginning of the church's next 100 years.
   Dr. Weeks was active in youth activities at Buntyn, where his family worked and worshipped. He graduated from East High School, where he served as Student Council President and won football honors. He has written broadly in church history, ethics, administration, pastoral care, and ministry. His books include "All For God's Glory: Redeeming Church Scutwork" (2008), "The Presbyterian Presence: Bible Words That Shape a Faith" (1992), and his articles regularly appear on the website for "Resourcing American Christianity, Faith, and Leadership."
   The church's current pastor, Rev. Maggie Jorgensen, said, "The church's commitment to service in the Memphis community in the next 100 years drives this celebration. The Buntyn congregation feels blessed to have a large building which we share with the Fresh Wind Christian Center Church and The Dwelling Place Church -- two other churches which are listening for direction in God's world. Church Women United, Meditation Fellowship, Wings Gymnastics, Shoaf's Loaf, and the East Buntyn Neighborhood Association also work here."
   Another community aspect of the church is the Buntyn Preschool, which has been nurturing children for more than 60 years. And over the years Buntyn Church served Orange Mound Day Care, Parkway Gardens Presbyterian Church, Lester School summer program, Youth Fellowship for Downs Syndrome and Beltline Teen and Enrichment Centers.
   For more information, call 458-8271.
   Pat Hickman is an elder of Buntyn Presbyterian Church.

Urgent: East High Principal Suspended
April 16, 2010
   URGENT - East High School Principal Fred Curry was suspended with pay Thursday, April 15, 2010, by the superindent of Memphis City Schools while an internal investigation ordered by the superintendent, Kriner Cash, is conducted. The school system gave no reason for the inquiry. East has been in the news recently as a group of about 10 girls got into a fight in a school hallway requiring security personnel to use pepper spray to break up the scuffle. A few weeks earlier, a girl and a few boys left school during the academic day. Reportedly the girl and one of the boys were having consensual sex when it went bad. Three boys were subsequently charged with rape. It is not know if these events are the reason for the suspension.
Updates on news of the school are typically posted on our Daily Update and Portal page first. Please refer to that page for the latest updates.

Sweet magnolias
East High science class plants 26
By Janie Hopkins, Special to My Life, The Commercial Appeal Posted to the newspaper's website April 8, 2010

   More than thirty students from Nicholas Getschman's [Faculty] AP environmental science class at East High School joined members of the Memphis Garden Club, a member of the Garden Club of America, to plant 26 magnolia trees around their school's campus.
   As part of the Garden Club of America Centennial Tree Project, 26 magnolias were propagated by Dale Skaggs, director of horticulture at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, and repotted last spring by the garden club members. The three deciduous types -- Dr. Merrill, Waterlily, and Galaxy -- were tagged and remained in their pots in the woods at the Dixon over the summer and fall.
   The Peer Power Foundation, a tutoring program started by East High graduate Charles McVean ['61] that trains upperclassmen and college students to tutor underclassmen in math, English and science, was contacted to get permission to plant these trees. Julie Smith, a landscape architect and member of the Memphis Garden Club, chose specific spots to help screen out the views of neighboring shopping centers.
   Peer Power Foundation director Bill Sehnert, Dixon horticulture staff member Amy Berthouex and members of the Memphis Garden Club led by Margaret Atkinson and the students from East High School worked hard toward improving the campus.
   The full day of digging and planting was rewarded with lunch provided by the Peer Power Foundation. The science class will continue to care for these trees by fertilizing and watering them throughout the year. A sign will be placed on site to recognize the efforts and document the event.
   Janie Hopkins handles public relations for the Memphis Garden Club.

Judge upholds newspaper columnist Maruca's right to shift to competing journal
By Daniel Connolly, The Commercial Appeal April 2, 2010

   When the columnist and advertising rep known as Maruca switched from one local Hispanic newspaper to another, the first newspaper sued, since she had signed documents saying that she wouldn't work for a competitor for a year.
   But Maruca � real name Maria Guevara � recently won a favorable ruling in Shelby County Chancery Court, her attorney said.
   Chancellor Walter Evans hasn't filed a written order yet, but he said in court that the employee can continue working for the other newspaper, according to lawyer Ralph Noyes ['68].
   "I feel very pleased, because they wanted to leave me without work for a time," said Guevara, 32.
   Guevara gave birth to a boy last week and is working from home now. But she said she's eager to write more of her columns, which touch on topics ranging from domestic violence to bosses who don't pay workers wages. Most are prompted by calls from readers.
   "If I don't do this, it's like I'm letting the people down, you know?"
   The conflict reflects the ongoing competition for audience and advertising dollars in the local Spanish-language media, despite a slow economy that's cut into the earnings of many Hispanic immigrants.
   This case involved the bilingual weekly La Prensa Latina.
   Publisher Sidney Mendelson ['68] declined to comment in detail.
   "The judge made his decision and that's what we go by," he said. "That's really it."
   According to court records, Guevara joined La Prensa Latina as an independent contractor in May 2008, producing a column called "Maruca's balcony" and also contacting customers to sell ads. She started working full-time in November of that year, and her duties included acting as master of ceremonies at some events.
   Guevara says she was such a well-known figure that the newspaper used her image on a billboard.
   She left in December and began writing a similar column for a different newspaper, called El Grafico. She's now also involved in ad sales and management.
   La Prensa Latina filed suit in February, arguing that Guevara should be banned from working for El Grafico because this violated her noncompete agreement and because she was using trade secrets to entice customers of La Prensa Latina to do business with El Grafico.
   La Prensa Latina asked for a restraining order to make Guevara stop working for El Grafico or any other print media, as well as to allow recovery for financial damages.
   But in a hearing, Guevara's lawyer, Noyes, pointed to a Tennessee Supreme Court case that says non-compete agreements are enforceable only if the employee has received a great deal of specialized training and inside knowledge.
   He successfully argued that Guevara hadn't received these things.

Letter to the editor: "Children are our future"
The Commercial Appeal, March 25, 2010

   On March 16, I rode the 50 Poplar bus to the Midtown Driver's License Service Center to transact some business. I took the 50 Poplar bus to return home. This bus stopped in front of East High School, where a horde of students filled the bus to capacity, some standing.
   Most of these young people were not wearing the school-mandated uniform; most had cell phones and were using them; several had iPods and were bopping to the music; many were talking loudly and cursing profusely. Most important, very few carried books or backpacks.
   Myriad thoughts crowded my mind: Neighborhood schools should never have been abandoned; walking home by your neighbors to your house has merit. Do not parents ask their children where their books are in the evening? Do not principals strictly enforce the city schools' dress code? Is it not school policy that no cell phones and such be allowed on school grounds?
   Behavior of some students is a direct reflection of the home and other behavior is induced by peer pressure; still, was I about to shush them and ask that the loudness, cursing and pushing, etc., stop? No. Was I chicken? Maybe.
   President Barack Obama, Bill Cosby, Benjamin Jealous (NAACP), Spike Lee (recently in the city to speak at the University of Memphis) and others are desperately trying to reach out to our youth and show them another path. However, it is going to take everybody to find the solution to our errant youth. America's future progress and success as a country greatly depend on our youth of today. Who has the answer or answers? I await.
   Sharon E. Dobbins
   Memphis

Teacher at East High in Memphis busted on drug charges
By Lawrence Buser The Commercial Appeal March 25, 2010

   Two formerly married Memphis City Schools teachers have been suspended without pay after they were busted on separate drug charges this week.
   Emily Tubb [Faculty, listed as Emily Magill on the East High web site], 33, who also is known as Emily Magill, was indicted earlier this month on federal drug charges.
   She is accused of possessing with intent to distribute Adderall, alprazolam and heroin.
   Adderall is an amphetamine commonly used for attention deficit disorders. Alprazolam, also known as Xanax, is used to treat disorders including anxiety and depression.
   No other details were included in the indictment and there is no allegation that she was trafficking in drugs on school grounds.
   Federal prosecutor Greg Gilluly asked for a detention hearing for Monday.
   Tubb, who is in the English department at East High School, is being held in federal custody without bond because she was found in two meth houses this week, including the Southaven home of her former husband, Mark Magill.
   He was arrested Monday evening after police were called to a disturbance at his home on Northfield Drive where there was a reported altercation with his former wife, according to Southaven Deputy Police Chief Steve Pirtle.
   He said Magill, 42, a physical education teacher at Fairley Elementary, was charged with domestic violence, simple assault and manufacturing a controlled substance, methamphetamine.
   Magill also was charged with kidnapping for allegedly taking the couple's two children to another location, which he refused to reveal to investigators, Pirtle said.
   Magill is being held on $125,000 bond in the DeSoto County Jail in Hernando.
   Reporter Yolanda Jones contributed to this story.

Memphis teacher with drug charges to remain in custody
By Lawrence Buser The Commercial Appeal March 29, 2010

   A Memphis City Schools teacher will remain in federal custody for at least a few more days while her attorney tries to find a secure drug-treatment facility for her before addressing criminal drug charges.
   Emily Tubb, 33, of Southaven, who is in the English department at East High School, was indicted last week for alleged possession with intent to distribute Adderall, alprazolam and heroin.
   Tubb, whose married name was Magill, made a brief appearance Monday before U.S. Magistrate Charmiane Claxton, who told attorneys to return Thursday with more information on a drug treatment facility.
   Asst. Federal Defender Mary Catherine Jermann, did not ask for a bond, but instead had suggested several possible inpatient facilities to address her client's drug addiction.
   Federal prosecutor Greg Gilluly, however, argued that a more secure facility is needed because Tubb had made statements that she might harm herself.
   "She could leave these facilities and she's a danger to herself because she has no control over her drug problem," Gilluly told the court. "She needs to get help, but at a place where she would be locked down and not have the ability to walk away."
   Tubb, who was shackled and wore yellow prison garb, is being held without bond at a federal detention facility in Mason, Tenn. She made no statements in the hearing.
   Last week her former husband, Michael Magill, a physical education teacher at Fairley Elementary, was arrested following a domestic disturbance at his home in Southaven, which was reported by Tubb.
   Magill, 42, was charged with domestic violence, simple assault and manufacturing methamphetamine.
   He is being held on $125,000 bond in the DeSoto County Jail in Hernando.
   He also was charged with kidnapping for allegedly taking the couple's two children to another location, which he refused to reveal to investigators.
   Magill and Tubb have been suspended without pay by Memphis City Schools.

'Warm, fuzzy' relaunch for Holiday Inn brand
By Wayne Risher The Commercial Appeal March 24, 2010

   The late lodging industry pioneer Kemmons Wilson would have felt right at home in a hotel room made of plastic key cards.
   Fittingly, the kitschy creation of card-stacking artist Bryan Berg has found a permanent home in a Holiday Inn in Wilson's hometown.
    InterContinental Hotels Group commissioned Berg to build a Holiday Inn room out of key cards to promote the brand's global relaunch.
   After appearances in New York, Washington, New Mexico and on , the 2-ton exhibit was trucked to Memphis and set up at the University of Memphis Holiday Inn.
   The exhibit, which took four months and 200,000 cards to build, features a reception desk, a bed, a comforter, a sofa, an armoire, lamps, tables, a toilet and a shower curtain, all covered with key cards.
   It's on display through Easter on the University of Memphis campus as part of Kemmons Wilson Week. It will eventually become decor for the Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality and Resort Management.
   "This is sort of a nice way to kick it off," said Kemmons "Kem" Wilson Jr. ('64), the founder's son, as he viewed the display with his son, McLean. Kemmons Wilson opened the first Holiday Inn in 1952 and sold the chain 20 years ago.
   The family business holdings include the University of Memphis Holiday Inn and a new Holiday Inn near Wolfchase Galleria; they are also developing a Holiday Inn Express in Jackson, Tenn. The 92-room Jackson hotel will be built near Pringles Park off Interstate 40.
   InterContinental embarked in 2007 on a $1 billion effort to revitalize the brand with new signs, furnishings, bedding and amenities.
   "This is a huge effort on their part," said Kem Wilson. "They could either have let the brand fall away or they could welcome it, and they welcomed it. They found it had a feel-good, warm and fuzzy feeling" for customers.
   Kevin Kowalski, senior vice president, global brand management, for Holiday Inn, said the company had redone 2,050 hotels and was on pace to finish all 3,300-plus by year's end.
   "We've found the relaunched hotels perform 3-7 percent better and are up 2-6 points in market share," Kowalski said. "We're moving the needle."
   McLean Wilson said Wolfchase, which opened last July, attracted an unheard-of 25 walk-up customers one night last week. "We would attribute a lot of that to having a new sign and a new hotel. People driving down the interstate take that as a sign of rejuvenation."
   Sarah-Ann Soffer, a Holiday Inn spokeswoman, said the relaunch affects 11 Memphis-area hotels and two that are projected to open by 2011.
   Kowalski said corporate support for the U of M hospitality program is a natural. Angela Brav, chief operating officer for IHG Americas, will be Kemmons Wilson Week Distinguished Speaker at 1 p.m. today.
   "Kemmons Wilson made a very strong value for traveling families," Kowalski said. "We're not doing radical, crazy things. We talked to customers, tried to figure out what made the most value for them, and incorporated them in the hotels."
   They left the crazy stuff to Berg, whose playing card creations include the Capitol, the Empire State Building and most recently, China's Venetian Macao resort hotel.
   "We thought it would be kind of a neat idea to work with him to build a hotel out of key cards," Kowalski said.
   Debra Burns, director of development for the hospitality school, talked IHG executives into donating the exhibit to the school after she and the Wilsons saw it in Washington.
   "This is the appropriate place to come to: Memphis, the birthplace of Holiday Inn," Burns said. "If not for the Wilson family, none of this would be here."

Director of Bands calls for on-campus music building
The East High Alumni Page

March 17, 2010
   Calling the existing facilities for the East High Band and Choir "inadequate," Mr. Ollie Liddell (Faculty), the Director of Bands at the school, wants a new building added to campus to house those activities. He says every city school in Memphis has adequate music facilities for their bands except for East. He and the Band Booster Club are working on plans for a new building and he has written this open letter seeking support.
March 17, 2010
I am very proud of the students and the direction the program is going. However, we need support. After several discussions with the Band Booster Club, we are trying to come up with a plan of action to get a Music Building built on campus--possibly in the space left by the demolished annex building. This building would be built according to MENC Opportunity-to-learn Standards (www.menc.org) It would have sufficient space for a Choir, Band, and Orchestra Rooms as well as sufficient storage area, small ensemble rehearsal space, and offices. Both the choir and "band" rooms are inadequate. The Orchestra rehearses in the choir room. They need their own space. The choir room is band. However, the band room is riddiculous. It is very, very small, the ceiling is too low, there is no adequate storage area, no practice rooms, and no acoustical treatments what-so-ever. With the size of the band growing each year, it will soon (maybe next year) be too small to accommodate the band at all. The low ceilings and lack of acoustical treatments make hearing the music correctly impossible. So much so, we had afterschool rehearsals in the Auditorium so I could hear what is being played. The auditorium isn't readily available. The lack of storage space makes things worse. Furthermore, EVERY high school in MCS has an adequate band room except East. I find this unacceptable. I would appreciate any help or advice to this end. Please call.
Musically Yours,
Ollie Liddell
Director of Bands
East High School
3206 Poplar Avenue
Memphis, TN 38118
901-416-6160 School
901-416-6161 Fax

Truant pupils, victim, accused, involved in off campus rape
[multiple stories]
Memphis police arrest three suspects in sexual assault of East High student
By Jody Callahan, The Commercial Appeal
commercialappeal.com, March 10, 2010
   Memphis police have arrested three suspects in the apparent sexual assault of a 17-year-old East High student Tuesday.
   The incident happened around 11:30 a.m. near the school at 3206 Poplar, police said.
   A 17-year-old girl told police that she was taken to a nearby location and sexually assaulted by at least five males.
   The incident allegedly took place at a vacant house in the 200 block of Red Oak, not far from the school. The victim was then taken back to school. She told police that four of the suspects are East High students. The fifth suspect remains unknown.
   Two of the suspects in custody are 18, while the third is 16. No charges have been filed yet.
   Memphis police spokesman Karen Rudolph said the girl willingly left school with one of the boys, one of the 18-year-olds in custody. At that point, the other four were either in the car with the suspect who called the victim, or were waiting at the vacant house. In either case, the victim wasn't expecting the other four to be there, Rudolph said.
   Rudolph added that they know the name of the fourth suspect, the other East student. They don't have an identity on the fifth suspect, though. Charges are expected to be filed Thursday morning.

Three teens charged in rape of 17-year-old East High student
By Jody Callahan, The Commercial Appeal
commercialappeal.com, March 11, 2010
   Three teenagers were charged Thursday in the rape of a 17-year-old East High student Tuesday morning.
   DeMarious Moore, 18, Brian Bland, 18, and Martavious Humphries, 16, are facing charges of aggravated rape.
   Bland and Moore are being held at 201 Poplar, while Humphries is confined to Juvenile Court.
   The incident began at about 11 a.m. Tuesday, as the victim willingly left East High with the three teens, also students at East.
   They took her to an abandoned house at 278 Red Oak, a little over a mile away. There, according to police, the victim had consensual sex with Moore.
   Then things spiraled out of control.
   During sex, Moore slapped the victim in the face, police said. She told him to stop, but he continued, investigators said.
   At that point, police said, Bland and Humphries entered the room and forced the victim into additional sex acts.
   Two others were named by the victim but didn�t take part, said police, who would not reveal whether the other two were at the scene of the assault.
   �Through a thorough investigation, we found that these three suspects will be charged with aggravated rape. That�s it,� Memphis police spokesman Karen Rudolph said.
   Neither Bland nor Moore has any prior serious charges on their records, Juvenile Court spokesman Barry Mitchell said. Moore has a few traffic citations and a curfew violation.
   Humphries, however, was arrested in December 2008 on a felony drug charge, Mitchell said. He was placed in custody of the Youth Services Bureau, which oversees home confinement. He was released in April 2009.
   It is uncertain how four students could leave a school campus so easily during the middle of the day.
   Memphis City Schools spokesman Quintin Taylor wouldn�t discuss how the students were able to leave East High School.

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Society of Entrepreneurs will honor Spence Wilson as a 'master'
By James Dowd, The Commercial Appeal
March 3, 2010
   To hear Spence Wilson tell it, the work he does is simply part of carrying on the family tradition.
   But what a tradition it is.
   As president of Kemmons Wilson Companies -- established by and named after his late father, who also founded Holiday Inns -- Wilson oversees an expansive operation that has included investments in more than 400 different ventures.
   Now, after more than four decades of business ingenuity, the native Memphian who grew up on Galloway and graduated from East High School is being recognized for his efforts by the Society of Entrepreneurs
   "He's earned it, and I understand just how much he deserves it because he and I are a lot alike, we're both SOB's -- sons of bosses," said friend Bob Buckman, retired CEO of Buckman Laboratories. "It can't always have been easy for him, but Spence has done well and he's a wonderful guy."
   Wilson will be honored as a "Master Entrepreneur" at the organization's annual gala on April 10. His selection was announced at the organization's new-member reception on Tuesday.
   "I'm honored and humbled because this isn't just about me. I owe everything to my family,"
   Wilson said. "They've been very understanding about the risks and the sacrifices I made and about the time I had to spend away from them. It wasn't easy, but made it through, and any success I have is owed to them."
   The oldest of five children, Wilson was the first in his family to attend college, and after graduating from Vanderbilt University he joined the Tennessee Air National Guard. After the service he enrolled in Harvard Business School; when he finished, he moved back to Memphis, where he has spent the bulk of his career.
   "My dad had it in the back of his mind that I'd come back here and join his company, and ultimately that's what I did," Wilson said. "I worked with him for a while at Holiday Inns, but eventually transferred to Kemmons Wilson Inc. and that's where I stayed."
   During his 40 years as an entrepreneur, Wilson has been involved in a number of projects to broaden the company's holdings, including office building construction and development, injection molding businesses and even a tortilla manufacturing company.
   Perhaps the most successful has been Orange Lake Resorts in Orlando, Fla., which today features 2,500 timeshare villas on more than 1,400 acres. The property counts some 140,000 owners and hosts more than 12,000 guests each week.
   "My dad was a serial entrepreneur and I have some of that DNA. I'm very curious about how things work and I love to see a deal go through," Wilson said. "We've built a great brand, and it's fun for me to continue to take it to higher levels."
   Despite his success, Wilson is determined to remain grounded in his hometown and serve as a mentor for future generations of entrepreneurs.
   His lengthy list of community involvement includes working with Junior Achievement of Memphis and the Mid-South, Rhodes College and Youth Villages, and it's his commitment to giving back to the community that most impresses many of his fellow business leaders.
   "He's a consummate entrepreneur and has done a great job of continuing the substantial legacy of the Wilson family," said Gwin Scott, president of EmergeMemphis. "He charted his own path in numerous endeavors, and what's equally impressive is his longstanding sense of altruism for this community."
   Larry Colbert, senior vice president at Junior Achievement, agreed.
   "He's been phenomenally supportive of our organization for years, and I can't think of anyone more deserving of this honor," Colbert said. "He really cares about the community and continues in the spirit of his father in doing everything he can to make our city stronger."

Grizzlies and the Mid-South McDonald's Co-Op salute Black History Month from www.nba.com
February, 2010
   In honor of Black History Month, the Memphis Grizzlies and McDonald�s are recognizing basketball stars that honed their skills in Memphis and shared their talents with the world during Grizzlies home games played in February 2010. Here are the players who were honored:
...
   Cedric Henderson ['93] � Feb. 9 vs. Hawks
   Henderson is a product of East High School where he became a McDonald�s High School All-American. A standout at The University of Memphis, Henderson is the only player in Memphis history to rank in the top ten in all-time scoring, steals and blocks. He was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 1997 draft and spent five years in the NBA. After playing in the NBA he went on to play in Greece, Ukraine and Dubai. Since coming back to Memphis, Henderson has supported his hometown by hosting the SportsBall, a benefit to support Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Memphis. He currently assists the middle school girls� and varsity boys� basketball teams� coaching staffs at Harding Academy.

Memphis Memories By Staff, The Commercial Appeal
February 23, 2010
   [The following was republished on Feb. 23, 2010 in the Memphis/Mid-South Memories item in The Commercial Appeal, originally published Feb. 23, 1958.
   The All-Memphis junior high basketball team for 1955 has players from five schools. Considered tops among the youngsters are Richard Howell (11), Bellevue; Robert Randolph (25), Treadwell; Lee Welch ['58] (12), East; J. W. Adams (22), South Side; and Bobby Wiginton (8), Humes.

People Cybill Shepherd - Supermodel By Vance Lauderdale, www.memphisflyer.com
February 12, 2010
   Most people these days probably think of Cybill Shepherd ['68] as mainly a TV and movie actress. And who can blame them, after some really fine roles in the movie The Last Picture Show and then on television with Moonlighting (with Bruce Willis, back when he had hair) and later, Cybill.
   Others may know her for her singing, or maybe her political activism, or maybe because she kept a home in the South Bluffs for years and years.
   But many people, it seems, have quite possibly forgotten that this East High School graduate was, by any definition of the word, a Supermodel. She got her start by winning the "Miss Teen Memphis" contest in 1966, which launched an extraordinarily successful modeling career. In fact, in the late 1960s, it was hard to pick up a teen or fashion magazine without finding Cybill on the cover or featured inside.
   While rooting through the Lauderdale Library one lonely Saturday night, I turned up a collection of Glamour magazines (as shown here) from 1969, 1970, and 1971 with Cybill on the cover. Not only was she a fetching cover model, but rumor has it that director Peter Bogdanovich spotted one of these Glamours while standing in line at a Hollywood supermarket and decided, right then and there, that the then-unknown girl would be perfect as Jacy in The Last Picture Show.
   (Other stories claim that his wife actually came up with the idea. If that's so, she probably came to regret it, since Peter and Cybill started, uh, "dating" after the movie came out.)
   The rest, as they say, is history. But here are some other Cybill-adorned Glamours for you to admire.

Advanced Placement courses see increase in enrollment By Jane Roberts, The Commercial Appeal
February 12, 2010
   For students taking Advanced Placement environmental science at East High School, no class has ever consumed so much mental and emotional energy.
   The 90-minute lecture-lab meets daily instead of on alternating days like other courses. Since every lecture generates about an hour of homework and all AP students at East must attend two hours of tutoring each week, registering for an AP course means at least 15 hours per week.
   "You have to be on your study game," said Terrello Lane, a junior also taking AP art this year. "I'm taking AP classes because colleges want to know if you're taking a challenging load."
   Lane is determined to go to college and confident that his AP scores will get him noticed and give him credit for two college-level courses.
   He is among a widening group of students enrolling in AP classes, according to the College Board's annual analysis, released this week. It shows that enrollment in the decade has doubled to 800,000 students.
   But with the "democratization" of AP classes, tens of thousands of students are also failing while simultaneously financially taxing their school districts because the AP's lab-intensive courses are also among the most expensive schools offer.
   Last spring, 60 percent of AP seniors in Memphis City Schools did not score high enough to get college credit for their work. Nearly 55 percent scored under par in 2008.
   The financial burden will bear down this year when a $1.6 million grant that has covered most of the district's AP costs since 2006 runs out.
   "Our scores are very much in line with the national 60/40 attainment rate," said Linda Sklar, head of optional schools for MCS, who cautions against using "pass/fail terminology."
   "The score simply represents whether a college will award that student credit," she said. "It does not mean failure."
   Because high schools have their own standards for grading, it's very possible, Sklar said, that a student earning a "1" would get high school credit for the class.
   AP exams are graded on a scale of 1 to 5. A score of "3," which translates into a grade of "B-" or "C," is accepted by 80 percent of U.S. colleges and universities. A score of "5" would translate into a grade of "A."
   According to a USA Today article last week, more than two in five students -- 41.5 percent -- earned a score of "1" or "2," an increase from 36.5 percent in 1999.
   In the South, nearly half of all those tested -- 48.4 percent -- earned a "1" or "2," up 7 percentage points from a decade ago and statistically significant from the rest of the country.
   AP classes have been offered since 1955. But about a decade ago, states and high school leaders started easing restrictions on who could enroll, part of a strategy to improve the number of college-ready students.
   MCS Supt. Kriner Cash added 40 more AP sections this year, including three at East High, where all 33 students who applied for the AP environmental science class were admitted.
   Teacher Nicholas Getschman (Faculty) admits that the class is larger than optimal, "but we didn't want to discourage anyone in the first year."
   While several students are struggling, he is convinced that their chances for success in college and life are better even if they don't do well on the final exam.
   "They're getting exposure to college-level work," Getschman said. "I have a student who may not pass, but she's worked hard and has really grown. It's easy to see."

My Words: Pardon my French! But we need it
By Michele Mallory (Faculty), Special to The Commercial Appeal
February 7, 2010
   I was mistaken for a French woman once. I was on a scholarship in Normandy studying the Second World War, and some friends and I had taken a weekend jaunt down to the wine country of the Loire Valley.
   After a long day touring, I decided to run into a cave de d�gustation (a wine cellar) on my own to purchase some wine to take home to my parents. After some polite conversation, the viticulteur (wine maker) asked me what region I was from. Region?
   "Non, non, je suis am�ricaine," I said. The temperature in the cave dropped five degrees in an instant. Ah, the French and their love of Americans.
   Still, as a lifelong Francophile, I was much chagrined to hear the news that my alma mater is "phasing out" French as a foreign language offering to make room for Mandarin Chinese.
   From a purely economic perspective, I suppose I understand.
   Mandarin Chinese has about 800 million native speakers, with French falling far behind with only 90 million. I understand the need to change with the times; to teach marketable skills. After all, parents who fork over $15,000 for tuition each year need to get their money's worth. But, to quote my epicurean mother-in-law, "how will they ever learn to read a menu?"
   French is so tied to the English language that by not studying it, these next generations will miss out on one of the building blocks that make us who we are as Americans.
   Does the Battle of Hastings in 1066 ring any bells? When William the Duke of Normandy conquered England, our language changed forever. Without this infusion of the French, and thereby Latin, language into our own, we'd sound almost German right about now.
   Studying French allows us to truly understand words like "fraternity," "equality" and "liberty." Or more useful to our American plight these days, "mortgage" (mort = death, gage = pledge).
   I'm curious to see how the Mandarin will take off. For one, there is absolutely no common etymology between Chinese and English. Get out those flashcards! Also, Mandarin is a language of intonation. The French student's struggle with pronouncing nasal vowels pales against the Mandarin student's struggle to convey the difference between the spoken ma (mother), m� (hemp), ma (horse) and m� (scold). Good luck with that. I'll stick with my pain au chocolat, s'il vous pla�t.
   And about that Franco-American hatred; it makes a good joke, but it's far from true. Anyone who loves to say that the French hate Americans has never been to Normandy.
   Visit the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach of D-Day. Go now before our greatest generation is no more. You will see nothing but thankfulness, honor and sincere tribute paid to the Americans who died for that country.
   And the conversation with the viticulteur I mentioned earlier? It turned out, his response to my being American was halting, but out of shock, not disrespect, that an American had taken the time to learn the French language so well. He asked me to stay and have a glass of wine with him, as my friends in the car honked for me to hurry up. Rude Americans. Vive la France!
   Michele Mallory lives in East Memphis and is a wife and mother to two boys. She has a degree in communications from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with French as a second major. She teaches French at East High School.

Weapon and drug arrests at East High
4 arrested at East High: 2 for marijuana, 2 for gun possession
By Jane Roberts, The Commercial Appeal
January 26, 2010
   4 arrested at East High: 2 for marijuana, 2 for gun possession
   Four juveniles were arrested this afternoon at East High School after two threw a gun on school property while being pursued by police.
   The incident started when officers were questioning two other students on campus about drug use. They were arrested for possession of marijuana.
   In the process, the officers noticed two students acting suspiciously, according to district spokesman Quintin Taylor.
   �The students took off running and tossed a weapon,� he said. The two were also arrested. Those two students, both 16, were charged with carrying a weapon on school property and possession of handgun by juvenile.
   The incidents happened around 2 p.m.
   Taylor said the school�s metal detectors had been used today.
   �East is not one of our high-incidence schools; we do random metal detection at (those) schools,� Taylor said.
   School officials were tipped about the marijuana through Trust Pays, a confidential hotline that allows students or members of the public to call in tips.
   If the tip pans out, the caller is eligible for a cash reward.

Guns at Memphis city schools ring alarm bells

MCS, police stepping up screening, patrols
By Jane Roberts, The Commercial Appeal
January 28, 2010
   Supt. Kriner Cash and Police Director Larry Godwin put out a community "all-call" Wednesday after five gun incidents were reported in or near city schools over nine days.
   "We have doubled up our effort -- redoubled our efforts -- on security screening each morning," said a grim-faced Cash.
   "We must continue to ensure -- not only in the morning but randomly during the day -- that we are checking all entrances and exits. ... Students can be very, very creative if they want to get weapons in schools."
   Godwin said he's ordered more patrols at hot points.
   "We're going to do it in a covert way; we're going to do it in an overt way, but we are going to address this problem. We will make those arrests and do the things we have to for those violent individuals who are disrupting the good students of Memphis City Schools."
   Tuesday, two students were charged at East High School with possession of a handgun. It was loaded.
   Eight hours later, a male leaving a ball game at Kirby High was shot walking away from the school by someone he had argued with earlier.
   Monday, as school was getting out at Vance Middle, a police officer ordered a 14-year-old to drop his weapon after a parent tipped off authorities. It also was loaded.
   The story was similar at Hamilton High on Jan. 19, when a 16-year-old was taken into custody.
   To date, 10 guns have been found in city schools this year -- six of them loaded. At this time last year, six guns had been confiscated; three were loaded.
   Godwin is working with Juvenile Court prosecutors to trace the source of the guns, "ultimately interrupting the source," he said.
   He's also buying gunshot-recognition cameras to place around schools.
   "Once a weapon is fired, we will have a recording; we'll have information," he said.
   Principals at several large high schools say it's impossible to run 1,000-plus students through scanning devices, including X-ray equipment, and get them to class on time.
   "There will be disciplinary action for any further breaches of the procedures we require," Cash said. He has assigned members of his "top teams" to do spot checks.
   Metal detectors were used Tuesday at East. Cash didn't know the specifics of how the gun got in school but said he doubts the principal did anything wrong.
   Weapons in city schools tend to be found at the end of the day, leading authorities to suspect they are being smuggled in through propped-open doors before school dismisses, partly because students are worried about walking home.
   "When you look at the data and go to the root cause of why students bring weapons to school, they tell us they feel safe in school," Cash said.
   The walk home is another story, particularly for known gang members walking through rival territory.
   Because about a third of students in Memphis change schools once a year, Cash says, "when they leave to go to a new community, they feel threatened. That is no excuse for bringing guns to school."
   According to MCS policy, principals are expected to conduct checks by metal detector at least nine times a year in most middle and high schools. In the 14 schools with the most crime, the checks are supposed to happen daily.
   A memo to district principals Wednesday from Cash's chief of operations, Roderick Richmond, said daily scanning logs now will be mandatory in every school.

Football remains in news in off season
By Phil Stukenborg, The Commercial Appeal
Posted January 15, 2010
   [Excerpt] ...
   East High senior defensive tackle Brandon Ivory is scheduled to make an official visit to the UofM this weekend, but it's not to make a decision about his college future. That decision has been made.
   Ivory, 6-4 and 330 pounds, will play for first-year Tigers coach Larry Porter, according to Ivory's high school coach, Marcus Wimberly ('92). Wimberly said Ivory also considered the University of Miami, Wimberly's alma mater. National Signing Day is Feb. 3.
   Wimberly called Ivory, who played defensive tackle and offensive guard for East, a natural leader. And he said Ivory was an assignment nightmare for opposing offensive linemen.
   "He was one of our captains," Wimberly said. "If we needed a stop and the (football) was going up the middle, he made the play nine times out of 10. He gave people fits, especially centers."
   Ivory started each of his four seasons at East, where Wimberly took over four years ago. Ivory played primarily on offense as a freshman and grew into a two-way performer, gradually becoming a dominant defensive tackle.
   "He really came on last year," Wimberly said. "He worked hard in the weight room and he understands the game, especially at this level. He still has a lot of work to do, but he also has a lot of potential."
   Wimberly said Ivory "sparked a lot of interest" by finishing with six tackles for loss in last month's AutoZone Liberty Bowl High School All-Star Game at Memphis University School.
   "That got a lot of attention, but he's been doing it all year," Wimberly said. "And he's done it against some good teams, teams like Olive Branch, MUS, Whitehaven, White Station ... he didn't do it all against cupcakes."
   Ivory is the third Memphis-area commitment, joining Horn Lake receiver Bakari Trotter and Houston High receiver Jerry Anderson. He said the hiring of Porter played a part in his decision.
   "First of all, I like coach Porter and I think he is going to change the program around," Ivory said.

Two arrested, another sought after high-speed chase in Bartlett
By By Clay Bailey, The Commercial Appeal
January 8, 2010
   A witness gave Bartlett police dispatchers a move-by-move account of three people breaking into a house on Guffin around lunchtime Friday -- providing officers with an edge on capturing the trio.
   But it took a high-speed car chase through the suburb's northwestern quadrant, foot pursuits, a pair of wrecked cars and at least one shotgun blast from police before two of the suspects, a man and a woman, were captured in Memphis.
   One of the suspects is the son of the owner of the home that was burglarized.
   The crime unfolded over the police radio after the witness, watching nearby, called police to report the break-in at 5195 Guffin shortly before noon.
   "If (the witness) wouldn't have called when they did, there's a good chance (the suspects) wouldn't have been caught," said Insp. Jeff Cox, head of the department's investigative division.
   Police said the witness told them a woman was driving a gray Mitsubishi through the neighborhood while two men went into the house.
   The men would put the goods in the car, then the woman would drive around again while the intruders returned to the residence.
   When police pulled into the neighborhood, the suspects fled in the Mitsubishi, starting a chase.
   The pursuit went along various streets in the suburb's northwest corner and carried into Raleigh. Insp. Steve Todd thought he was about to stop them at one point, but the driver tried to ram his unmarked car.
   One person jumped from the Mitsubishi on August Moon, sending part of the pursuing officers on foot after him.
   He was still at large Friday evening.
   Meanwhile, the car with the other two people continued to flee -- followed by police -- eventually ending up on Bruton Place near Old Brownsville.
   At one point, an officer fired his shotgun at the vehicle. A hole was visible above the left tail light. That part of the case is still under review, Cox said.
   The suspects were trapped in the cove on Bruton Place. When they headed out of the dead end, the car slammed into one of the pursuing Bartlett squad cars in the curve of Bruton Avenue and Bruton Place.
   The suspects' car banged into the curb and ended up in a yard.
   The suspects fled from the scene, but were caught a short time later, according to Lt. Rory Mack, Bartlett police spokesman.
   Tremaine Artry ('09), 18, identified by police as the son of the homeowner, is charged with aggravated burglary, evading and resisting arrest, reckless endangerment and four counts of aggravated assault.
   Bridget Jones, 21, faces the same charges except resisting arrest.
   Both were being held without bond.

Television news stories are also available from WMC-TV and WPTY-TV.
The television stations are not likely to provide those stories and clips permanently,so if you find they are no longer available, please notify a href="mailto:editor@EastHigh.org?subject=video-removed">editor@EastHigh.org.

Ole Miss' Cassius Vaughn grows into CB role
NFL looming as senior closes career
By Scott Cacciola, The Commercial Appeal
December 31, 2009
   DALLAS -- Cassius Vaughn ('06) can remember meeting with three friends that day, all Memphis-area products who, like him, were bound for Ole Miss. He convened with Greg Hardy, Cecil Frison and LaDerrick Vaughn at one of Downtown's finer dining establishments -- "Hooters," Cassius Vaughn said -- for a signing day party in February 2006. They signed their letters of intent, and the future was theirs.
   "It was an exciting moment," Vaughn said.
   In some ways, it feels like yesterday. In other ways, it feels like a lifetime ago. Because as quickly as the past four years have evaporated, Vaughn also knows he has changed a great deal. He has one game left in his college career, a meeting with No. 21 Oklahoma State on Saturday in the 74th AT&T Cotton Bowl at Cowboys Stadium, but he has little time for nostalgia. He already finds himself looking ahead once more.
   "I'm out the door on my way to another chapter in my life, and it all catches up with you real fast," said Vaughn, a senior cornerback and former standout at East High. "But for a lot of the seniors, this game is like an audition. We're going to play hard."
   An audition for the NFL: It has come to this for Vaughn, who has transformed himself from a raw talent into one of the more reliable cornerbacks in the Southeastern Conference. Tied for seventh in the league with 11 passes defended, including two interceptions, Vaughn is a major reason Ole Miss (8-4, 4-4) is ranked 15th in the country in pass defense, limiting opponents to 179 yards per game.
   Playing cornerback tends to be a thankless job, but Vaughn -- recruited by most schools out of high school as a running back -- has embraced his role. He enjoys being out there on the island, matching up against top-flight receivers, man-to-man without a safety net.
   "Cassius is a big-time competitor," said senior cornerback Marshay Green. "Anytime people like playing defense, you know it's going to be fun."
   Vaughn showed up at Ole Miss with extraordinary speed. According to Green, Vaughn is capable of running the 40-yard dash in just over 4.3 seconds -- a time that would seem sure to pique the interest of NFL scouts. But as a freshman and sophomore, he was extremely raw. In high school, he could rely on his athleticism to compensate for mistakes or slight hesitations. Not in the SEC. He needed to hone his instincts, and he had to learn how to anticipate.
   "The one thing about this league is that if you don't have a pre-snap plan for what you think they might do, you're not going to make the play," cornerbacks coach Chris Vaughn said. "Because these teams are too good at throwing and catching."
   He made several plays this season that he probably would not have made earlier in his career. Chris Vaughn recalled two examples in particular. Against Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 19, he went up with two hands -- a subtle but important detail -- to intercept an errant pass. And early in the second half against Tennessee on Nov. 14, Vaughn anticipated a screen pass across the middle that he deflected.
   "I just got way more confident with this coaching staff," Cassius Vaughn said. "Just really understanding how to play defense, knowing what to do, being able to play fast. You come here wanting to practice and wanting to get better because you know you have lots of support."
   No one besides his coaches and perhaps his teammates would remember those moments, but the significance was not lost on those who had invested in him. It was rewarding for Chris Vaughn, because all the pieces were beginning to fit. And while it might sound clich�d, Cassius' potential remains largely untapped.
   "He's going to test well," Chris Vaughn said of the upcoming NFL Scouting Combine. "The big thing is, there's got to be a team out there that feels he brings something to the table and that he's nowhere near done with his development as far as where he can go. A team has to believe in him."
   Vaughn will turn his full attention next week to preparing for the combine, though he will miss his friends -- especially his daily games of "Madden NFL" with teammates. He has more responsibilities now, including a 1-year-old son, Cassius Vaughn II, who won the Grizzlies' baby crawl contest during halftime of their game against the Indiana Pacers on Dec. 18.
   Asked if his son is a cornerback in the making, Vaughn said: "Well, he's just trying to walk now."
   As his father knows, there is plenty of time to grow.

A new year, new hope for Memphis
Letters to the Editor, The Commercial Appeal
December 31, 2009
   It seems like 100 years ago that I had the great privilege of living in Memphis and teaching in the junior high part of East High School; actually, it was around 1962-65. We lived on Charleswood, about 10 miles from the river.
   Those were three wonderful years -- the unbeatable park and zoo, where you could wander all day and never see everything; attending high school and college sporting events; the superb medical care at Methodist Hospital; the joy of driving Downtown for many cultural events, one of the greatest of which was the Front Street Theater.
   I had no contact with Memphis until a few years ago when we attended some wonderful exhibits at Cook Convention Center, combined with visiting our money in Tunica. This newspaper was always a great read, but these later years your news has been sad for a person who dearly loves this beautiful city of the old and the new South -- the crime, the social ills, the politics, the weaknesses of the public schools.
   I hope and pray that some of the optimistic items I've read the last couple of weeks are the light at the end of the gloomy tunnel for this city -- the Gates grant, the new city politicos, a Downtown park, renovation rather than destruction of some of the priceless buildings like The Washburn, mentioned in your Dec. 30 article "Views to history."
   The Dec. 25 Viewpoint guest column by Pat Halloran of the Orpheum prompted this letter; it was full of such optimism and hope.
   Memphians, do not let this wonderful city become another run-down, has-been grande dame. Love it and protect it.
   Marty Henry (Faculty)
   Malvern, Ark.
[If anyone can adise the subjects Ms. Henry taught, the specific years she was at East Junior High, and her name then, if different, please send that information to editor@EastHigh.org.]

Post-Christmas sales lure shoppers back into stores
By By Ryan PoeThe Commercial Appeal
December 27, 2009 [Excerpts]
   Shoppers swamped Memphis-area retailers Saturday to take advantage of after-Christmas sales, spend their gift cards or return presents, capping a holiday season that showed signs of a slight improvement over last year's dismal sales figures.
   "People were just piling in today," said Lisa Ortasic-Hayes ['74], owner of one of the Shops of Saddle Creek in Germantown that sells fashionable maternity clothes.
   Ortasic-Hayes, who operates the shop with help from her daughter, said she kept Haute Mama open an extra hour because of the heavy flow of customers. "I had about 16 people in at one time, and this is a small store."
    ...

Shelby Middle School gets $600,000 grant to continue Peer Power tutoring
By Richard J. AlleyThe Commercial Appeal
December 19, 2009
   Memphis businessman Charles McVean ['61] is well-versed in the art of speculation, and his recognition of the opportunities to invest in young students is paying dividends.
   The latest investment is Shelby Middle School and its North Bolivar School district in Shelby, Miss., which has been awarded a $600,000 grant from the U.S. Education Department.
   The grant was awarded to the school to continue its yearlong work with Peer Power Foundation, McVean's tutoring initiative aimed at students in grades 7-12.
   Prompting the Education Department grant was the surge in state math exam scores among seventh-graders at Shelby Middle.
   "This kind of financial support will mean that we can touch the lives of so many more students," said Rives Neblett, the Shelby businessman who funded the program through a nonprofit group.
   McVean, a 1961 graduate of East High School, has made a career in the futures and trading markets of New York and Chicago, becoming a nationally recognized authority on beef cattle along the way.
   In 1986, he founded McVean Trading & Investments, a Memphis-based global organization that manages investments for more than 5,000 clients.
   He is also a philosopher who sees a troubled future for Memphis unless someone takes action.
   "There is an over-investment in private colleges and universities relative to efforts to improve primary and secondary education for underprivileged kids," he said.
   His private, nonprofit Peer Power began in 2004 with the Greater East High Foundation in 2004, which uses high-performing high school and college students to tutor underperforming students.
   "One of our main goals is to give constant encouragement and constant praise," said Meah King ['97 and Faculty], tenth-grade English teacher and faculty sponsor for Peer Power at East.
   But the program's rewards are tangible, as well.
   "Peer Power also gives monetary incentives," King said. "We try to exhaust all possibilities."
   The program's effectiveness at East is measurable: King said they awarded several thousand dollars for attendance and report card grades after the first nine weeks of this school year. East now boasts a 70 percent passing rate, versus a 75 percent failure rate in 2002.
   "We're teaching them that life is a competitive sport," she said. "You're not just competing among each other, but you're competing worldwide. You have to be the best to be successful."
   James Griffin, principal of the Grizzlies Academy, a nontraditional school within the Memphis City Schools system that accepts students who are one to two years behind, praises the program.
   "Students see they have a model of what they want to become," Griffin said. "The methods come not just from me and my staff, but their peers as well. They can explain something in a totally different way. It's relationship building."
   Other Memphis schools involved in the program include Whitehaven High School and Lester Elementary.
   The key to the program is giving students the individual attention they need.
   Collapsing the student-teacher ratio is the only way to focus more attention on the student.
   "The only answer for East High School was to implement the dynamics of the one-room schoolhouse on a large scale by using the top end of the older kids on a professional basis to teach the younger kids, thereby collapsing the student-to- teacher ratio from 28 to 1 to 2 to 1," McVean said. "Through this process, we identified the most underutilized asset in our society today: the top end of these underprivileged kids."
   Third-year University of Memphis student Cortney Richardson, a 2007 East High graduate and Peer Power tutor, said he admires McVean's effort to give back to the community.
   "A lot of what he does goes unnoticed, but he is a wonderful philanthropist and so genuine, and that's one of the most important things," Richardson said. "He makes a lot of things seem attainable."

Planned Parenthood clinic move criticized
Lieutenant governor calls for Senate hearing
By Lindsay MelvinThe Commercial Appeal
December 18, 2009
   Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey is criticizing a state agency for allowing a clinic that provides abortions to locate near Memphis Catholic High School.
   In a mass-distributed letter on Thursday, the Republican lawmaker from Blountville bashed the Health Services and Development Agency, which grants certificates of need to health care facilities.
   "It is shocking that the HSDA would do something so stupid and insensitive," said Ramsey, who is running for governor in next year's elections.
   On Wednesday, the HSDA voted to grant Planned Parenthood Greater Memphis Region permission to relocate less than a mile from its current Union Avenue office to 1750 Madison.
   The new location, about two-tenths of a mile from Catholic High, has been the focus of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis, which has been trying to block the move.
   The 54-year-old lieutenant governor, with a history as an abortion opponent, is demanding the agency apologize and revoke its vote.
   Further, he intends to bring the 10-person volunteer board before the Senate Government Operations Committee in January to determine how it reached its decision.
   "It's just common sense, if you don't want something next door to you, you should have a say," he said.
   The certificate of need passed with four for the relocation of Planned Parenthood and two against. Remaining board members were either absent or abstained.
   Agency board member and Memphis physician Dr. Charles Handorf ['69] said the board focuses on whether a proposal contributes to orderly development of health care, whether it's economically feasible, and whether there is a need.
   "We're not a zoning body. We're not the morality police. We're not judging right from wrong. That's not the role of this body," he said.
   As customary, Handorf recused himself from the vote because the project was based in his hometown.
   This will be the first time the agency will report to the operations committee to dissect one particular project, a state official said.

Flinn considers run for Tanner vacancy
By Alex DoniachThe Commercial Appeal
December 12, 2009
   Republican Shelby County Commissioner George [Sonny] Flinn [associated with the Class of '61] -- a prospective candidate for county mayor -- is considering a run for the 8th Congressional District.
   A week after the surprise retirement announcement of longtime incumbent U.S. Rep. John Tanner, D-Tenn, Flinn said he may seek the seat that includes parts of Memphis and Shelby County. He won't announce until January.
   "I'm weighing the support and actually just what can be done," said Flinn, 66, a two-term commissioner and radiologist who runs a group of clinics as well as Flinn Broadcasting Co., a group of radio stations.
   Tanner announced last week that he won't seek re-election to the office he's held for 11 terms, creating a wide-open race that's drawn interest from a flurry of Democrats and Republicans across the state.
   The 19-county district includes Frayser and Raleigh in Memphis, Millington and northwest Shelby County, and stretches through Jackson to Clarksville.
   Although Democrats have long held the seat, National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Andy Sere said the district has become increasingly conservative and overwhelmingly voted Republican in the 2008 presidential election.
   "We're actually favored to take it," Sere said of the 2010 congressional race.
   But Sere said if Flinn runs, he'll have to catch up to Republican challengers Stephen Fincher, a Crockett County farmer and gospel singer, and network systems engineer Donn Janes of Brighton, who both announced their candidacies this summer.
   Convincing voters in this mostly rural district could be another challenge for Flinn, who divides his time between four homes in Shelby County and Washington, D.C., only one of which is in District 8.
   Flinn, whose commission district encompasses mostly the suburbs and East Memphis, said he doesn't have a primary residence -- "it depends on the week" -- but that constituents in the 8th Congressional District have urged him to run.
   Yet Flinn said he still hasn't ruled out a run for county mayor in 2010. In 2002, he spent $1 million of his own money in an unsuccessful campaign against A C Wharton for county mayor.
   "That's my other decision -- where I can serve the best," Flinn said. "As county mayor or as a congressman from the 8th District?"
   So far only Democrats Deidre Malone, a commissioner, and Harold Byrd, Bank of Bartlett president, have announced bids for the county mayor's seat. No other Republican has indicated a strong interest in running.

Shaw Joins Glankler Brown, Has High Goals for Future Practice
REBEKAH HEARN | The Daily News
Thursday, December 10, 2009
   Miska L. Shaw ['00] has joined Glankler Brown PLLC as an associate. Shaw practices in civil litigation, including family, personal injury, employment and business law.
   She received her bachelor�s degree in applied economics management from Cornell University and her master of public administration degree from the University of Memphis. Shaw earned her law degree from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, where she was a member of the Dispute Resolution Society and received the Excellence in Oral Advocacy Award.
   During law school, Shaw also spent a semester studying international law in the Netherlands.
   She is a member of the Memphis, Tennessee, American and National bar associations, the University of Memphis Alumni Association and serves on the Memphis PREP Alumni Committee.
   Q: In law school, you were active in the Dispute Resolution Society. Is this related to arbitration/mediation? Are you interested in becoming a certified mediator?
   A: Yes, the mission of the Dispute Resolution Society is to promote law student awareness and training in the areas of mediation and arbitration. While in law school, I obtained certification as a mediator according to the requirements of the state of Missouri. I have observed several hours of very experienced mediators wrangling with contentious parties.
   I also undertook an intensive study of community-based mediation in Nepal. The Nepalis have adapted our Western model of mediation to address their cultural beliefs and the lack of suitable government courts to handle personal disputes. Most of their mediators are just ordinary people, not lawyers.
   I will eventually obtain mediator certification in Tennessee. However, I am more focused on gaining trial experience right now. I think one of the most beneficial qualities for an attorney mediator is to have tons of courtroom experience under your belt, so that the disputing parties have faith in what you tell them. At Glankler Brown, I have some of the best trial attorneys as my mentors, so I am definitely on the right track.
   Q: How did you get the opportunity to study in the Netherlands during law school? Did you focus on any particular aspects of international law at the University of Utrecht?
   A: I was chosen to participate in an exchange program arranged by my law school. I have always been interested in comparing our American legal system with that of other countries. My studies in the Netherlands focused on human rights, juvenile law and Dutch law. One area of international law that I intend to incorporate into my practice is international adoption. I am looking for supervised pro bono cases to work on so that I can develop my expertise in this area.
   Q: Why did you choose to pursue a master�s degree in public administration? Has that degree helped you in the law?
   A: I chose the MPA program at the University of Memphis because I was considering a career in either the government or nonprofit sector. There may come a time when I decide to pursue a career in public service. But for now, the degree is quite helpful in my private practice. Glankler Brown serves clients that are government agencies, as well as clients seeking our guidance to ensure compliance with governmental regulations. My public administration background helps me to understand the political and legal environments in which these clients operate, so that we, as a firm, can closely tailor our legal services to match their needs.
   : As a recipient of Washington University School of Law�s Excellence in Oral Advocacy Award, what do you think is one of the most important aspects of oral arguments?
   A: Making sure that what you say is factually and legally correct is one of the most important aspects of a good oral argument. This requires meticulous research and preparation and, of course, high ethical standards. You never want to lose the trust of your audience.
   Q: What brought you back here after law school?
   A: I was born and raised in Memphis. I received a great education from East High School, which is a Memphis City School. I went away to upstate New York for college and to St. Louis for law school. I was drawn back here by the down-to-earth people, the Southern culture, the cost of living, and most importantly, the fact that a majority of my family members live here.
   Q: If you were not a lawyer, what would be your second career choice?
   A: If I were independently wealthy, I would travel all over the world helping refugees and poor people obtain human rights like education, clean drinking water, the right to vote, freedom from oppression, etc. If I should win the Powerball jackpot, I will definitely pursue this dream. In the meantime, I fulfill my humanitarian duty by volunteering with local charities, including (providing) pro bono legal representation.

Out-of-towner returns to express heartfelt gratitude for men who saved his life
'What words do you use to thank somebody who saved your life?'
Hank Dudding, The Commercial Appeal
November 7, 2009

   Jim Munn, center, of California suffered a heart attack during a recent trip to Memphis. Only by the fast work of paramedics, Shawn Nichols, (left foreground), James Burford, (in blue shirt) and Doug Harrifeld, at right, with the Memphis Fire Department was Munn able to survive his heart attack and return to thank the people that saved his life. Nichols and Harrifield are holding their children, Brook Nichols and Hunter Harrifeld.
   If Jim Munn could remember Aug. 19, he'd tell you he was on his way to see a fancy golf course when he dropped dead.
   He'd tell you how his friend of 55 years, Herschel Worthy, noticed they'd just driven past the police and fire training academies near U.S. 51.
   And he'd tell you how Worthy flagged down three never-say-die firefighters who helped save his life.
   Munn, 70, of Upland, Calif., came back to Memphis on Friday to thank his heroes, Memphis Fire Department driver James Burford and paramedics Doug Harrifeld and Shawn Nichols.
   "What words do you use to thank somebody who saved your life?" Munn asked, wiping away a tear. "There's not any. It's just handshakes and hugs."
   Munn and Worthy had spare time in August when they drove up for a look at the recently renovated, upscale Mirimichi golf course near Millington.
   But on the way, Worthy saw something was wrong with his friend.
   "I touched him, and he fell over against the door," Worthy said.
   Worthy wheeled around and pulled onto O.K. Robertson Road, flagging down Burford, Harrifeld and Nichols, who were headed to lunch after training at the academy.
   They put him in an ambulance, but Munn was in full cardiac arrest.
   "In full arrest, they usually don't make it," Nichols said.
   Burford performed CPR � "I pumped that chest hard" � while the paramedics administered drugs and shocked Munn at least six times with a defibrillator.
   Then they rushed him to Methodist University Hospital, which they knew had an "ice suit," an experimental device that cools heart patients' bodies for treatment.
   Despite their efforts, they were pretty sure he wasn't going to make it, and they often never find out how their patients do because of confidentiality laws.
   But Munn, now with a small automatic defibrillator implanted in his chest, was determined that they know their long shot paid off.
   He traveled from California for a gathering the fire department hosted Friday for him and the firefighters.
   "I told him, 'When I saw you, you didn't look that tall or this good,' " Burford joked.
   Munn knows he wouldn't be alive without the firefighters' determination not to let him go.
   "Had they not done all the things they did, I would have been dead on arrival," said Munn, whose only lingering side-effect is a 10-day gap in his memory and a sore chest from Burford's vigorous CPR.
   "Every time I breathe and it hurts, I say, 'Thank you,'" he said.

WHBQ-TV also did a story on Jim Munn's return to Memphis to thank paramedics. It can be viewed from the www.myfoxmemphis.com website. [Editor's note: viewers: please let us know when this video clip is no longer available from the WHBQ-TV website so we can make other arrangements. Contact editor@EastHigh.org.]

Mid-South Memories
The Commercial Appeal files, The Commercial Appeal
October 9, 2009
   Crowning glory before film, TV fame Cybill Shepherd ['68] (center), a senior at East High School, was named Miss Teenage Memphis on Oct 9, 1966. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W.J. Shepherd of 3420 Highland Park Place. She will compete in the Miss Teenage America Pageant in Dallas on Nov. 5. Top prize in the national contest is a $10,000 college scholarship. Debbie Salter (left) of Savannah, Tenn., was second alternate and Marcia Swett of 3561 Rhodes was first alternate.

Urban Land Institute will use greenways to start connecting region's dots
By Tom Bailey Jr., The Commercial Appeal
September 23, 2009
   Improving regional dialogue on important issues is the most pressing of seven new initiatives recently established by the Urban Land Institute Memphis, the new chairman says.
   "Right now, regional topics don't get the focus they deserve," said Russell 'Rusty' Bloodworth (associated with the Class of '63), who chairs the five-year-old Mid-South chapter. Russell Bloodworth is the new chairman of Urban Land Institute Memphis, which promotes "responsible" use of land. Sustainability, connectivity and more green space, exemplified by Schilling Farms in Collierville (backdrop), are some of the institute's concerns.
   The overarching goal of the institute is to promote the "responsible" use of land and to help create sustainable, thriving communities.
   Bloodworth, executive vice president of Boyle Investment Co., set six other initiatives: promoting economic sustainability; visioning the future; promoting environmental sustainability; supporting great neighborhoods; supporting great government and infrastructure; and helping create great places.
   The chapter was founded in 2004 and counts a membership of 140, consisting of individuals, organizations and public agencies. Its territory encompasses North Mississippi, West Tennessee and eastern Arkansas.
   The institute will begin promoting regionalism in earnest with "Greenways for the Mid-South Region: Connect the Dots," a workshop in early November that will focus on the Mid-South's rivers and greenways.
   The goal is to help establish a system of connecting trails, greenways and "blueways" along such regional rivers as the Wolf, Hatchie, Coldwater, Loosahatchie, Nonconnah, St. Francis and, of course, the Mississippi.
   Creating hundreds of miles of greenways will make the area a more appealing place to live and help preserve open space and habitat for animals, officials say.
   And Bloodworth believes rivers and greenways offer the best chance for improving regional dialogue. Once communication has been established, the topics can shift to other, more complicated issues.
   Founded in 1936, the Urban Land Institute is a nonprofit research and education organization that promotes the "responsible" use of land, and it counts more than 40,000 members in 80 counties.
   Officers of Urban Land Institute
   Chairman: Rusty Bloodworth (Boyle Investment Co)
   Assistant chairman: G. Dan Poag ('59) (Poag & McEwen Lifestyle Centers)
   Treasurer: Earl Williams Jr. (Loeb Properties)
   Immediate past chairman: Frank Ricks (Looney Ricks Kiss Architects)
   Membership vice chairman: Michael Oakes (Shelby County government)
   Sponsorship vice chairman: Mark Halperin (Boyle Investment)
   Programs vice chairman: Robert Fogelman II (Fogelman Investment Co.)
   Communications vice chairman: Chris Brown (Coleman Etter Fontaine-Commercial)
   Young Leaders Group co-chairmen: Donald Drinkard Jr. (CB Richard Ellis) and Thomas A. Pacello Jr. (Shelby County)

Hometown heroes Soldiers earn accolades
Special to My Life, The Commercial Appeal
September 11, 2009
   Army Sgt. Deneva L. [Sledge ('96)] Payne has been named Noncommissioned Officer of the Quarter for the 261st Signal Brigade.
   Selection was based on the individual's exemplary duty performance, job knowledge, leadership qualities, teamwork, significant self-improvement, personal achievements, notable accomplishments, and community service and support.
   Her knowledge and dedication were exemplary in winning the award and was decorated with the Army Commendation Medal for her distinguished acts of heroism, meritorious achievement or meritorious service.
   Payne is a dining facility sergeant supervisor serving with the Multi-National Corps-Iraq, assigned to Headquarters and Support Company, I Corps at Camp Victory, Iraq. The sergeant has served in the military for five years.
    Payne is a 1996 graduate of East High School. She is the daughter of Dorothy M. Graham and Edward Sledge, both of Memphis.
   ...

U of M alumni to honor accomplishments of five
By Fariss Adams Ivey, Special to My Life, The Commercial Appeal
September 9, 2009
    The University of Memphis College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Chapter will celebrate the achievements of five individuals at its annual awards dinner Oct. 1 at The Racquet Club of Memphis.
   Dr. Thomas Appleton ('67), James Morse and Keith Prewitt will be honored as Outstanding Alumni; Meah King ['97 and Faculty] will recognized as Outstanding Young Alumna;...
   Appleton, who earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1971, is professor of history and associate director of the Center for Kentucky History and Politics at Eastern Kentucky University...
   King, who earned a 2002 B.A. and a 2005 Master of Arts, is an English teacher at East High School.

The East High Alumni Page Editor's Commentary: This is more like it: multiple alumni receiving recognition.

Music festivals keep downtown Memphis hopping from trolley tracks to riverfront
By Linda Moore, The Commercial Appeal
September 6, 2009
   After 35 years in the North, James and Margie Bailey figured it was time to return to the South.
   And there was no better Southern homecoming for the Baileys than a visit to the Memphis Music and Heritage Festival, one of two musical events Downtown on Saturday. Pedro Valenzuela (left) and Domingo Montes from Los Cantadores delight the crowd Saturday at the Memphis Music and Heritage Festival. The event continues on multiple stages from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. today along Main Street.
    "We're just loving it," said James Bailey, formerly of Ann Arbor, Mich., now of Horn Lake, after listening to guitarist David Bowen's rendition of Rev. Al Green's "Let's Stay Together."
   The free, family-friendly festival is sponsored by the Center for Southern Folklore and celebrates the South in its musical and cultural glory.
   Performers are asked to give "their best 45 minutes" in genres that include blues, rockabilly, jazz, gospel, bluegrass, funk, rock and mariachi, said Judy Peiser ['63], executive director of the center.
   Others dance, from African to belly, give cooking demonstrations, make pottery or sell original art.
   "The festival gets to the soul of Memphis," Peiser said. "I think it's the most diverse event in the city."
   And it makes a statement about what is right about this region, she said.
   It's an event the world should see, said Johnny Sandberg, who since 2001 has led a tour group from Sweden to Memphis solely to attend the festival.
   Sandberg, with Memphis Travel in Herrljunga, Sweden, has brought as many as 40 people in years past. But with the tough economy, there are 20 in this year's group.
   "People from other countries would be very interested," Sandberg said. "This festival represents so much good music and so many different styles of music."
   The festival, on Main from Peabody Place to Gayoso, continues today from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
   Meanwhile on Saturday, music from Spiritual Excitement at the 35th Annual Stone Soul Picnic had colorful umbrellas bobbing when they led a chant that went, "Ain't no party like a holy ghost party 'cause a holy ghost party don't stop."
   The men's group was part of a daylong lineup of gospel acts at Tom Lee Park.
   With temperatures heating up after last week's cool start, Terri Taylor, her parents, relatives and friends made themselves as comfortable as possible, planting a tent, unfolding chairs and bringing water, snacks and a barbecue grill.
   "There are about 15 or 20 of us," Taylor said.
   Most are members of her father's church, Abundant Life Deliverance in North Memphis, and they come to the picnic every year to enjoy Christian music and fellowship.
   "I think this is a phenomenal event for the people of Memphis," Taylor said.

Malco Paradiso theater tightens security; vows better crowd control
By Jody Callahan , The Commercial Appeal
September 4, 2009
   If you're under 18 and want to see an R-rated movie at the Paradiso at night, even if mom is with you, tough luck.
   In response to a disturbing crowd scene in the parking lot of the East Memphis theater Saturday night that led to nine arrests, Malco officials announced the policy change at a town-hall meeting at Clark Tower on Thursday: No one under 18 gets to see an R-rated movie after 6 p.m., even if accompanied by an adult.
   For now, the policy applies seven days a week, but only at the Paradiso. Malco vice president Jimmy Tashie said the theater would also use its security guards to prevent teens from hanging out in front of the theater.
   This was all sparked by Saturday's disturbance, which began a little after 11 p.m.
   A promotional flier from a local deejay encouraged kids to see two R-rated movies that opened that weekend, "The Final Destination" and "Halloween 2."
   Many of the youngsters were underage and were turned away but had nowhere to go after their parents dropped them off.
    That led to hundreds of them milling about in the parking lot, leading to at least one fight, grainy videos of which showed up on YouTube.
    At Thursday night's meeting, Tashie repeatedly referenced the importance of the Paradiso to the locally owned company.
   "As our flagship, this theater means more to us than anyone in this room can imagine," Tashie told the 100 or so people gathered Thursday for the meeting. "Our interest is so great that we can't afford to have the kind of incident we had Saturday night."
   That underscored Malco's concern over whether the fallout from the fight or other bad behavior could affect business at the theater.
   It's generally believed that similarly unruly behavior led in part to the demise of Downtown's Muvico 22, which gained a reputation for disruptive patrons.
   "I don't think that'll happen here," Tashie said. "Hopefully, the measures we've taken will bring some Memphians back."
   Memphis police will have their "Skycop" camera system at the theater this weekend, Director Larry Godwin said.
   "We're going to take some precautions to make citizens feel better this weekend," he said.
   The Paradiso wasn't the only Malco theater affected by bad behavior Saturday.
   At the Raleigh Springs Mall location, police arrested a 17-year-old boy who fired a shot in the parking lot after people left a movie at about midnight. No one was hurt.
   At the Majestic in the Riverdale area, 30 police cars responded to a crowd of as many as 1,000 youngsters, issuing between 30 and 35 juvenile summonses.
   And while nothing happened at the DeSoto Cinema 16 in Southaven that night, officials are concerned about the generally large crowds that gather there.
   Southaven Mayor Greg Davis said the Board of Aldermen is working on a loitering ordinance to try to reduce crowds.
   Godwin defended the security at the Paradiso last Saturday night and questioned how much of the blame should rest on parents.
   "I think we've all got to take some responsibility. We didn't drop my kids off like that," he said. "When they went to a movie, they were old enough to go. We instructed them on what they were supposed to do."

Television news coverage of response to Paradiso parking lot fight
September 3, 2009
   At least 3 television stations had news coverage of Jimmy Tashie ('66) talking about Malco's response to fight in parking lot.
Additional newspaper stories are also posted here, dated September 1, 3, an 4, 2009.
See video of the television news stories:
WMC-DT
WHBQ-DT
WREG (video not available)

Town hall meeting tonight will discuss disruptive behavior in East Memphis
By Hank Dudding, The Commercial Appeal
September 3, 2009
   Memphis city officials and police will hold a town hall meeting tonight to address concerns about disruptive behavior at East Memphis entertainment venues.
   Officials plan to announce new measures to keep residents safe, according to a press release from City Council member Kemp Conrad.
   The release didn�t disclose what the measures were.
   The town hall meeting and press conference will be held at 6 p.m. at the Tower Room atop Clark Tower at 5100 Poplar.
   Conrad, Mayor Pro Tem Myron Lowery, MPD Deputy Chief Toney Armstrong and Col. Jeff Clark of Tillman Station will be in attendance.
   The conference follows an incident at the Malco Paradiso on Saturday night, when hundreds of teenagers gathered in the theater�s parking lot.
   Several fights broke out, and 10 people ranging in age from 12 to 18 were detained, police said.
   Nearly two dozen Memphis police cars responded, and officers blocked the exits to the parking lot while the crowd was dispersed.
   Earlier this week, Malco executive vice president Jimmy Tashie blamed part of the problem on parents dropping off teens who were too young to see the scream movies "The Final Destination" and "Halloween 2."
   Tashie said Malco is determined to protect movie-goers and the theater�s reputation.
   �We�re going to make sure we maintain a safe, friendly environment, and that�s on everyone�s mind right now,� he said Tuesday.
   Three initiatives to enhance the East Memphis entertainment area will also be announced at the meeting, according to the release.
   All residents are invited to attend.

Hhgregg Inc. to fill Circuit City void in example of big-box, anchor trend
By Don Wade, The Commercial Appeal
September 2, 2009 [Excerpts]

   ...
   "This is exactly the trend with big boxes and medium-size and large anchors," said John Reed ['69] of The Shopping Center Group. "We're working with Panera Bread, and when Atlanta Bread Company had difficulty, they jumped in. They're opening a store in Germantown next week that was a former Atlanta Bread Company"
   ...
   "I'm working with a national retailer now that has told me to perch on several intersections like a vulture and wait for Brand X to go out of business," Reed said.
   ...

Poice to increase patrols around Paradiso theater in East Memphis
By Hank Dudding, The Commercial Appeal
September 1, 2009
   Shantique Brady saw the potential for trouble in the way parents offload teens outside the Malco Paradiso on weekend nights.
   "It's like we're at a parade of minivans, with kids coming out of every door," said Brady, who manages the Ben & Jerry's ice cream parlor nearby.
    The gathering of youths reached critical mass Saturday night when brawls broke out among hundreds of people gathered in the theater's parking lot at 584 S. Mendenhall.
   Memphis police detained 10 people ranging in age from 12 to 18 for disorderly conduct, issuing misdemeanor citations to some and taking others to Juvenile Court.
   "I wish there was a camera so everyone could see how chaotic it was," said Brady, 29, who closed her store early that night. "It was really crazy."
   Nearly two dozen Memphis police cars responded to the scene. Officers blocked cars from entering the parking lot while vehicles inside were allowed to leave.
   The department plans to increase patrols around the theater this weekend, said spokeswoman Karen Rudolph, who encouraged citizens to call police if they see problems.
   "We're hoping it was a one-time thing, and we're not going to have to deal with it again," she said.
   Malco executive vice president Jimmy Tashie blamed the chaos on underage kids who were dropped off for the R-rated scream flicks "The Final Destination" and "Halloween 2."
   When the teens were turned away, they had no place to go but the parking lot, he said.
   "We're going to let parents know that they can't drop their kids off ... and expect them to go into an R-rated movie," he said. The Paradiso's Web site now includes an advisory warning parents that minors will not be admitted to R-rated films.
   Will Duren, 30, manager of a nearby restaurant, said he noticed the weekend crowds have grown since school started.
   "It's not a problem in the summer," he said. "Since schools let back in, it's been, 'Boom!' crazy on Friday and Saturday nights."
   News about the scene Saturday night spread by e-mail and word of mouth, kindling fears that the theater could be headed for the same fate as Muvico's closed, 22-screen Peabody Place theater, which acquired a reputation for disorder.
   "We're very sensitive to the e-mails and the phone calls," Tashie said. "This is our flagship theater, and we're not going to see it go down."
   As noon approached Tuesday, Brady gazed through the Ben & Jerry's window toward the empty Paradiso parking lot.
   "You look at it now, and it's like the calm before the storm," she said. "You can't imagine how many people were out here."

Presbyterian Day School unveils colorful early childhood addition
By Jane Roberts, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Friday, August 28, 2009
   Presbyterian Day School throws open the doors today on the boy-friendly, $20 million Norma T. Wilson Early Childhood Center.
   The colors are bold (the staff affectionately calls the color scheme "Skittles on steroids") in the 76,000-square-foot addition funded largely by school trustee C. Kemmons Wilson Jr. ['64], an alumnus of the school, and his wife, Norma.
   Her portrait in the foyer is oil, not pastel, in keeping with the hearty boys-school atmosphere.
   "We have boy-friendly classrooms with lots of room for hands-on work and movement," said headmaster Lee Burns, who revels in a world where learning tends toward the visual and the most convincing characters in literature are heroes and adventurers.
   "Around here, we like girls just fine, but we love boys," he said while giving a tour of the expansive construction project, completed in the middle of an economic meltdown.
   "We started in better times," said honorary building chairman Bruce Campbell. "But I wish we had started a little earlier."
   The wing for 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds has 12 Internet-connected classrooms -- each with its own SMART Board -- a gym, climbing wall and quick access to the playground where equipment is sized to age.
   There's unstructured play time each day -- outside if it's 32 degrees or warmer -- an intentional tribute to large-muscle movement.
   Boys learn to "settle their own disputes" on the playground, said Debbie Isom, head of the school's early childhood education. "Most children's time is so supervised, they always have adults around to run interference."
   The planning for the center began seven years ago and construction took 10 months.
   "The boys loved it," Burns said. "We had 150 to 170 workers here on a daily basis."
   The school, which has about 630 boys in prekindergarten through sixth grade, is one of several Memphis independent schools adding space for the youngest learners.
   Grace St. Luke's Episcopal School added classrooms this summer. The first opened this month for the school's fourth section of prekindergarten. Section five will open next year, said headmaster Tom Beazley.
   "It is a little unusual to be expanding now," he said. "All I can say is that our parents do not see an independent school education as a luxury."
   Along with the Wilsons, about 200 Memphis donors have pledged gifts to the new wing at Presbyterian Day School, which Wilson decided early in the process to dedicate to his wife.
   He ticked off a list of the reasons why in the dedication Aug. 18, including that she tucked notes in their five children's lunches and made dinner every night for the family.
   "The little things that he remembered about when we were raising our children were very touching," Norma Wilson said. "Men see more than we wives realize."
   She has taught swimming lessons for 45 years in the family pool, she said, and knows a few things about lifetime skills.
   "This little early childhood building is where it all starts. It wouldn't have meant as much to me if I had my name on a gym."
   Presbyterian Day School
   Established: 1949 by Second Presbyterian Church
   Enrollment: 637
   Tuition: $14,000
   Scholarships: 15 percent of student body
   Address: 4025 Poplar
   Grand opening: 8:30 a.m. today

Principal invites alumni to health clinics grand opening
The East High Alumni Page
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
   East High Principal Fred Curry invites alumni to the grand opening celebration for four city wide school based health clinics Tuesday, August 25, 11am - 1pm. The Northeast Regional Health Clinic is located inside East High School and opened this summer.
   The clinic is located in a remodeled area of the school on the lowest floor in the southwest corner of the building, an area that was used for art classes in years past. Nurse practitioners from Memphis Health Clinic staff the clinics, which have several examination rooms, a waiting area, and a conference room.
   The establishment of the clinics was made possible, in part, by a $600,000 donation from the Plough Foundation to cover the cost of construction and equipment. "We try to tackle the root problems of this city," said Diane Rudner ['68], Plough Foundation chairwoman.
   In addition to the clinic at East High, three others have been established at Northside, Sheffield, and Westwood High Schools.
Sources: The East High Alumni Page, Memphis City Schools, The Commercial Appeal
Building Engineer Jarcquiste Rogers shows the new clinic area       looking into one of the new examination rooms

Former Manufacturing CEO Takes Over Executive Networking, Mentoring Group
ERIC SMITH | The Daily News
Friday, August 14, 2009
   After 30 years at AZO, a global manufacturing company whose North American headquarters is in Memphis, Bob Moore ['73] decided it was time to try a new challenge.
   In December 2007, he sold his ownership stake in AZO, where he served as president and CEO, and spent the next few months on a �decompression� sabbatical, which included a cross-country road trip, to mull his next move.
   During his travels, Moore recollected his final six years at AZO and the affiliation he had forged with TEC (The Executive Committee), an organized peer group of corporate chief executives who met in a confidential setting to discuss various business and personal issues.
   No longer employed at his company, Moore had to leave the group, whose name had become Vistage International Inc. He figured he would just start a new business, but his Vistage mentor, Ken Edmundson, advised him to consider becoming a Vistage chair, which manages the CEO group.
   Ultimately, Moore decided it might be wiser to head down the Vistage path rather than the entrepreneurial one.
   �I was reading the tea leaves of the economy, thinking 2008 was not going to be a good year to start a new company or to buy an existing one,� Moore said. �I came back to Memphis after the road trip, called Ken and said, �OK, I�m interested.� �
   Select group
   Moore went through an extensive interview process and was chosen last fall to be the chair of Memphis� lone Vistage group. The group, formed in November, consists of 10 area corporate executives and business owners.
   Because of confidentiality, Moore was not able to disclose their names and companies, but those 10 members� companies employ 800 people in the Memphis area and have combined revenues of $171 million, according to Vistage data.
   Moore said he gets to spend his days working with �10 of the brightest, sharpest CEOs.� The group meets the second Thursday of each month, and sessions involve everything from high-profile speakers to brainstorms where members help each other with problems ranging from how to handle layoffs to how to manage company growth.
   �I don�t solve any issues for them,� Moore said. �I just ask a bunch of questions and then help them facilitate within the group meetings.�
   Moore also conducts confidential one-on-one sessions with each member of the group, all of whom have access to extensive Web articles and resources through Vistage, plus networking opportunities with the organization�s 15,000 other members.
   Moore said he has one particular line he likes to uses when describing Vistage to potential members.
   �It�s one day a month that you spend working on your business, not in your business,� he said. �CEOs and business owners can relate to that. They can relate to the opportunity to get away. Sometimes getting away from the office and thinking strategically and thinking long-term � especially if you have a peer group with no vested interest, no agendas on their part to influence your decision one way or the other � you can�t beat that.�
   A taste of freedom
   When Moore began approaching people last fall about joining his group, he cited the abysmal economic climate as a reason. The way he saw it, there was no better time than a recession to team with Vistage and other executives in the same boat.
   �If you�re having to do layoffs and cutbacks and find cost savings, what a great way to figure out the best way to do it,� Moore said.
   The fee to join Vistage is $1,100 a month, or $13,200 for a year, but Moore said the price is well worth it for the great advice that can be obtained from like-minded executives.
   For example, it was Moore�s Vistage peers who helped him decide to sell his 50 percent share of AZO, a company whose other executive half was based in Germany.
   �My group helped me go through the thought process of ending a 30-year partnership with my German partners, which was a difficult but necessary decision for me to make,� Moore said. �I knew what the right thing to do was, but it sure was great to get the feedback from 16 or 17 other guys that said, �Yeah, based on what we know, that�s the right thing for you to do.��
   Moore, 53, who grew up on Poplar Avenue and graduated from East High School and the University of Memphis, plans to do this new gig for a while. He hopes to form a second group and someday find another chair for even more Vistage groups in the area.
   Though he loved his business and the time he spent there, the freedom and flexibility of his new schedule makes him realize how happy he is to have 30 years of boardrooms and airplanes and executive reports in his rearview mirror.
   �I almost feel guilty for getting paid doing this,� Moore said with a laugh. �This is the most enjoyable thing I�ve ever done.�

Town hall tension: Meeting turns ugly over health care
By Linda Moore, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Saturday, August 8, 2009
   Hundreds of people crowded into the BRIDGES building in Downtown Memphis on Saturday for a congressional town hall meeting that quickly deviated into a raucous shouting free-for-all, requiring extra law enforcement officers to watch over the scene.
   The meeting, hosted by U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis, was scheduled to address constituents' concerns about Social Security and veterans' benefits, but the real topic of the day was health care reform legislation being crafted by Congress.
   Most people in the crowd of close to 500 were in loud opposition, although Cohen supporters held their own, waving signs that read "Health Care Now."
   And as one heckler yelled, another shouted back, "Shut up! I want to hear my congressman. You shut your mouth!"
   Within 15 minutes of the start of the event, a nearly nose-to-nose confrontation between individuals with opposing views became so heated they had to be separated as Shelby County sheriff's deputies and Memphis police officers called for reinforcements. No arrests were made.
   With town hall meetings greeted with similar protests across the nation, Cohen was prepared.
   "This is America, this is Memphis, Tennessee. Take two aspirin and come back in the morning," he yelled over out over the room.
   Cohen invited area physicians to share their opinions on health care reform.
   Dr. Neal Beckford was roundly booed when he said 50 million people were without health insurance.
   However, he pointed out that as a society Americans need to decide what they want.
   "And when we've decided what we want and how much it cost, we then need collectively to decide what we are willing to pay," he said.
   Cardiologist Dr. James Klemis believes that ethically the poor must be taken care of. But this bill is being rushed and is too similar to Canada's and Britain's socialized medicine, he said.
   "The problem is, government can't be the solution. It's got to be within the community," Klemis said.
   Dr. Laura Bishop shared her disdain for insurance companies but is no fan of Washington's plan.
   "Government getting involved in deciding what health care you are receiving is not the way to go," Bishop said.
   Honesty, said Dr. Autry Parker, must be part of the conversation on health care reform.
   "This issue will not be solved by people shouting, it will not be solved by people telling lies over and over again," Parker said. "Yes, I have read it and I do not agree with everything in it, but there is absolutely nothing in the bill that is going to euthanize grandma."
   One of the signs waved by a plan opponent said "Don't tell my gigi how to die," referring to allegations that the bill would allow senior citizens to be euthanized, something the nonpartisan group FactCheck.org said is false. Cohen also denied that the bill would pay for abortions -- another claim made by opponents.
   Roger Fakes ['56], 70, said he sat quitely during most of the meeting, but Cohen's insistence that citizens would be able to keep their private health care drove him to his feet.
   He argued that changes to private insurance would force citizens into the government plan.
   "There are some of us old gray-haired folks that don't want the government involved in any of our business," he said.
   The nearly all-white audience was not a snapshot of the mostly African-American 9th District that Cohen represents.
   One of those who came from outside the district was Mark Mullis, 67, of Olive Branch, who was treated for cancer two years ago. He's afraid of what the plan will do to his insurance coverage, a combination of Medicare and retiree benefits.
   "I know some people think a 25-year-old has a whole lot more to give. Maybe I've got seven or eight more years. To me all life is precious no matter what age," Mullis said.
   Also from outside the district was bill supporter John Miles, 21, of Tupelo, Miss., who debated with opponents during the meeting.
   "The purpose of this is to ask questions and receive answers. These people had all the answers," Miles said. "It's frustrating. It seemed that side in particular was doing a lot of yelling and screaming and booing. I just felt like yelling back."
   Cohen is also proposing an amendment to the bill that would create a national pilot program on infant mortality, an issue of grave concern in Memphis, where infant-mortality rates are like those of a Third World country, he said.
   Despite the boos, jeers and general disorder Saturday, Cohen said that after 33 years in public service he wasn't rattled.
   "I expected it to be a lot worse," Cohen said.

Wolfchase Holiday Inn reflects modern 'relaunch' of chain's brand
By Tom Bailey Jr., Memphis Commercial Appeal
Friday, July 31, 2009
   The Wilson family will ceremonially open an updated version of Holiday Inn on Saturday, exactly 57 years after their patriarch unveiled the original.
   "We are going to get as many Wilsons as we can" for Saturday's ribbon cutting at 11 a.m., Kemmons 'Kem' Wilson Jr. ['64] said of the grand opening of Holiday Inn & Suites -- Wolfchase.
   He and his four siblings cut the ribbon on Aug. 1, 1952, for their dad's first Holiday Inn on Summer.
   Now, Wilson, 62, and his son, McLean Wilson, 31, have built a 133-room hotel at 2751 New Brunswick Road near Wolfchase Galleria.
   Kemmons Wilson, who was Kem's father and McLean's grandfather, died in 2003.
   He is credited with reinventing the lodging business by building a chain of hotels with standards on which travelers could count no matter where they were.
   Holiday Inns, now one of seven hotel brands owned by InterContinental Hotel Group, is primarily a franchised business.
   Individuals or companies own one or more hotels in the system. The corporation provides the reservation service, quality standards, inspections and marketing support.
   Kem and McLean, through their Wilson Hotel Management Company, also own a Holiday Inn in Jackson, Tenn., two Holiday Inns in Huntsville, Ala., manage the Holiday Inn at the University of Memphis, and will soon build a Holiday Inn Express in Jackson.
   The full-service hotel that ceremonially opens on Saturday -- it actually opened June 9 -- features updates that reflect the "relaunch" of the Holiday Inn brand in 2007.
   Following a 2005 survey of 18,000 consumers, Holiday Inns modernized its iconic sign, (green for Holiday Inn and blue for Holiday Inn Express), lit the exteriors in blue or green light, installed new soundtracks for the lobby, put in scent machines with customized aromas, gave the lobby a cleaner, less- cluttered look, hung new art behind the lobby desk, put all-white bedding in the rooms, labeled pillows as firm or soft, erected shower curtains that let in more light, and provided more towels and other amenities.
   Holiday Inns started renovating its brand almost 10 years ago, said John Merkin, senior vice president for brand management.
   "We took up this work in 2000 on what is a modern Holiday Inn hotel going to look like," he said.
   The project is one-third completed. About 300 hotels are new like the Wilsons', another 700 have been renovated, and another 2,000 are to be refurbished by the end of next year, Merkin said.
   About 1,000 old hotels have been removed from the system.
   "Over the past five or six years the Wilson family has appreciated the way we were revitalizing the brand," Merkin said. "Our system and brand are becoming younger."
   The investment is already paying off.
   The hotels that have been renovated or built to newer standards produce 6 percent more revenue per available room, Merkin said.
   Kemmons Wilson Jr. appreciates that Holiday Inns has recommitted to the brand his father founded.
   "We have had a new excitement about Holiday Inns," he said. "That's primarily driven by the InterContinental Hotel Group, who has had the wisdom and foresight to promote this iconic name of Holiday Inn.
   "They found that right under our noses we have a great brand. It's got warm and fuzzy feelings to most everyone. We just needed to put capital behind this brand and to bring it back to the prominence it had."
   McLean Wilson appreciates the legacy his grandfather created.
   "As a third-generation Wilson working in the hotel world now, it's really neat to think about the fact I'm doing work that 57 years earlier my grandfather was doing with Holiday Inn."

[Editor's note: Kem Wilson and his siblings all are East High alumni.]

Storm causes tree damage on campus
The East High Alumni Page
Thursday, July 30, 2009
   Severe storms in and around the Memphis area spawned numerous tornado warnings this evening and caused minor damage to the East High campus. The most significant immediately apparent damage at East was a tree on the northwest section of the campus which had blown over into Walnut Grove Road. It either laned on or in front of a car, which police say had to be towed from the scene. However, no injuries are being reported from the storms area wide.
   Other trees on the campus also had branch damage but it was relatively minor, with only one or two limbs of significant size having been blown down. A soccer goal was partially collapsed but it is unknown if that was due to the storm or had occurred at another time.
   No damage was noticeable to the buildings on campus, other than a portable restroom was tipped over near the Career and Technology Center.

She�s Still Here, Up for Anything
By MARGY ROCHLIN, The New York Times
July 23, 2009
   THE first time Cybill Shepherd ['68] appeared on a talk show was on �The Tonight Show� back in 1968. At the time she was a radiant 18-year-old from Memphis with a confrontational gaze who owned the title Model of the Year. �I could barely say a word,� she said. �All I could do was say �Yes� and look terrified.�
   Forty-one years later Ms. Shepherd now looks at the untold hours she has logged talking about herself on camera as not unlike time spent on a different kind of couch. �Before I ever did psychotherapy or analysis I did interviews and talk shows, which are a kind of therapy,� she said. �I mean, you�re talking about yourself, and it does bring about some possibilities of thinking about who you are and where you are in your life.�
   Occasionally she would play with the format: On �Late Night With David Letterman,� she once strolled onstage wearing a bath towel. Sometimes the format would play with her, as when she was promoting her 1971 feature-film debut as the self-possessed small-town enchantress in �The Last Picture Show.�
   �On all these talk shows I just seemed like I was a nattering airhead, just nattering on and blond,� said Ms. Shepherd, who also heard that her persona so irked the director Elaine May that it nearly cost her a key role in �The Heartbreak Kid.� �Looking back I can see why she didn�t want to cast me. But I�m different now. I finally have become just more of who I am.�
    So who is Ms. Shepherd? At 59 she has become the actress who is up for almost anything. She has done guest spots on popular television shows like �Psych,� �Criminal Minds� and �Samantha Who?� On Showtime�s defunct lesbian drama, �The L Word,� she had a recurring role as a university vice chancellor who started out severe, then ran hilariously amok the minute she discovered her attraction to other women. And she has just signed to a recurring role on the new ABC series �Eastwick� (based on the movie and novel �The Witches of Eastwick�), in which she will play a former witch who has become a reclusive cat lady.
   �Years ago one of my mentors, Orson Welles, told me, �A career is made not by what you do but by what you don�t do,� � she said. �But so much about these past few years has been about saying yes, and it�s really paid off.�
   Lead roles are part of the mix. In �Mrs. Washington Goes to Smith,� which has its premiere on the Hallmark Channel next Saturday, Ms. Shepherd plays a middle-aged housewife, Alice Washington, who returns to Smith College to get her diploma, find herself and forget that her dweeby dentist husband has left her for a younger woman. �Mrs. Washington� is the kind of television movie for which you can predict most of the plot twists, including the dazzling makeover Ms. Shepherd�s dowdy character will receive. But no one can say that Ms. Shepherd doesn�t bring a certain been-there authority to the role.
   Like Alice, she attended college when she was young but dropped out before graduating. Like Alice, she�s been married and divorced (Ms. Shepherd twice). Like Alice, Ms. Shepherd, who has three grown children, knows what it�s like to walk around a spacious house once noisy with offspring and wonder how to beat back the silence.
   �I was in such denial at first. I said, �Empty nest? No problem. I just won�t go home,� � said Ms. Shepherd, whose tenure on �The L Word� required commuting between Los Angeles and Vancouver. �But when it did hit me, oh my God. It was just that howling-at-the-moon time. It�s still very, very important for me to go into their rooms at a certain time at night and close the shutters and turn on a night light.�
   But on this afternoon Ms. Shepherd�s tall, floppy-haired son Zack, 21, was home, back for the summer. Stretched out on the living room sofa in Ms. Shepherd�s hilltop house with its expansive views of the San Fernando Valley, he read the newspaper and listened in as his barefoot mother, dressed in loose black pants and a billowy turquoise print blouse, told show business stories. At unpredictable moments she would slip into a honey-dipped Southern drawl. This, according to Jane Lynch, Ms. Shepherd�s good friend and her �L Word� co-star, was a sign that she was relaxed.
   �The more comfortable she is, the more her Tennessee comes out,� explained Ms. Lynch, who portrayed Ms. Shepherd�s lawyer girlfriend on the series and recalled that the biggest hurdle when they filmed their love scene � Ms. Shepherd�s first with a woman � was Ms. Shepherd�s surplus of enthusiasm.
   �She was very �I can do this! I can do this!� She�d kiss me in the middle of a sentence,� Ms. Lynch said with a laugh. �I had to say to her, �Um, I kind of got to get the line out first.� She kind of went into overkill.�
   Young Hollywood could learn a thing or two about resiliency from Ms. Shepherd. Just as people began to know her name, she was labeled a home wrecker, as her on-set affair with Peter Bogdanovich, her director on �The Last Picture Show,� broke up his marriage. When he cast her at the center of two follow-up movies that flopped both critically and at the box office � an adaptation of Henry James�s �Daisy Miller� and the musical �At Long Last Love� � people said her career was over. Then, a year later, she landed a role as a poised political aide in Martin Scorsese�s �Taxi Driver.�
   Another lull followed, forcing her to take movie and television scraps, like a small part on �Fantasy Island.� In the mid-1980s, however, she emerged victorious as the fast-talking model turned private eye Maddie Hayes on the hit ABC series �Moonlighting.� Four years later the dream soured again, when �Moonlighting� ended amid reports of unmanageable backstage infighting between her and her co-star, Bruce Willis. She rebounded in the mid-1990s as the wisecracking actress at the center of the CBS sitcom �Cybill,� but now finds herself playing, for the most part, secondary roles.
   The woman who survived such tumult seems philosophical about her place in Hollywood. �One of the things that really changed for me in my life is that I�ve learned how to be a guest star,� she said. �It�s like, �Oh, yeah. I remember being the lead on a show and the guest stars having to be the last person shot.� Do you understand what I�m saying? This has been a real learning curve, a growing-up process. But I�m happy to have a job.�
   When she�s not working she studies with acting and vocal coaches. �It�s my continuing education, what I consider to be a kind of master class situation,� said Ms. Shepherd, who grew up singing in a church choir, started taking voice lessons at 16 and has recorded 11 albums.
   In her mind age has presented her with opportunities that were once out of reach. �What I�m trying to say about being beautiful,� she said, �is that there�s an element of it that can cause you to be emotionally underdeveloped. People do things for you, doors will open because you�re beautiful. It was like I took off on this airplane in 1968 and just flew into world fame. There were a lot of times in between where I just didn�t get a chance to grow and learn.�

    A version of this article appeared in print on July 26, 2009, on page AR18 of the New York edition

Editor's note: several additional articles about Cybill Shephered are included on this page.

Eyes, imaginations cast to moon in '69 on historic day
Memphians reflect on the night man made that iconic footprint
By Cindy Wolff, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Sunday, July 19, 2009
   It was 9:56 p.m., just about bedtime for 9-year-old Memphian Skip Howard.
   Kids had bedtimes in 1969, even in the summer. But they stayed up late on special days, and July 20 was one...
   Apollo 11 landed on the moon at 3:15 p.m. But it was more than six hours later before astronaut Neil Armstrong took a step onto the surface. People ate dinner on TV trays and watched, afraid to miss the historic moment...
   Here are two other memories e-mailed by our readers:...
   "I was 13 and had faithfully followed all the media coverage leading up to the moon launch, even making a scrapbook from Life magazine photos and constructing a cardboard miniature Lunar Excursion Module. (My favorite astronaut was Mike Collins, who I thought was "dreamy!") On the day of the launch, my father got out his trusty reel-to-reel recorder and taped the TV broadcast. We all teared up along with Walter Cronkite as the rocket left the launching pad. Although landing day, July 20, was supposed to be the first day of our vacation trip to Illinois, we waited until midnight to depart, so we could watch Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon. Now, whenever we watch our home movies of that 1969 vacation, we are reminded of the national excitement that the moon landing generated. Interspersed with shots of my sister and me swimming, Abraham Lincoln's tomb, and roadside picnics are motel marquees with messages like, 'Congratulations Apollo 11!' and restaurant signs advertising 'moon pancakes.' I still have the scrapbook (although it's falling apart now), The Commercial Appeal with the headline, 'WE MADE IT,' and the home movies. Unfortunately, the LEM model apparently lifted off to the trash at some point during the last 40 years."
   -- Joy [Tiffin] Sutherland ['74], Collierville

Guest column: My Thoughts: Summertime opens road to follow your dreams
By William K. Richardson [class year unverified], Special to The Commercial Appeal
Sunday, July 12, 2009
   The late playwright Lorraine Hansberry once wrote that "it has taken me a good number of years to come to any measure of respect for summer," and added, "For the longest of time I simply thought summer was a mistake."
   Her first impressions of summer were shaped by the long and often steamy days of her youth in the 1940s on Chicago's South Side. So hot were the nights, in that era of no air conditioning, that her father would sometimes pack up the entire family and go to the local park, where all would sleep on the cool grass.
   As I was born in June, I guess it is only natural that I take exception with the late writer's initial take on summer; it is my favorite time of the year. I love the summer for the obvious reasons: the warm temperatures, the longer days, the leisurely pace, the scant clothing. (And lest anyone accuse me of lechery, let me clarify that a pair of shorts, a T-shirt and flip-flops are my own standard attire in the summer, though I must admit pretty women in shorts are an added perk.)
   While January 1 signals the day to start anew or to turn over a new leaf, I have always believed it is the summer that presents endless opportunity and hope. Summer, to me, is a form of "rebirth." As a high school English teacher and coach, I find that summer not only offers me time to recharge for the new school year, but it also provides the time to do many things I don't have the time to pursue during the school term: catch up on my reading, take in the latest movies, get to the gym often, travel the country. The extra hours of light during the summer day give everyone the opportunity to dedicate more of their day to leisurely activities of their choice: beautifying the homestead, enjoying a long weekend with family and friends, fishing in an out-of-the-way spot, or simply lounging by a pool.
   My favorite summer was the year I turned 18, the summer of 1979. To this day, I vividly remember those hot days in a summer school classroom repeating a semester of senior English (dreadful) and those cool nights in my '65 Chevy in pursuit of a pretty, blue-eyed brunette (not the least bit dreadful).
   It sometimes feels as though I never left that era. I am (ironically) a high school English teacher, for whom brunettes are still a bit of a weakness.
   I also remember the optimism of that first summer after high school; it was palpable. All I could think of was the future, which for the 18-year-old me, extended no further than the next week. A brand-new graduate of East High School, I was ready to conquer the world, as long as I could do such beginning at noon each day. Youthful optimism, as in my case, is sometimes wasted on the young.
   Summer is, in the words of Hansberry, "life at the apex." I have tried to live each summer that way. Every June presents another chance to "re-do" the summer of 1979. I've been chasing 18 since I was 18. Just like a dog chasing its own tail, I've come close, but have yet to capture it fully. Yet it is the chase that is most enjoyable.
   In summers past, I've gone back to school to finish my master's degree. I've spent time on the beaches on both coasts. I've hiked the Rockies in Colorado. I've traversed the streets of Manhattan. I've written and edited a book I hope to get published. One summer, I boxed professionally to pay the rent. I already have plans for a trip to Europe next summer.
   During the summer months, anything is possible -- with a notable exception or two. My bald head will never again have a full growth of hair, even if June were year-round. And I will never again be 18, no matter how hard I try, which I will continue to do.
   I am fast at work again this summer at another fruitless attempt to reach back to a time long gone, and it couldn't be more enjoyable. Never has a dog had so much fun chasing its tail.
   William K. Richardson teaches ninth-grade English at Millington High School, where he also coaches the wrestling team. Contact him at Coachwkr@gmail.com.

Camp lets teens try advanced learning program
By Jane Roberts, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Saturday, July 11, 2009
   If din is to ruckus like will is to learning, the hoots, hollers and full-body tackles Friday were nearly redemptive.
   Besides, who wants to shush students thrilled beyond reason to be calculating the molecular weight of copper sulfate or defining imagery's place in literature?
   The first session of the week-long Summer Scholars Camp for Advanced Placement Students wrapped up Friday in a Knowledge Bowl of sorts at the University of Memphis, feeling and sounding more like a football game as teams channeled their wits, then ran pell-mell to the front of the room to turn in their answers.
    AP teachers from across the city kept a safe distance but couldn't help marveling at the spectacle.
   "Seventy percent of these kids will have no trouble in AP chemistry. That is much higher than I would have expected," said Eddie Chevis [Faculty], AP chemistry teacher at East High School and one of handful of city school staffers putting in extra time this summer to give students from disadvantaged high schools a pre-taste of AP.
   As camp den mother, Sandra Lewis shepherded 65 first-time AP students through a smorgasbord of camp offerings -- calculus to literature -- giving them a feel of what's available and a chance to meet kids from across the city on the same path.
   She will do it again July 20-24.
   "The first day, we wrote an essay," said Tacorria Dunlap, 15, registered for AP pre-calculus and English at Northside High and freely admitting she didn't expect to dig in so quickly.
   "We had to write on a mortally ambitious character. None of us knew what that meant."
   She quickly chose Macbeth, remembering she knew plenty about his dark side after watching her brother act the lead in Shakespeare's play.
   Student after student told similar stories, including Reginald Johnson Jr., 17, registered for four AP classes at Booker T. Washington, knowing full well it means no social life.
   "I want to better myself. Life is going to be hard anyway, so I want to take the big stuff before I get to college," he said thoughtfully.
   "If I pass these, the credits count for college."
   In 2007-08, the district offered 151 AP courses. Last year, the number jumped to 167. Figures are not available for the 2009-10 year, according to the district, but Supt. Kriner Cash has said he wants at least eight AP courses per high school, starting immediately, and has budgeted $1.7 million this year to accomplish the goal.
   The mistake some people make, according to Chevis, is thinking that AP is only for gifted children.
   The campers "are average students in Memphis City Schools who really believe in themselves and who get support at home. They are interested in succeeding."
   With one AP course under their belts, African-American students are 21 percent more likely to graduate from college than students who didn't take AP courses, according to the College Board, the New York-based nonprofit that monitors AP instruction and oversees college entrance exams.
   "Students know these are challenging courses. They have to prepare themselves differently than the way they prepare for other classes," said Lewis, coordinator of a $1.8 million federal grant to improve AP quality and quantity in city schools.
   But in Tennessee, where African-Americans make up 21.3 percent of high school student bodies, only 7.9 percent take AP courses.
   "The end product is not necessarily the test," Lewis said. "The end product is developing habits of the mind."

More than $296 million in federal funds begins flow into 9th District
By Alex Doniach (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal
Saturday, July 11, 2009
   [Excerpt]
   When Judy Peiser ['63] set out to create a digital archive from decades of Southern art, music and film, she didn't realize how much time it would require.
   "A lot of hours are spent making it look easy," said Peiser, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Southern Folklore in Downtown Memphis.
   So when Peiser found out about U.S. stimulus money available for the arts, she applied and was recently awarded a $50,000 boost from the National Endowment for the Arts.
   With donations down in a national recession, Peiser said this much-needed stimulus money will help her retain a staff of six.
   The grant is among a growing list of awards from the $787 billion U.S. stimulus package slated to flow into Shelby County, according to information released this week by U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis

Software designer says hometown's 'authenticity' has no peer
By John Schranck / Special to The Commercial Appeal
Saturday, June 27, 2009
   Although he has lived a variety of places, Memphis has always been home for Meka Egwuekwe [associated with the Class of '91].
   He grew up in South Memphis near Lamar and South Parkway, and attended Memphis City Schools through ninth grade.
   It was in ninth grade that Egwuekwe won a scholarship to the prestigious Philips Academy in Andover, Mass. From there he went to Morehouse College in Atlanta to study computer science, and interned at NASA.
   Upon his graduation from Morehouse, Egwuekwe headed to Duke University, where he earned his master's degree in computer science in 1996.
   After Duke, Egwuekwe returned to Atlanta to begin his career working for Hewlett-Packard. A few years later, during the dot-com boom, Egwuekwe left HP to join a startup company called Online Insight.
   In 2001, after the birth of his oldest daughter, Egwuekwe decided to come back to his hometown.
   "I'd always felt like a Memphian at heart, even living in Atlanta," he said. "I'd read (The Commercial Appeal) online to stay connected to the community."
   Egwuekwe now works as senior software architect for Memphis-based Lokion Interactive. A boutique software agency, Lokion "runs the gamut in terms of what we can do. We create digital experiences that help companies generate brand awareness, customer loyalty, and growth."
   As a Leadership Academy Fellow, Egwuekwe worked with his classmates on a Community Action Project to bolster the marketing and public relations of Memphis Athletic Ministries.
   "It was an A-to-Z marketing project," Egwuekwe says. "We did everything, from making things like brochures to designing digital billboards to getting new logos to overhauling the Web site."
   He adds, "It's great to be part of an established ministry that's making a difference in kids' lives."
   Ministry is no small part of Egwuekwe's life. He is chairman of the Trustee Board, the college tour director, the math tutor, the webmaster, a chorister, the Bible study teacher and, along with his wife, the youth director at Castalia Baptist Church.
   Egwuekwe is also active with the Nigerian Family and Friends of Memphis and serves as its treasurer.
   Egwuekwe has lately become a regular contributor on MemphisConnect.com, a site launched this spring by The Leadership Academy where "diverse Memphians discuss ... what inspires them to make Memphis home."
   "I love the history of the city, I love the culture, the music of the city, I love the authenticity of Memphis. That's not something you see everywhere. I've lived in seven different cities, and this is hands-down the most authentic place I've ever lived. I love the entrepreneurial spirit here.
   "Given all that, there is no legitimate foundation for an inferiority complex. When I hear people saying negative things about Memphis, I can point them to (MemphisConnect.com) and say, 'Look, this is the Memphis I know. This is the real Memphis.'"

Computer repair program puts eager students to work for schools
By Jane Roberts, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Saturday, June 20, 2009
   Memphis City Schools is offering the basics of computer repair this summer, hoping to turn some of its most sophisticated tech heads into day savers.
   The school district is paying students $7.25 an hour to complete the 240-hour class, hoping to put them to work as PC troubleshooters in a district with 30,000 computers. The plan gives new meaning to the term "crash course." DeVionne Coffee (left) and Bettie Mays identify computer parts on Friday as part of a summer institute on information technology.
   For 115 students -- mostly seniors -- the deal was too sweet to pass up. They get an air-conditioned summer job that can continue when school starts and a chance to learn a skill they're pretty sure they'll use the rest of their lives.
   "In due time, I'll learn all this," says JaQuisha Gray, 17, looking at into an open hard drive for the first time in her life and getting comfortable with the components.
   "I just found out that this is the motherboard," she said, beaming a smile befitting the co-captain of the Booker T. Washington cheerleading squad.
   The city schools have computer technicians, but with the volume of desktop and handheld models, each is responsible for maintaining 750 to 800 computers, plus software installations.
   If one goes down in a classroom that may have only a handful to start with, learning for a significant portion of students slows to a crawl.
   "You can see how this is going to help us," said Curtis Timmons, city schools chief technology officer. "We are trying to expand our tech support by using the students.
   "If I've got a tech in one school, and I get another call for help from a school nearby but the tech can't leave, one of the students could assist and at a very good price," he said.
   The funding -- $155,000 for student pay and $65,000 for teacher summer salaries -- is part of workforce development stimulus money funneled to the states. In Memphis, it is administered by the city's Workforce Investment Network.
   "This gives them the chance to be the big man on campus," said Michael Toney, former systems analyst for the IRS and lead teacher in the program at East High School.
   The program is also offered this summer at Messick and through career and technology programs at Trezevant, Sheffield and Southwest high schools.
   "When people say 'My system is down or not working,' it's usually something minor," Toney said, ticking off a list of situations he's been called to repair while someone surely sat by red-faced -- an unplugged mouse here, a misplaced taskbar there, or the ubiquitous forgotten password.
   Actually, the summer class is an intense version of the computer hardware and software course taught all year in the district's career and technology centers, and the students earn credit toward graduation.
   But to get on the payroll, they must pass tests of their "inside-the-box" skills, plus communication and work readiness skills, such as how to dress for work, Toney says.
   The wrinkles in the program were ironed out in districts like Chicago and New York, where students have been covering tech assignments for years.
   "We went to Chicago Public Schools this winter to see how it worked," Timmons said. "Students told us that it helped them be more engaged in their schoolwork," he said.
   In Memphis, service calls will be made mostly by students enrolled in work-based learning programs, a block of time reserved for paid internships at the end of the day.

East alum endures long power outage after storm
June 18, 2009
   Gayle Kemp ('67) was interviewed by WHBQ-TV about the power outage still affecting her home after thunderstorms caused moved through the city June 12, 2009. The 80 mile per hour winds downed trees across the Memphis area leaving 7,000 customers without electricty. It took nearly a week for all customers' power to be restored. East alumnus Gayle Kemp, who still lives near the school, was one of those waiting days for the utility company to get the power back on at her home. The video is available.

'Renaissance man' opened window to black Memphis
Southern Folklore Web site showcases treasure trove of minister's work
By John Beifuss, Memphis Commercial Appeal Wednesday, June 17, 2009
   The most significant filmmaker in this city's history might be a man who never worked with movie studios or stars.
   He was inspired by the Bible and the black neighborhoods of Memphis, not by fictional screenplays or the glitter of Hollywood.
   "He was a one-man CNN of the community," said Dr. Beverly Bond of the University of Memphis, speaking about the subject of "Taylor Made: The Life and Work of the Rev. L.O. Taylor," a new "online exhibit" that can be found on the recently launched Web site of the Center for Southern Folklore at southernfolklore.com.
   From the 1920s to the early 1960s, Rev. Lonzie Odie Taylor -- a self-taught "Renaissance man," according to Bond -- documented African-American neighborhood life through some 7,000 photographs, close to 100 audio disc recordings and 15 hours of film footage -- short, silent movies of baptisms, beauty colleges and barnstorming "Negro" airmen, among other subjects.
   An artist of limited means but limitless curiosity and ingenuity, Taylor (1899-1977) began many of his films with hand-lettered credits and title cards that demonstrate he was aware of the potential importance of his work. His 1940 film of a Manassas Street "baptising" opens with the legend: "Another Taylor-Made Picture -- Bringing You News & Historical Records -- Photographed & Produced by Rev. L.O. Taylor."
   Sometimes, Taylor organized screenings in church basements, and charged 15 cents admission to give people their first opportunity to see themselves on film. Of course, in the current online exhibit, Taylor's work can be seen free of charge, by those with access to a computer.
   Curated by center executive director Judy Peiser ['63] and produced by Center Web development director Elisa Blatteis, the exhibit includes three "galleries" focusing on Taylor's photographs; clips from his films; and his life and career. (He produced his work out of a home studio.)
   "It's a major treasure trove of African-American history," Peiser said of Taylor's voluminous archives, which had been stored in boxes in the attic of the pastor's North Memphis home until being donated to the center more than 30 years ago by Taylor's widow, the late Blanche Taylor.
   The collection is "unlike any that I have seen in a folklore archive, including the massive archive of the Library of Congress," said Michael Taft, head of the library's American Folklife Center archive in Washington. "Its value lies in the fact that Rev. Taylor was an insider to his community... He was both an artist and an ethnographer."
   Located at 119 S. Main, the Center for Southern Folklore -- a 37-year-old non-profit organization that showcases and celebrates the culture of the South -- is too small to display much of Taylor's work in its physical space. The Center's Web site was launched in August, as "our media station -- our portal for people to learn about our region," Peiser said.
   The Taylor exhibit, which debuted last week, will remain online for about six months.
   Taylor's work provides an intimate look at everyday life in black Memphis in the pre-Civil Rights era, without, for the most part, the technical polish or emphasis on celebrity found in some of the most famous work of other notable local African-American photographers, including Ernest Withers and the Hooks Brothers. His subjects included barbers, mechanics, ushers, soldiers on leave and little girls at the piano.
   Pastor of Olivet Baptist Church from 1931 to 1955, Taylor lives on not just in his documentary art but in the work of the many pastors he mentored through the decades. "What distinguishes him is his perspective as a minister," Peiser said. "He really cared about people."
   Thanks to corporate and government grants and donations, the Center was able to begin making digital copies of Taylor's work in 2003, to preserve it for posterity as well as to make it accessible online.
   Some of Taylor's photographs were included in a 2006 exhibit at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, and in 1989 native Memphis filmmaker Lynne Sachs produced a half-hour documentary titled "Sermons and Sacred Pictures: The Life and Work of Reverend L.O. Taylor."
   "His films give people an opportunity to open a window on black Memphis," said Bond, director of African and African American Studies at the U of M, who is writing a biography of Taylor.

Taking stock: Cattle producers adapt to shrinking economy, rising costs, aging owners
By Karen Ott Meyer, Special to The Commercial Appeal
Sunday, June 7, 2009
   If the U.S. cattle industry faced challenges before the fallout of 2008, the recent economic slide has pounded producers, revealing the cracks in an agricultural model that drives beef production in this country.
   "More dollars have been lost in the cattle-feeding industry in the last 12 months than during any other year in history," Charles McVean ['61], founder and president of McVean Trading & Investments, said this spring.
   Located in Memphis, the commodity futures brokerage firm specializes in grain and livestock research and analysis, conducting field studies with producers, elevators and agronomists across the country.
   While herd reduction is at historic levels, McVean maintains even the number of remaining herds is questionable.
   "The USDA can't count the number of cows in any reasonable, scientific way," McVean said. "The government applies a static model used for crop production to a migratory animal like the cow."
   With four employees who travel the country specifically to gather field data and conduct inventories, McVean is confident he sees the real picture.
   "We conclude there aren't as many cattle out there as the USDA says there are," McVean said.
   According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture agricultural census report, the United States had 1,018,359 cattle farms in 2002. That number dropped to 963,669 by 2007. However, the USDA reported a total cattle increase from 95,497,994 to 96,347,858.
   McVean said the number of cows raised in the future will be only what the land can support; the industrial commodity model, based on fossil fuel, won't any longer, he said.
   "Production is going to drop," he said.
   Europe, Canada, Brazil and Argentina are all either liquidating herds or have inventories at an all-time low, McVean says, although Australia and New Zealand are maintaining current herd numbers.
   Other factors affecting the industry are conversion of agricultural land to residential or recreational uses, and the aging of the cattleman. The average age of the cattle producer now is over 60.
   Droughts in the U.S. have also been affecting herd numbers.
   The summer of 2008 dealt two final blows to many operations. Corn prices hit record highs -- jumping from $2 a bushel to over $7 a bushel -- at the same time fuel prices spiked.
   "The producer was trapped between a weak economy and strong corn prices," McVean said.
   "We've seen a lot of our members exit the industry," said Sammy Blossom, executive vice president of the Mississippi Cattlemen's Association. "Some due to age," he adds.
   But economic factors caused a lot of red ink in the industry.
   He estimates his 3,100 members closely reflect the state averages, with herd sizes at less than 50 head.
   From a socio-economic perspective, owning cattle for some families hasn't always been tied to profitability.
   "Low-income families have always treated cattle like a savings account," Blossom said. "It's completely liquid and provided some security for tough times."
   Blossom does see a bright spot in branded beef programs such as Certified Angus Beef or Laura's Lean Beef, which fetch producers a premium price.
   He said using technology, such as ultrasound to determine marbling, gives producers an edge.
   McVean agrees: "Those efficient producers who can make it through will make money in the long run."
   Sale barn owners Bobby and Hays Lipscomb of Lipscomb Brothers Livestock Market in Como, Miss., have persevered by cutting expenses and handling the work themselves. This year, the sale barn celebrates its 50th year in business.
   "Since 1996, the numbers have gone down," Bobby Lipscomb said. But he's optimistic, pointing out that the market is cyclical.
   "Folks are going to eat beef," he said.
   Will Harris, a fifth-generation cattleman at his family's White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Ga., converted to grass feeding his stock when he tired of what he considered industry excesses. An active board member of the American Grassfed Association, Harris finished construction on a $2.2 million processing facility at White Oaks in 2008, right before the economy collapsed.
   How is the operation faring today?
   "To be sure, our operation continues to be a high-risk venture, and we're just reaching a break-even point," Harris said. "We have to a great extent cut ourselves off from the industrial model and we're not tied to the vagrancies of the system.
   "We'll either make it or not make it."
   Six area producers raise beef under contract for White Oak Pastures, which serves a niche population of sophisticated consumers who are willing to pay higher prices for the assurance that their meat is grass fed rather than grain fed. Harris said his customer base represents less than 1 percent of the population.
   "I believe that the current system that serves 90 percent of the population has a lot of problems, chiefly that it was a system developed in the 1950s and is based on cheap fossil fuel and government-subsidized feed," Harris said. "What we don't have (now) is cheap fossil fuel or grain."
   Harris thinks the beef industry's current model is held together only by existing infrastructure.
   "At one point, the textile industry in this country remained only because we had infrastructure," he said. "When that was finally exported overseas, the industry vanished."
   Harris said a side benefit to his operation is that it creates rural jobs.
   "I own about 1,000 acres and lease another 1,000 and employ 17 people, including skilled meat cutters and master's-level individuals," he said. "I have a friend with a much larger operation who employs three people."
   Despite the existing challenges, Blossom believes one final factor could cause more damage.
   "The worst thing right now would be for the consumer to lose confidence in the product," he said.
   Causes of Herd Reduction
   Rolling droughts
   Increasing cost of feed, hay, fertilizer and fuel
   Advanced age of cattle producer
   Vast tracts of land being converted to recreational uses or real estate

There are additional stories about Mr. McVean below.

100% graduating: Charter school grants diplomas to entire senior class
By Sara Patterson, Memphis Commercial Appeal Saturday, May 30, 2009

   As each of the 89 seniors from the state's first charter school rehearsed accepting a diploma from their principal, ear-splitting cheers from their classmates filled the auditorium.
   "OK, now we've got all the screams out of your system, because you can't do that Sunday," principal Tommie Henderson ['91 and faculty '98-02] told the lively seniors at Memphis Academy of Science and Engineering. "You've got to let everyone else cheer for you."
   Family members won't just be cheering for the graduates in The Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, but for the charter school's first graduating class, students who have been together since starting the seventh grade in 2003.
   A framed picture of each one hangs on the "Founder's Wall" in the auditorium, and that's all that will remain of the class of 2009, because 100 percent of the students are graduating.
   "They've proven there's no excuse. Every child can learn," said State Rep. Beth Harwell, R-Nashville. "We have a responsibility to give our children the best education we can, and that's what this public charter school has done."
   Harwell has vowed to resurrect a bill she sponsored in the legislature that would ease the restrictions on charter schools and nearly double the number of children in Memphis who are eligible.
   In Tennessee, which has the strictest standards in the country, a student must be failing or come from a failing school to be eligible.
   "The success at MASE emphasizes how important it is for more children to be able to attend charters," Harwell said. "Some students need a different learning environment than the traditional school."
   Memphis City Schools' graduation rate is less than 70 percent, and the average ACT score is 17.7. Students at MASE average 21.5 on the ACT, said Henderson.
   "Clearly, charter schools in this state are succeeding," said Matt Throckmorton, executive director of the Tennessee Charter School Association.
   "In America, we're getting away from the old paradigms of education. Charters have different focuses so children who go there want to be there. It's where they thrive."
   For MASE salutatorian Michael Harding Jr., leaving his Raleigh neighborhood school helped him see what he wanted to pursue in college.
   "My mom wanted me to go here, and I trusted her," he said.
   The 17-year-old came to MASE as a seventh-grader in 2003 from Keystone Elementary. He will graduate with a 4.9 grade point average and plans to attend Christian Brothers University.
   Deutria Williams, 18, said MASE changed her behavior.
   "If I didn't go here I'd be a wild girl," she said.
   Chelsea Bailey said the same thing.
   "At Snowden (Elementary) we'd get paddled and go back to class," she said. "Here, you would get suspended, and I got tired of flunking."
   Bailey, 18, plans to major in environmental science at the University of North Alabama.
   So far, 63 of the 89 graduates, roughly 70 percent, have applied for college.
   Tyra Hall, 19, will be first of her family to go.
   "My mom, she cries a lot because she is so proud," said Hall. "I've been waiting on this day all year."
   For principal and founder Henderson, it's also time to move on. He is leaving to pursue his doctorate. He said he never thought he'd last to see this class graduate.
   "They were the toughest group of young people," he said, laughing. "It's so great to look at them now. I expect them to lead Memphis in 10 years, to come back and give back."
   When Henderson walks out with his class, former dean of admissions at Boston-based Clark University, Harold Wingood, will step in. Wingood's expertise in college admissions will help future MASE graduates transition to college, Henderson said.
   Since 2003, science teacher Michael Masters has watched the school change.
   "We all feel a real connection with this class. When they came in, we didn't have the perfect setup, and they didn't have another class to look up to," he said. "They helped make the school what it is today."
   Measuring Success
   The charter school outpaces city and state averages:
   ACT Scores
   MASE (2009): 21.5
   MCS (2008): 17.7
   State (2008): 20.7
   Graduation rate (%)
   MASE (2009): 100
   MCS (2008): 66.9
   State (2008): 82.2

There are additional stories below about Mr. Henderson, a 1991 East High graduate and a faculty member at East 1998-2002.

Frayser shooting claims East High pupil

   Brandon Harris, last enrolled as an East High School pupil, was stabbed to death in the Frayser community on Sunday, June 21, 2009. Police have charged Markeith Miller, 16, with the voluntary manslaughter and say an ongoing feud lead to the fight.
   It is unclear if Harris was attending East High during the summer term.
   Visitation will be from 10-11:55 a.m., with service to follow at 12 noon, Monday, June 29, 2009 at Greater Mt. Zion Baptist Church on Chelsea Avenue, Memphis.
   Source: The Commercial Appeal

East High Band Resumes Competition
May 18, 2009
The East High Alumni Page

   East High Band Director Ollie Liddell reports the East High Band participated in the West Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association's Concert Festival this year. He was told by former Band Director Joseph "Buddy" Morton (Faculty 1964-72) it was the first time East had participated since the early. The band received good ratings for its concert performance and superior ratings in sight-reading. One East student was selected to the All-West Tennessee Honor Band, which reportedly is also another first in at least 25 years.
   Mr. Liddell says he has "big plans for the Band at East" and that he wants to build the program to compete with the likes of Overton High School, which is an optional school for the performing arts. He admits it will take time and a lot of effort, but says "it can and will be done!"
Editor's note: Mr. Liddell's profile is scheduled to be posted with the next batch of updates near the end of the month.

Nearly 200 seniors presented for graduation
May 16, 2009
The East High Alumni Page

   It was the 59th time for an East High School commencement exercise, as important to the nearly 200 students presented for graduation today as it was for the first graduating class in 1951, though it is possible at the time of graduation not all of those participating realized the significance.
   Hundreds of family members and friends of the seniors all but filled The Cannon Center in downtown Memphis, a facility that replaced Ellis auditorium where many other East classes were graduated. The East High Band and vocal Ensemble provided the music. The center table was stacked with diploma folders.
   Despite Principal Fred Curry starting the event by telling the crowd it was a solemn occasion it is not likely too many people heard him. It was a raucous group, not only shouting the names of family members and friends among the seniors but talking among themselves throughout the ceremony. About the only speakers or singers heard clearly were those that vocalized too loudly and too close to the microphone to the extent the volume in the auditorium was painful and probably damaging to listener's hearing. As bad as not being able to hear the speakers and singers over the conversation in the audience, the overly loud volume was worse. Police or security officers stood near the front doors of the auditorium but the vocal disorder of the audience did not invoke their intervention.
   Regardless of these setbacks, the notes of Pomp and Circumstance played by the East High Band did not fail to thrill those who understood the significance of the day for those who were marching onto the stage and the East High School legacy they inherit.
   The keynote speaker for the afternoon was Rev. Keith Norman of First Baptist Church, of, as he said, "Binghampton, Tennessee." He likened the name cards each senior carried to an airline stand-by ticket which they were about to trade in for a guaranteed ticket for a flight which was about to begin. He urged the graduates not to settle for a flight that was just good, but to persevere through the storms that would surely come to make the flight, and themselves beyond good, to make their trip through life great.
   Sadly, many onlookers mocked and laughed at one of the faculty members making a presentation because of her distinctive and slightly unusual pronunciation. Furthermore, it was quite unfortunate that the closing remarks by Mr. Curry were virtually impossible to hear above the continuous boisterous behavior of the audience. However a few of his words as he recited the poem Invictus were audible, especially as members of the newly graduated class joined him in something that must be taught for inspiration at the school.
   The graduating seniors were more settled than the crowd during the graduation exercises, though some did stand briefly or wave their hands when others were at the podium. One might assume that behavior, which was not apparent last year, was encouraged by the audience's rowdiness. As one would expect, a few did a some jive steps or other demonstration as their name was called and they walked to to receive their diploma folder.
   It was announced from the podium that 198 students were being presented for graduation consideration, though the program listed 196. Regardless of the number, some may not receive a diploma based on work completed as of today. Not all test results are available at the time of graduation ceremonies so it is possible that some that walked across the stage will have to do additional work if they want to receive a high school diploma. A little more than $1.2-million in scholarship and award offers were made to members of the Class of 2009. Sixty-two seniors have been offered the financial help for college, by far most qualifying for a Tennessee Educational Lottery Scholarship Award. It appears 7 students are receiving scholarships based on excelling in academics alone, 5 are receiving music/band scholarships, 3 are getting choral scholarships, two get full 4 year college rides courtesy of R.O.T.C. programs, and three appear to be receiving athletic scholarships.
   While the atmosphere could have been far more respectful of the graduates, faculty and guest speakers, the significance of earning a high school diploma, especially an East High School diploma, is not diminished.
   Surely it is hoped that the members of the Class of 2009 will go forth with civility, worthy values, family, academic and career success, and always adhere to the one word on the East High School crest: "Honor."

   Follow up - May 26, 2009: As a point of comparison, White Station High School, which includes an optional college preparatory school program, reports scholarship offers of $25.8 million. Among Memphis City Schools, other top schools on the scholarship offers list are: Ridgeway $14 million; Whitehaven $13.7 million; Cordova $12.8 million; Central: $11 million.
   The Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship Award appears to require minimum 21 ACT (Composite)/980 SAT (Math + Critical Reading ONLY) score on a national test date or a final cumulative 3.0 GPA for entering freshmen graduating from an eligible high school.
   The "excelling in academics alone" category cited above was determined by noting those students listed in the graduation program who appeared to be listed as receiving scholarship offers in addtion to or seperate from Tennessee Educational Lottery Scholarships. Other academic scholarship offers may differentiate execellence in academics from simple, though worthy, good performance in academics.
Editorial: Support your school! Please consider attending East High functions and don't hesitate to tell administrators & faculty you expect East to be the top school again soon.

Sweet sounds in an unusually beautiful setting
May 6, 2009
The East High Alumni Page
    More than 30 East High students, along with faculty director Jeffrey Murdock and accompanist Dr. Leo Davis, presented a Spring Choral Concert and Piano Recital Tuesday, May 5, 2009.
   In an unusual and beautiful setting, the concert was held in the main foyer of the school. The performers were up the steps in front of the auditorium while the audience was seated directly in the foyer between the school office on one side and the cafeteria on the other. It is said that Mr. Murdock likes the acoustics, which supply considerable reverberation. Certainly the visual aspects of the foyer of East High School must rate among the most impressive in the nation for a public high school.
   The Concert Choir, consisting of about 27 students, sang beautifully. If you like choir music, you would appreciate the accomplished singers and talented voices.
   Most of the seven giving a piano recital were first year piano students, according to faculty member Jeffery Murdock. Given that limited exposure to formal piano training, Murdock was impressed with their performances. As one would expect from students at that level, however, there were occasional unplanned pauses in piano pieces while the student set their hands right for the next cord or an occasional note hit on a key adjacent to and in addition to the one intended. Despite the difficulties of first year pianists performing in front of an audience, each appeared to successfully complete their musical selection, a significant goal under the circumstances.
   The concert started a few minutes late and was over about 25 minutes after the first note. Approximately 50 people were in the audience, a number principal Fred Curry said he believed was the largest turn out in recent years for the spring and fall concerts by the group.
   You may hear a brief, casually recorded audio clip of the Concert Choir.

Editorial: Support your school! This and similar events, often free and open to the public, are great ways for alumni to show current East students and faculty we care about East High and expect great things from it. Please consider attending East High functions and don't hesitate to tell administrators & faculty you expect East to be the top school again soon.

East's 1st Annual Silent Auction & Dinner
May 1, 2009
The East High Alumni Page
   East High School held its first annual Silent Auction and Dinner tonight with an estimated 100 attendees enjoying the elegant ambiance of the foyer of the school. Auction items included a wide screen television, art work, sports memorabilia from recent teams, Persian rugs and many other items. Guests were greeted by the student leaders at the door and serenaded by the Chamber Singers during a meet and greet session at which cider and cheese were available. Much of the bidding on the auction items occurred during this time before the dinner. A free dinner was served in the cafeteria, the wait staff were East student leaders. Dinner music was provided by student cellists. After dinner, people lingered and visited as auction winners picked up their prizes.
   We believe in full disclosure. This writer attended the auction and dinner and enjoyed meeting and visiting with other guests, faculty, staff, and alumni. It was a fun evening and it is hoped next year's event can be organized earlier and more advance notice will allow more alumni to attend.

In the neighborhood: Old rail line to become paved trail
April 24, 2009
   The old CSX railroad right-of-way, which, in the East High area, runs along and north of Walnut Grove Rd., Waynoka Ave., N. Waynoka Cir., Del Glade Dr., Aurora Cir., Rosedale Dr., Hilldale Ave., and Princeton Ave., will be converted into a paved walking and bicycle trail by the end of the year. It will extend from the Union Avenue viaduct to Shelby Farms park (the former Penal Farm). Shelby County government agreed to purchase the 7.04 mile corridor with $4.775 million given for the purchase by the Shelby Farms Park Conservancy to cover the purchase, design, and bridge improvement. The Conservancy rasied the money through private fundraising activities. An additional $1.5 million for construction of the trail will come from a federal surface transportation grant and local "matching" funds of $375,000.
(primary Source: The Commercial Appeal, March 22, 2009, March 31, 2009)
Photo: CSX right-of-way near Highland Street, looking west, taken April 24, 2009, K.L. Welch

East alum honored as Emissaries of Memphis Music
In brief...
By Staff , Memphis Commercial Appeal
Thursday, March 26, 2009
   The Memphis and Shelby County Music Commission will hold a luncheon today from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Tower Room Restaurant in Clark Tower to honor 11 women as "Emissaries of Memphis Music." Honorees include ... Judy Peiser ['63], executive director of the Center for Southern Folklore

TV report: Alumnus likes her ice cream
From: WMC-TV
A video of this story is available from wmctv.com
Turner to stop making ice cream at Covington plant
March 23, 2009 05:24 PM
   COVINGTON, TN (WMC-TV) - Turner Dairy's will stop making ice cream at the company's Covington plant, officials said Monday.
   When it comes to ice cream, Turner Dairy has lots of loyal customers.
   "I am a big fan of the Turner chain, and I would buy their products," supermarket shopper Mara [Fulghum] Sprott ['66] said Monday.
   That's why news Turner will stop manufacturing ice cream its Covington plant after 60 years has some customers concerned.
   Turner President Steve Turner said ice cream once made at the plant will now be manufactured at the company's Springfield Missouri facility. The move will also mean the permanent elimination of 20 jobs.
   Turner said a decrease in the demand for ice cream, and the loss of several major customers, led the company to make the decision.
   Meanwhile, Sprott said she would stick with their favorite ice cream company.
   "That's good you will still be able to buy it," she said.
   While the Covington plant will stop making ice cream, it will continue to function as a distribution site for Turner, as well as the company's maintenance and truck facility.

Memphis Memories
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Friday, March 20, 2009

Barney Sellers/The Commercial Appeal files
Sounding a musical note at his wedding reception at the University Club on April 12, 1969 is Charles Kemmons Wilson Jr. ['64], who was locked in a chain adorned with bells after the wedding in Grace-St. Luke's Episcopal Church. His bride is the former Norma Caruthers Thompson, daughter of Mrs. Norman Thompson of 4150 Kriter Lane and the late Mr. Thompson. Mr. Wilson is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Kemmons Wilson of 3615 South Galloway Drive.

Third man pleads guilty in 2005 robberies
Spree ranged from Oak Court Mall to G'town
By Lawrence Buser, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Friday, March 20, 2009
   A third former East High student involved in a robbery spree two years ago was sentenced to three years' probation Thursday in Criminal Court.
   Won Colby Pierce, 20, the driver, pleaded guilty Thursday to three robbery-related charges. He was convicted last August of another robbery-related charge. He is now a college student in Kentucky.
   The incidents occurred Feb. 14, 2007, when Pierce and three other students skipped school. They told officers that they wanted to buy shoes and robbery seemed like the best avenue after seeing a man withdrawing money from an ATM at Poplar Plaza.
   They followed the man to Germantown, where they lost him. They then picked out their first victim, a man beaten in the parking lot of the Germantown Village Square at 7730 Poplar.
   Pierce and three fellow classmates were also charged with robbing a Germantown High School teacher outside the school; knocking down and stealing the handbag of a 70-year-old woman who was walking with the aid of a cane at Hickory Ridge Mall; and robbing a woman in a parking lot at Oak Court Mall.
   Earlier this week, co-defendant Preston Williams, 19, pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated robbery in the Oak Court Mall case and was sentenced to three years probation.
   Tommy Brown, 18, pleaded guilty to counts that include aggravated robbery in the teacher case and attempted aggravated robbery in the Oak Court Mall case. He was sentenced to 7.2 years in prison, but will be eligible for parole after serving 20 percent of his sentence, or 1.4 years.
   Williams and Brown also are now college students.
   A fourth defendant, Deandre Clark, 19, whose case is pending, has been arrested on separate charges of aggravated burglary and theft over $1,000. Judge James Beasley Jr. revoked his bond and set his case for next week.

Two enter guilty pleas to robbery charges
By Lawrence Buser, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
   Two East High School students who cut class and went on a random crime spree two years ago pleaded guilty to robbery-related charges Monday.
   The pleas by Preston Williams and Tommy Brown and a guilty verdict last summer against classmate Won Colby Pierce leaves defendant Deandre Clark with the only pending cases.
   They were accused of beating a man in the parking lot of the Germantown Village Square at 7730 Poplar; robbing a Germantown High School teacher outside the school; knocking down and stealing the handbag of a 70-year-old woman who was walking with the aid of a cane at Hickory Ridge Mall; and robbing a woman in a parking lot at Oak Court Mall.
   On Monday, Williams, 19, pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated robbery in the Oak Court Mall case and was sentenced to three years' probation.
   Brown, 18, pleaded guilty to counts including aggravated robbery in the teacher case and attempted aggravated robbery in the Oak Court Mall case.
   He was sentenced to 7.2 years, but will be eligible for parole after serving 20 percent of his sentence or about 1.4 years. He is scheduled to go into custody June 2.
   Williams and Brown are both college students now, said state prosecutor Michael McCusker.
   Pierce, 20, who was convicted last August of helping to commit aggravated robbery in the Oak Court Mall case, is expected to be sentenced this month in Criminal Court by Judge James Beasley Jr.

Sons of Holiday Inn founder given trip down memory plane By Wayne Risher, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
   The spitting image of Kemmons Wilson's first airplane is dredging up fond memories for the late Memphis business legend's family.
   The Aeronca C-3, affectionately dubbed the Flying Bathtub, was a gift from a family friend to the Holiday Inn founder's sons Spence ['60], Bob ['62] and Kemmons Jr. ['64]
   Tracy Forrest, who has built homes in Wilson's Orange Lake development near Orlando since the 1980s, found the plane in storage in south Georgia and had it restored. He brought it to Wilson Air Center at Memphis International Airport last Christmas and surprised the Wilson sons.
   Bob Wilson ['62], president of the fixed-based operator and co-owner of Kemmons Wilson Companies, said, "We had no idea about it. They walk us in and show us the airplane, which was really just an unbelievable gift, really unique. You couldn't have asked for a more surprised three guys and a more grateful three guys."
   The Wilsons grew up hearing stories about the plane their father owned with a friend. It figured prominently in their father's courtship of wife-to-be Dorothy.
   "Often on Saturday or Sunday afternoons, Kemmons would take Dorothy on a flight to a small town in the area. Dorothy would sell tickets for $1 to anyone who wanted to take a flight in the plane," Wilson's 1996 autobiography said.
   Forrest heard about the Aeronca when he and Bob Wilson were touring an aviation museum. "Seeing the look on Bob's face telling me the story, it was a very special story."
   "That was Kemmons' first aviation experience, which laid the groundwork for a lot of his life: being a pilot in World War II, the use of aviation to further his business," Forrest added. "That thought always stayed with me."
   Kemmons Wilson died in 2003 at 90.
   Aeronautical Corporation of America made 425 C-3s in Ohio in the 1930s. It was easy to fly and maintain, said Jim Thompson of Roberts, Ill., president of the National Aeronca Association. "It was the right plane at the right time. Lots of people learned on it. That was the thing of it, it wasn't a big old heavy biplane of the day."
   Thompson said the Aeronca C-2 and C-3 are popular display items in vintage aviation museums. "People who know anything about them would love to see them again, and they're just nice to look at."
   Forrest pored over aviation records for several years in a vain attempt to track down Wilson's old plane.
   A friend in the Smithsonian Institution's archives eventually traced the full registration history.
   Forrest found the same model and had it refurbished. "We did it with the original colors, the original equipment, pretty much the way the airplane would have been when Kemmons owned the airplane," Forrest said.
   The fabric-covered body is sky blue with yellow wings and yellow trim accents. It has a single wooden propeller and the original N number of Wilson's plane.
   The Wilsons wanted to display it in the lobby of Wilson Air, but there was a problem.
   "I hate we didn't have a big enough place in the air center to hang that thing. It's about two feet too big," Wilson said.
   Dave Ivey, vice president of Wilson Air Center, said the hangar nearest to the terminal was being modified so the Aeronca could be placed in a harness and hung from a structural steel beam.
   Wilson said, "We're putting it there to keep it out of the way until we figure out where to put it. We'll find somewhere much more positive, where everybody can see it."
   The plane is for display only, because its two-cylinder, 36-horsepower engine has a weak cylinder.
   It won't be taking anyone for $1 rides.

Teacher touts Latin to aid vocabulary, critical thinking By Jonathan Devin Special to The Commercial Appeal
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
   Like many high school students of Latin, Dawn LaFon ['73] was forced to take the subject by her mother, but the language of Cicero and Virgil quickly became her life's passion.
   "My mother said I could stop after one year, but I had to take it," said LaFon, 52, one of two Latin teachers at White Station High School. "And I fussed and fumed. Then I got in there and I really liked it. It's like a big jigsaw puzzle."
   Studying Latin is popular with students who hope to enter medical professions, since 95 percent of medical terminology comes from Latin. LaFon recommends it for developing vocabulary and critical thinking skills as well.
   She teaches five classes each day, including Latin I, III, IV and Advanced Placement (AP) Latin for grades 9 through 12.
   "At White Station we work very hard and we do deserve our reputation for excellence," said LaFon, a Memphis native who has taught at the school for 20 years.
   In her efforts to relate Latin to her students' lives, LaFon has rewritten songs with Latin pronouns ("I don't know where I come up with these things," she laughed), employed the letters of Cicero for discussions on career choices, and drawn connections between ancient and current events.
   "When 9/11 happened, we talked about how Pompey had to clear the Mediterranean of pirates," said LaFon. "I told them that terrorism isn't anything new, (that) this was the terrorism of their time, and we'll always get through it."
   During her first year at White Station, LaFon got a chance to submit questions for the AP Latin Exam.
   Then, "about five years ago, I got a call out of the blue, and they asked me to be on the exam development committee."
   Only two other high school Latin teachers in the United States are on the committee, which writes and grades the AP Latin exam. Students who pass it receive college credit.
   "It's a year-round process," LaFon said. "In the fall, we write the rough drafts of new questions and meet to finalize those drafts. In the spring, we work on the multiple-choice part of the exam. In the summer, we gather together in some location and grade the exams."
   LaFon knows of at least two former students who went on to become Latin teachers, but said even the ones who didn't found Latin useful in college and beyond.
   One college-bound student, Derion Givens, wrote in a letter to LaFon, "As I sit through any lecture on the Latin language or Roman history, I will think back to 'bo, bis, bit, the Spartans really hit; bismus, bitis, bunt, Spartani magni sunt!"
   Another former student, Darrell Kiedo, now a comedian living in Los Angeles, visited LaFon last year and showed her his recently published novel titled "The Black Actor's Guide to Not Working in Hollywood," published by Xlibris.
   In it, a high school Latin teacher inspires a boy to leave gang life. Kiedo told LaFon that the teacher in the novel was based on her.
   "I told him that if it's made into a movie, Teri Hatcher is the only choice possible to play me," said LaFon.
   As for the rumor that Latin as a language is dead? LaFon weighed in: "It's not dead. It's just evolved."

   Name: Dawn LaFon
   Profession: Latin teacher at White Station High School
   Age: 52
   Education: Graduated from East High School; B.A. in education, the University of Memphis; M.A. in Latin, the University of Washington.
   Family: Lives with Peaches the poodle, and cats Teddy and Daphne. LaFon is the first cousin of former vice president Al Gore.
    Favorite Quote: "Docendo discere," which means "One learns by teaching."

On February 18, 2008 The Commercial Appeal Memphis Memories section republished a photo from 1951 that included some East alumni (then students).

   Performers take stageThe Beethoven Club Junior operetta, "The Riddle of Isis," is presented in February 1951 at Memphis Little Theatre. Top roles are played by James Crow (seated) of Messick and Theresa Steuterman (left) of Bellevue, Bill Biggs Jr. ['52] of East High, Mary Ann Hunter of Snowden, George Hearn Jr. of Central, Jackie Alper ['53] of East High, Jane Smalley of Fairview and Margaret Rose CaPece of St. Agnes.

A trailblazer and a role model Letters to the Editor, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Saturday, February 7, 2009
   I didn't know Eleanor Gandy was such a trailblazer as a member of the Memphis State 8 (Feb. 4 article); maybe it was because she was too busy encouraging me and her other students to blaze our own trails.
   For Ms. Gandy it was about her students, not about her. I graduated from East High School in 1974, and she was not only a teacher of mine during that time, she was a mentor and a friend. She encouraged diverse thought and acceptance of other cultures, people, their histories and ideas.
   I was fortunate to have had great teachers and mentors while at East, such as Douglas Wilkins, Hubbard Alexander and Sonny Scruggs, to name a few, and Eleanor Gandy is one of the people whose influence is still with me today.
   Frank McLallen ['74]
   Cordova
[See the story on Eleanor Gandy immediately below.]

Memphis State Eight: College was path to a better life
She viewed education as best way to change family cycle of poverty By Linda Moore, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
   Editor's note: Second in a series
   It was all a joke for Eleanor Gandy [Facutly 1971-1977] when she volunteered to take the admissions test for Memphis State University.
   It was the late 1950s. Her family couldn't afford college, and Memphis State didn't admit African-Americans.
   "I was kidding, and I said I'd do it," Gandy, 68, recalled.
   But the 1958 Douglass High School honors graduate did well.
   On Sept. 18, 1959, she was one of eight African-American students to integrate MSU, a group now known as the Memphis State Eight.
   Integration didn't happen without a struggle, and it was a year from when they were accepted until they were allowed to start classes. Many spent that year at other colleges.
   Not Gandy.
   "We were really poor. I knew we really couldn't afford college," she said. "I got a little scholarship from LeMoyne (College) but it wasn't enough."
   This was her only chance.
   "What we were trying to do was get a good job, something more than cleaning somebody's house," said Gandy, one of 15 children.
   That first year, the NAACP gave scholarships to the eight. The Hyde Park-Hollywood Civic League bought Gandy's books. Her mother gave her a "shiny silver dollar" every day.
   Fortunately for Gandy, the NAACP and the civic league continued with those arrangements.
   She graduated from Memphis State in 1963 with a degree in French and minors in history and psychology. She earned a master's in education in 1966 and is now retired from Memphis City Schools. She taught French for 22 years.
   Gandy believes greater than her personal accomplishment is the impact that being first has had on the educational dynamics of her family.
   "It made my family evolve," Gandy said.
   Most finished high school and a few went North for better jobs, she said.
   But today her nieces and nephews know they can go to college, and they know they can go wherever they want.
   "The joy is in the evolution of the family. My brother went back, got a degree in accounting after he had a family and a job," Gandy said. "He wanted to do that after he saw it could be done. That's the joy with me that the family has risen above where we were."

[The East High Alumni Page Editor's note: Ms. Gandy was a faculty member at East 1971-1977, teaching French, world history, and spelling.]

Secondary helps Ole Miss halt Texas Tech at Cotton Bowl By Marlon W. Morgan, Memphis Commercial
Friday, January 2,
[Excerpt]
   DALLAS � Graham Harrell. Michael Crabtree.
   Michael Crabtree. Graham Harrell.
   For a month now, all Ole Miss cornerbacks Marshay Green and Cassius Vaughn ['06] heard about is how the Texas Tech quarterback-wide receiver duo was going to torch the Rebels secondary. To be honest, they could care less if they never hear those names again. Ole Miss quartberback Jevan Snead celebrates with fans after beating Texas Tech 47-34 Friday.
   That pre-game talk actually caused Green and Vaughn to take that torch and light a fire under them. The two took turns not only holding Crabtree to just four catches for 30 yards, but they kept the entire Red Raiders receiving corps from running roughshod through the Rebels defense.
   Thanks to Green, Vaughn, and the usually stout Ole Miss front seven, the 20th-ranked Rebels were able to come away with a convincing 47-34 victory over seventh-ranked Texas Tech Friday afternoon in front of an AT&T Cotton Bowl record crowd of 88,175.
   ��They say he�s the best receiver in the game,�� said Vaughn, a junior from East High School. ��Why wouldn�t you (consider covering him a challenge)? He�s won the (Biletnikoff) receiver award two years in a row. Harrell is just awesome. They�re great players.
   ��But the challenge was what are you going to do today? Not in the past. It wasn�t about the past, it was about now. We stepped up today, the whole secondary and the whole team.��
   With the game tied at 21 in the second quarter, Vaughn intercepted a Graham pass and returned it 13 yards to set up a 27-yard Joshua Shene field goal that put Ole Miss ahead, 24-21.
   With the Rebels (9-4) clinging to that lead to start the third quarter, Green picked off Harrell on the Red Raiders opening drive, returning it 65 yards for a touchdown and a 31-21 lead. Both players also added three tackles.

Coaches offer a 'fair' deal to football recruiters By Jason Smith, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Saturday, November 22, 2008
[Excerpt]

   East High football coach Marcus Wimberly ['92 and Faculty) was sitting in front of a projector and DVD burner at Memphis University School, distributing highlight reels of his players in action to any college coach who came within three feet of his science-fair-like set-up.
   "We've got to get them in school," Wimberly said, sounding desperate. "That's the whole purpose of them playing high school football."
   Wimberly was one of more than three dozen high school football coaches who participated this week in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl High School All-Star Game's first "recruiting fair" at MUS.
   The event, which drew about 30 college coaches Wednesday evening, was intended to familiarize college coaches with some of the area's top uncommitted talent...

Crime uptick alarms citizens
East Memphis burglaries rise 90% over year ago By Cindy Wolff, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Saturday, November 22, 2008
   Burglars stole an air conditioner, a computer, televisions, cuff links, even a kitchen sink on Friday, all before noon.
   Memphis police are dealing with a blast of thievery that's hitting homes citywide, the worst of which is in East Memphis, where the number of burglaries so far this month have nearly doubled from the same period last year.
   In the Tillman Station precinct, which includes High Point Terrace, Kingsbury, Berclair, Grahamwood, Normandy and other East Memphis neighborhoods, there have been 118 burglaries so far this month, a 90 percent increase over the same period in 2007, when 62 homes were broken into.
   Authorities blame a variety of factors, including unemployment, the economy and repeat offenders who spend little time in jail for their crimes.
   Memphis City Council members and police officials met Monday night at the Links at Galloway golf course with about 200 area residents to discuss burglaries.
   East Memphian Joe Evangelisti attended that meeting. On Tuesday, he went to the council meeting to ask members to relax residency hiring restrictions. They didn't.
   On Wednesday, burglars scaled an 8-foot fence, cut his phone line and ransacked his house while an alarm blared.
   "I'm angry," said Evangelisti. "I've lived here 51 years, my whole life, and I feel like the welfare of the citizenry is being compromised by city officials. There aren't enough patrol cars in my neighborhood."
   Eight precincts showed an increase in burglary this month. Ridgeway, which includes Hickory Hill, showed a 4 percent drop.
   So far this year, home burglary is up about 13 percent across the city compared with last year. Police spokeswoman Detective Monique Martin said that from Jan. 1 through Thursday, Memphians reported 10,437 burglaries compared with 9,260 for the same period a year ago.
   She said commanders identify hotspots, beef up patrols, look for patterns and meet with citizens to talk about trends. But, she said, the problem is beyond basic police work.
   "We lock up the same burglary suspects over and over, and they are let out because our laws are weak," Martin said.
    Residential burglary is a Class C felony, which carries a penalty of 3-15 years and a fine of up to $10,000. But with some exceptions for extremely violent crimes, prisoners are eligible for parole after serving one year.
   "We have people who have committed more than 100 burglaries out there," said University of Memphis criminologist Dr. Richard Janikowski.
   "Sometimes they get out for time served, which is the time from when they are arrested and go to trial. They look at it as the cost of doing business."
   Like other U.S. cities, Memphis is facing a tough economy, which might explain some of the uptick, Janikowski said.
   The unemployment rate hit a 21-year high in Tennessee at 7.1 percent in September. The rate in the Memphis metro area was 7.3 percent.
   But in addition to a strong unemployment rate, Memphis also has a high rate of unemployed men between age 19 and 30 who are not trying to look for jobs, a category called "non-labor force participation."
   Susan [Welting] Pohlman ['68] said her neighborhood near Avon and Normandy is being rocked with burglaries just about every day.
   "They're mostly kicking in doors, taking big screen TVs, laptops, Xboxes," said Pohlman, who sends out e-mails for her Avon/Normandy Neighborhood Watch.
   "We're all watching now," Pohlman said. "We're looking at people we don't recognize, at cars that slow down a lot, at people walking around we don't recognize."
   The Real Time Crime Center, which operates CyberWatch, a crime report notification for Memphians, introduced a blog for High Point Terrace residents this week.
   It connects citizens instantly with police officers and commanders who monitor the blog to hasten communication between the public and law enforcement.

Munford head football coach out By Jason Smith, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Thursday, November 20, 2008
   Munford High principal Darry Marshall said Thursday evening he has relieved Cougars head football coach Wayne Randall [East Faculty 1994-2006] of his coaching duties because of "philosophical differences" between the two.
   Marshall would not go into specifics but said Randall�s dismissal had nothing to do with the recent resignation of former Munford assistant football coach Mike Norwood, whom Randall brought with him from East when he was hired at Munford in 2006.
   Norwood resigned Tuesday after Munford school officials discovered he had sent text messages to an 18-year-old female student at Brighton High.
   "I don�t want people to think this had anything to do with (Norwood�s resignation)," Marshall said. "This was a decision I�d made several weeks ago, and I had to let Wayne know (Wednesday) so he could go ahead and try to start finding himself another position somewhere."
   Marshall said Randall would continue to teach at Munford through the school year.
   "I respect Wayne very much, and basically what we have here is a difference of opinion on the direction we need to be going," Marshall said. "Wayne�s a great coach and a great friend of mine. I�ve always respected him. It�s just that we basically have a lot different philosophies."
   Randall, who could not be reached for comment, was 17-16 in three seasons at Munford, which finished 2-8 this season. He guided the Cougars to playoff appearances in 2006 and 2007.

Munford High School coach resigns over text messages to student By Tom Bailey Jr., Memphis Commercial Appeal
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
   A Munford High assistant football coach resigned Tuesday over text messages sent to an 18-year-old female student at Brighton High.
   Mike Norwood [former East Faculty], who also taught science, had been suspended since Friday and turned in his resignation Tuesday, Tipton County Schools Supt. Tim Fite confirmed.
   "Right now we don't know a lot. Don't know if it was profane or vulgar. He just said it was probably inappropriate for a teacher to say," Fite said.
   No improper physical contact has been alleged, he said.
   The Brighton High student had a boyfriend on the Munford team. Norwood started text-messaging her to communicate with his player, Fite said.
   The school system found out about alleged, inappropriate messages after a friend of the girl's informed a Brighton teacher.
   School officials interviewed the coach and the female student.
   The school system also is trying to get access to the text messages.
   "After five days they pretty well delete those things," Fite said. "It'll probably take us a few weeks to see."
   But Norwood acknowledged to school officials the texts were "not something a teacher ought to say," Fite said.
   "We got a low tolerance on that, anything inappropriate," Fite said.
   Norwood, who Fite said is about 40 years old, was in his third year at Munford High.

Locators can help find the missing
Device tracks when person is lost or wanders By Cindy Wolff, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Monday, November 17, 2008 [Excerpt]
   It took only 2 minutes to find a missing Alzheimer's patient last week in Towanda, Pa., and 47 minutes last month for a person in Norfolk, Va.
   They were both wearing a bracelet that operates on radio telemetry, which helps track someone who wanders.
    Two Memphis doctors who do research with Alzheimer's patients want to bring Project Lifesaver to Memphis.
   Dr. Linda Nichols ['68], a University of Tennessee Health Science Center professor and Memphis Veterans Medical Center researcher, and her colleague, Dr. Jennifer Martindale-Adams, believe the device may have helped on May 5. That's when 86-year-old Elizabeth Ferguson, who suffered from slight dementia, drove away from her Berclair home headed to a doctor's appointment and vanished.
...

East fails to sustain overall progress according to standardized test results by Ken Welch, The East High Alumni Page
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
   East High, mired in low academic performance, measured as an average across its entire student population, did not show much progress from the previous year according to the 2008 Report Card on Schools released by the Tennessee Department of Education on November 10.
   As a result of the scores on standardized testing and other criteria, East failed to meet the "No Child Left Behind" benchmark for Annual Yearly Progress (AYP).
   The AYP failures for 2008 occurred in two categories. The school�s pupils scored worse than last year in the "reading/language plus writing" testing by 2 percentage points with 87% of the students achieving proficient or advanced status. Statewide 93% made the grade, which also is the state�s goal for this year. The school also fell far short of the state�s 90% goal for the graduation rate with East graduating only 69% in 2007. The state�s report card uses the previous year�s graduation rate. It should be noted that the 2008 graduation rate for East was 72.73%. The state average graduation rate in 2008 was 82%.
   Another figure disappointing those hoping for significant improvement at the school was the ACT score. For those at East taking the ACT in the 2007-2008 school year, the average composite score was 15.8, a full point lower than the year before. As a college entry evaluation test, pupils are not required to take the ACT, therefore, the score may not accurately reflect the academic level of the student body. Likewise, some colleges, sometimes those with higher admission requirements, prefer the competing SAT exam, so pupils might take that instead of the ACT. SAT scores are not included in the report card issued by the state. If higher achieving students took only the SAT, then the ACT score reported could be below the academic level of the student body. On the other hand, pupils with a poor academic record might not consider college an option and not take the ACT test, skewing the reported ACT score higher than if all students took it. The ACT test, depending on whether the writing test was included, cost either $30 or $44.50 during the 2007-2008 school year. While there were fee waivers for economically disadvantaged pupils, the waiver required an application and funds had to remain available. If any of the 85% of East students classified as economically disadvantaged did not take the test for financial reasons, that also could skew the results. Regardless of the potential for the ACT score not to reflect the academic level of the entire student body, it is an important marker that allows comparison among schools nationwide, among those gaining admission to college, and allows for compairson of scores from various years (but see the ACT Concordance when comparing scores before and after 1989).
   There was at least one brighter spot on the state�s evaluation of East this year. The percentage of pupils achieving a designated level of proficient or advanced in the math testing improved by 8% over the 2007 figures. The two year average of the math scores showed a 13% improvement over the previous average. Despite this advancement, East�s math score for 2008 is 9 percentage points below the average of all participating high schools in Tennessee and 5 percentage points below the state�s target score for this year. Private schools are not required to participate in the NCLB assessments but all public schools participate.
   While it cannot be conclusively demonstrated by the aggregate scores released by the state Department of Education in its report card on schools, it is entirely possible East�s improvement in math scores is directly related to The Greater East High Foundation�s tutoring program at the school which has been focusing on mathematics since it began in 2005. The Foundation offers pupils after-school tutoring 4 days a week and on Saturdays and also offers a summer program.
   Despite the failure to meet the AYP requirements, the school did move from the high priority "state/LEA reconstitution plan 1 - improving" category to the "target"school category, a single step up in the state�s intervention categories. That change results from East achieving Annual Yearly Progress last year. Despite East�s previous history of being in more serious intervention categories, last year�s progress served to reset the evaluation so that this year�s failure to meet the AYP requirements is counted as a first year failure. With a first year failure, the school is placed in the "target" category and is offered technical assistance from the state in an effort to keep it from slipping down into the high priority category. In 2006 and 2007, East had been in the high priority "reconstitution" category in which the state intervened in the running of the school, though such intervention appeared rather limited since East had already changed pincipals and had taken other steps in an attempt to address the academic issues.
   The cohort dropout rate at East, meaning those starting the 9th grade who didn�t continue through the 12th grade was 26.7% in 2008. That�s a 4.8% increase from 2007 and 11% above that for 2006.
   There were 293 suspensions or expulsions from East during the 2007-2008 school year. The percentage of students suspended was 31.1 and the percentage expelled was 0.2.
   The 2008 state report card on schools, for the most part, reports on the status of the school for the 2007-2008 school year.
   The number of pupils at East on October 1, 2007 was 895, of which 685 were categorized as being economically disadvantaged. African-Americans made up 98.6 of the student body, 0.2% were Asian or from the Pacific Islands, 0.3% were Hispanic, and 0.9% were white. There were 487 girls and 454 boys enrolled. During the 2007-2008 school year East hosted grades 8 through 12. Because of a change in the way the number of students is reported, some demographic data in the state's 2008 report card does not match/relate to the number of students listed as being enrolled on the count date of October 1, 2007.
   One other broad category reported by the state in its report card on schools is "academic growth." It "measures student progress within a grade and subject and for high school a prediction formula is used based on a student�s previous academic performance for ACT, Gateways and End of Course assessments and Writing." Based on the test results and the formula, East High grades 9-12 scored above the predicted result of their progress in Biology I and English I. They were below the prediction in U.S. History, and there was no detectable difference between their predicted progress and their scores in other curriculum areas tested. The ACT predictions showed that the test takers were below the expectations in the composite and science/reasoning scores with no difference detected in the other categories.
   The acting principal of East High, substituting while the principal is out on leave due to heath reasons, did not return a call requesting comment.
   The state�s report card on East High is available at www.EastHigh.org/report-card-2008.html.

Any alumnus with the knowledge and skills to further analyze the state's data for posting on this web site is invited to contact the editor.

East High players back coach's prediction
Wimberly: Hard work key to postseason return By By Jason Smith, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Friday, November 7, 2008
   This time last year, East High football coach Marcus Wimberly ['92 and Faculty] was already looking ahead to the 2008 season.
   His Mustangs had finished 2-8 in 2007 in his second year on the job and Wimberly, a former East standout who went on to star at the University of Miami, had no intentions of watching his alma mater plod through another losing season. Mark WeberThe Commercial Appeal East's Demario Vester brings down Tromarcus Toney of Melrose in last week's victory, which clinched the Region 8-4A title for the Mustangs.
   Mark WeberThe Commercial Appeal East's Demario Vester brings down Tromarcus Toney of Melrose in last week's victory, which clinched the Region 8-4A title for the Mustangs.
   "We expected this. We put the work in, and I said, 'Don't be surprised if we go from 2-8 to 8-2.' I said that before the year started," said Wimberly, whose Mustangs managed to make his prediction a reality this season.
    East (8-2) earned its first outright region title since 2000 with its 30-25 road win at Region 8-4A foe Melrose last week. It was the Mustangs' sixth straight victory overall.
   Tonight, for the first time since 2005, East will host a first-round playoff game when fourth-seeded Hardin County (7-3), led by standout senior quarterback Will Gilchrist, invades Fairgrounds Stadium.
   "They're a hard-nosed team. They're pretty balanced," Wimberly said. "It's not just (Gilchrist). They've got two guys who have rushed for over 700 yards."
   Wimberly credits East's six-game turnaround this season to its offseason work in the weight room and the emergence of several team leaders.
   He's also had a direct hand in the turnaround himself, having applied for and receiving a grant from the NFL to improve the school's weight room.
   "This time last year, we were preparing for this year," said Wimberly, a former fifth-round NFL draft pick. "We were getting our new weight room in, and I think that's been one of the biggest differences between last year and this year, because we were physically weak.
   "As an overall team, there's a lot more discipline in place. These are pretty much my guys, the class that came in with me, and they came in under different guidelines."
   The return of senior linebacker Mark Guyton from a season-ending injury in 2007 and the improved play of junior quarterback Jaszy Parker (1,566 total yards, 22 TDs) have also been major factors in East's resurgence.
   "(Guyton) has made a big difference. He's made us tougher at the linebacker spot, which we really needed," Wimberly said.
   "(Parker) is improving each and every week. He had to learn last year. We threw him in the fire and it was kind of rough on him. But he's stepped it up this year tremendously."

The Commercial Appeal, November 5, 2008:
The East High School Class of 1956 meets for lunch at the Racquet Club on the fourth Thursday of every month. The Mustang group includes Dale Turner Lowery (seated, left) of Germantown, Marti McDonald Kruchton of Germantown, Bonnie Thomas Seitz and Raymond Young; Ray Henley (standing, left), Marcia Scarborough Dunlap of Germantown, Buddy Shindler of Germantown, Lee 'Dickie' Cardwell of Germantown, Pat Black of Germantown and Gail Valvik Bruce. Class members interested in attending should call 683-2276 for information.

Man held in '06 slaying
He's brother of suspect already charged in killing of ex-East High football star By By Hank Dudding, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
   A second brother has been charged with first-degree murder in the 2006 death of a former East High football star.
   Damon Davis, 23, was charged last week with killing Arthur Sallis [associated with the Class of '01], 22, during a robbery Jan. 26, 2006, at Sallis' home at 5445 Flowering Peach in Hickory Hill. Davis' brother, Ronnie Davis, 25, was charged in September.
   Sallis led East to a state football championship as a junior in 1999, rushing for 1,406 yards.
   He was shot at least twice in the chest during a struggle after three men robbed him at his home. Police are still trying to develop a case against a third suspect.
   The men took money and Sallis' 2000 Chevrolet Suburban, which was stripped and burned in Byhalia, Miss., according to a police affidavit.
   Damon Davis was taken into custody Oct. 19 after a domestic incident at an apartment at 3184 Steele.
   He is accused of attacking ex-girlfriend Erica Jackson, beating her with his hands and fists before she grabbed a knife and cut him, according to an affidavit.
   Damon Davis is charged with aggravated burglary and domestic assault in that case.
   He was arraigned on the murder charge Monday.
An obituary and an additional newspaper article about the death of Mr. Sallis are available.

Retired organist built bombers, taught music By Nevin Batiwalla, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Saturday, September 27, 2008
   From the age of 20, Rosa "Rose" Gillespie, the grande dame of local organists, dedicated her life to teaching music.
   In churches and schools, she had a way of inspiring her pupils.
    "She had an almost magical gift to bring out in people what they did not think they could do," said Amy Lindeman, 38, who called Ms. Gillespie her "surrogate grandmother."
   Ms. Gillespie died Wednesday from complications of bone cancer at a Memphis nursing home. She was 89.
   Born in the small town of Stamps, Ark., Ms. Gillespie was raised by a single mom during the Depression. Those tough years, where she bounced between 22 houses, helped mold her can-do spirit, Lindeman said.
   "She was completely self-made, and she used that to help other people make it on their own," Lindeman said.
   Ms. Gillespie received master's degrees in English and psychology from Memphis State University.
   She instructed for 35 years in Memphis schools, at Fairview Junior High and then later at East High, where she taught a pretty teen named Cybill Shepherd. Despite her best efforts, she never could convince the budding celebrity to join the school's chorus.
   "I knew if I could get Cybill to join then everyone else would want to join," Ms. Gillespie told The Commercial Appeal in 2006. "But she said she just couldn't because she was too busy with cheerleading."
   During World War II, Ms. Gillespie rode a motorcycle to get to her job as an aircraft riveter at the Fisher Aircraft factory. Working the late shift building B-52 bombers with a hardscrabble group of women, Lindeman said, Ms. Gillespie "learned a bunch of new words she had never heard before." On Sundays, she'd finish up early, head home for a quick change, and then dash off to church to play the organ.
   She also pitched for the Humko professional softball team.
   In 1949, she played her first church service at First Baptist Church. She served as minister of music at McLemore Christian and spent 35 years at Central Christian Church.
   She never married. Her only children were her pets and students.
   "Someone told me once that when he died he wanted to come back as one of her dogs, because that was the best life he could imagine," Lindeman said.
   In 2006, after 35 years as organist and choir director at Central Christian Church, the 86-year-old retired to enjoy a view from the pew.
   "There comes a time when you know it's right to step aside and this is that time. I have no regrets and I've loved it all," she said.
   Services will be at 11 a.m. today at Central Christian Church. Forest Hill Funeral Home has charge.
   The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to the Memphis and Shelby County Humane Society.

A standard obituary is also available as is a news story about when she retired as a church organist in 2006.

On September 11, 2008 The Commercial Appeal Memphis Memories section republished a photo of the Memphis State Tiger football offense, which inlcuded Larry Wright (Faculty, 1959), shown on left side of backfield, and Bobby Brooks (Faculty, approx. 1960-66), pictured in the center of the backfield. The photo was first published September 11, 1955.

1959 East coach still coaching
Larry Wright coaches with son at Briarcrest Christian School
September 5, 2008
   Larry Wright (Faculty, 1959), former track and football coach at East High, was featured in a television story about his coaching with his son. Produced by WPTY-TV. The video is available. Larry Wright was also mentioned in a June 18, 2009 article that profiled his son, Major Wright, the head football coach at Briarcrest Christian School, when his son named his father as "the person I most admire."

Perfect fits: DT Williams, LB Wilson sized up right for Vols defense By Ron Higgins, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Monday, September 1, 2008
   Dan Williams ['05] was told he was too big. Ellix Wilson was viewed as too small.
   Williams listened to nutritionists, Wilson listened to his heart.
   The result is that a rarity should occur at 7 p.m. CDT today in Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Calif. -- two Memphis high school products starting on defense for Tennessee against UCLA in the 2008 season opener.
   Williams, a former East High star, will likely open at tackle, where he started 10 games last year.
   "I've worked harder this offseason than I've ever worked before," said Williams, a junior, whose only weakness seems to be a fondness for his mother's chicken casserole.
   Wilson, a former Melrose standout, is the starting middle linebacker as a fifth-year senior. It's a spot he first stepped into last January in the Outback Bowl when Jerod Mayo was hurt.
   "I've been around here for five years, so everybody knows what I've got," Wilson said. "I hadn't had a lot of chances to get out there and do it, and now I will get those chances."
   When Williams arrived in Knoxville as a true freshman in July 2005, the Vols' coaching staff wasn't happy with what they saw. ... or rather, what they couldn't miss.
   It was Williams, reporting at 6-3, 360 pounds.
   What happened to the more svelte DT that Tennessee had signed?
   "I guess I took advantage more than I should of all the free food you got on official recruiting visits," Williams said with a laugh. "Then after I graduated, I just got lax working out. All I did was eat pizza and play PlayStation.
   "I guess I wanted to relax before I went to college, because I knew college and college football would be an all-year thing. I guess I relaxed too much. I showed up in Knoxville still thinking I was about 320 until Coach told me to hop on the scale."
   And when Williams did, Fulmer gave him an ultimatum. Drop weight or welcome to the offensive line.
   "I thought Dan would be an offensive lineman," Fulmer said. "I didn't know if he would have the quickness and the speed or dedication to be a defensive tackle in this league."
   Williams proved Fulmer wrong, much to Fulmer's delight.
   "I really wanted to show the coaches I was committed," Williams said. "Coach Fulmer gave me a very small window like until the next spring to lose about 50 pounds. I did that."
   As Williams lost weight, his strength increased and his speed returned. Last year, he stepped solidly into the Vols' DT rotation. After making a career-high six tackles in an early season game vs. Southern Mississippi, he also felt for his mental fog in learning the college game finally burned off.
   "It was one of my better games," said Williams, who now weighs 308. "I felt for the first time I could be a factor in helping my team win. My mind now understands there's no way I'll ever go back to being that heavy."
   Vols' defensive tackle Dan Brooks said Williams' diet discipline has spread to his football.
   "Dan is not a flashy guy, but he's there every snap, because he was Mr. Reliable this past spring," Brooks said. "He's such a nice guy that sometimes I have to tell him he needs to play with an attitude. He started to that some last year." ...

August 29, 2008, The Commercial Appeal publishes this photo of Bonnie Williams, Joanie Williams, Patsy Williams, and Debbie Williams in it's Memphis Memories column. Class associations of the girls is undetermined though it probably is or is near the classes of '62, '64, '65 and '72 respectively. The photo was first published in the newspaper August 29, 1960.

Tiger offensive lineman happy to be back home
Malcom Rawls didn't fit in at Knoxville, but will start vs. Rebels By Dan Wolken, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Monday, August 25, 2008
   Malcom Rawls ['05] always heard that college was supposed to be the best time of his life. But when the East High product arrived at the University of Tennessee in 2005, he could tell immediately that something was wrong.
   "I realized early that I didn't really like it," Rawls said. "I was in Knoxville, and I wasn't happy."
   One of the top offensive linemen to come out of this area along with Ole Miss' Michael Oher, Rawls knew something had to change. But he also knew that doing what was in his heart -- transferring to the University of Memphis -- would likely begin a long climb back into the spotlight.
   On Saturday, Rawls will complete the journey when he starts for the Tigers at right guard against Ole Miss.
   "It's good to come back home and be a part of it," Rawls, now a junior, said. "I get to represent Memphis, and that's a big deal to me."
   Much has changed for Rawls since he chose Tennessee over Memphis and a number of other Southeastern Conference schools three years ago.
   Once focused on engineering as his major, he's now studying Spanish. Once a can't-miss prospect, he's now fighting to establish himself as a legitimate college player. But coach Tommy West believes one thing hasn't changed: The talent that was so evident to recruiters from some of the top programs in the country.
   "Malcom has a lot of ability, a lot of God-given talent," West said. "The thing that's holding him back right now is a conditioning level. He's got to get his conditioning to a level where he can play at a pace for a period of time. If he does that, he can be an outstanding player. Right now he can play three or four plays as good as anybody, but he gets tired after that."
   Memphis, however, will be as patient as possible with Rawls' conditioning because his potential to make an impact is so promising. Listed at 6-foot-5, 315 pounds, Rawls fits perfectly into West's desire to get bigger on the offensive line in recent years. But West also wants to play an up-tempo game on offense, which could test Rawls' staying power.
   As a backup last season, Rawls was on the field for 56 snaps against Rice as a replacement for the injured Dominik Riley but played sporadically in the other eight games he participated in.
   "It's just keeping him fresh. (If he's tired), we'll put somebody else in," West said. "I think mentally he's fine with our system."
   Rawls' mental strength has always been one of his biggest attributes. He turned down opportunities in high school to play at prestigious prep schools in the Northeast and was recruited by most of the academically elite Division 1 football powers.
   During the recruiting process, in fact, Rawls said his top two choices were Notre Dame and Stanford. But as fate would have it, the coaches at both schools -- Tyrone Willingham and Buddy Teevens, respectively -- were fired before signing day. So when Rawls settled on Tennessee, it was not based on enthusiasm as much as process of elimination.
   "I just never liked Knoxville," he said. "It was a difficult adjustment, not liking the city. Coming out of high school my major was civil engineering, and I jumped right into some difficult classes, physics, calculus and trying to learn the playbook. It was a difficult adjustment."
   Rawls commiserated often during his redshirt year with defensive tackle Dan Williams, his friend and former teammate at East, who was also struggling to adjust. While Williams stuck it out at Tennessee and has had a successful career, Rawls decided to come home.
   Though it's taken three years to become a Division 1 starter, Rawls said it's been worth the wait.
   "I tell people every time I can that I love it here," he said. "I just have to work hard and continue to go over plays, talk to offensive line coach (Rick) Mallory. If you listen to the coaches, they have so much experience they'll prepare you. Everything they ask, I try to do it to the best of my ability. That's the best way to get on the field here."

The Commercial Appeal
Memphis Memories
Friday, August 22, 2008

[Editor's note: this photo of Jo Learned ('61) appeared in the "Memphis Memories" section of The Commercial Appeal on August 22, 2008, after having first being published in 1953.]

From The Commercial Appeal, August 21, 2008 - East alumni Tyrone Johnson (class year undetermined) and T.J. Pointer (class year undetermined) move into residence hall at the University of Memphis.

Cash Wants to Enlist Paid Tutors From Student Ranks ANDY MEEK | The Daily News
August 13, 2008
   As part of the sweeping overhaul he envisions bringing to Memphis City Schools, new district superintendent Dr. Kriner Cash wants to enlist students to work for the school system as tutors.
   "What if instead of working for Back Yard Burger � for $6 an hour, work for me. Work for city schools," Cash said last week to about 250 members of the Memphis Rotary Club.
   His idea to tap students to work as tutors is only one component of Cash�s transformative plan for a school system that has about 113,000 students and is beset by a mix of academic and operational challenges.
   But as he spoke to the Rotarians, one person listening in the crowd no doubt felt a measure of satisfaction when he heard Cash mention the tutors.
   Bill Sehnert, director of a nearly five-year-old academic foundation begun at East High School, was in the crowd and caught up with Cash after his remarks. Sehnert helps lead an army of tutors � albeit a private army � at East that already is putting into practice the very idea Cash floated to the audience.
   Capitalism in action
   Started as the Greater East High Foundation in 2004, the basic idea is that academically strong upperclassmen at the school can get paid $10 an hour to tutor their fellow students. One measure of the program�s success is the number of local school officials eager to replicate it at their own institutions.
   Versions of the program are up and running in at least five Memphis area schools, including East, Whitehaven High School, Westwood High School, Douglass High School and Lester Middle School.
   "It�s the same tune we�ve been singing for five years," Sehnert said about Cash�s idea.
   Commodities trader and East alumnus Charles McVean ['61] provided the financial backing and operational framework that gave birth to the academic program at East. He tapped his eighth grade teacher, Margaret Taylor, to become the foundation�s director emeritus.
   The program is one example of how, as the performance of and funding for local schools has lagged in recent years, successful business professionals like McVean are seizing the moment to preach education reform in a way school bureaucracies can�t always do. And while he didn�t allude to it in his remarks at the Rotary Club, Cash has taken notice of the program at East.
   MCS administrators have asked for details of the program to share with the new superintendent.
   "At Rotary, I said we need to sit down and talk about it, and he said he�d like to," Sehnert said. "So we�re trying to schedule a meeting to talk about it.
   "Our programs actually dovetail. They shouldn�t compete. We can�t compete with our customer. We will work hand in glove with Dr. Cash in any way that he sees we can be an asset to the community."
   The trappings of a movement
   The East High foundation is catching fire even beyond the boundaries of Shelby County.
   McVean has friends and business associates in Mississippi, and schools there in places such as Bolivar County have shown an interest in adapting the foundation�s operation for their own use.
   A burgeoning component of the program at East also calls for tapping college-age tutors to come back and train struggling high school students. The foundation�s leadership sees that as another way to motivate children � by showing them what they eventually can become.
   Another Memphis businessman, meanwhile, has plunged headlong into the same effort McVean is pursuing. But local venture capitalist Bob Compton is doing so on a much larger stage.
   Taken together, the separate efforts reflect a spirit apparently building among local business leaders to do what the public sector can�t when it comes to education reform.
   Compton spent half a million dollars of his own money to produce "Two Million Minutes," a documentary that compares how a group of students in India, China and the U.S. choose to spend their high school years.
   The title comes from the period of time between the first day of classes for a high school freshman and graduation day. That four-year period equates to roughly 2 million minutes.
   Fallacy or fact?
   One of the themes of Compton�s project is that American students are being far outpaced by their counterparts in other areas of the world when it comes to excelling in studies that lead to degrees in highly sought-after jobs.
   "And since I spent the last 20 years creating and building new technology companies, I happen to know that what creates companies and what creates jobs are products and technologies that are invented by scientists and engineers," Compton said.
   In June, Compton debated Washington Post education columnist Jay Mathews on the CNBC program "Street Signs." Probably the only thing Compton and Mathews agreed on is that their spirited debate is crucial to fixing the country�s woes in the field of education.
   "Don�t ever go on CNBC to debate Bob Compton, one of America�s most energetic prophets of doom, without careful preparation and a willingness to be rude," Mathews said in a column he wrote � only slightly tongue in cheek � after the broadcast.
   Speaking with The Daily News by phone, the veteran education reporter for The Post elaborated on the two men�s differences.
   "He and I generally agree that American high schools need to get much better, more rigorous and need to challenge kids in a way they�re not doing now. I think we�re absolutely on the same wavelength there," Mathews said. "But this scare tactic that we�ve got to fix our schools or we�re going to become the Third World of the world is false.
   "It�s pretty clear that if you look at how our kids are doing in school, they�re way ahead of the education kids are getting in most other countries."
   A different emphasis entirely
   From Compton�s point of view, the divide he highlights in the movie reflects shortcomings in the way U.S. schools educate children compared to the way schools in India and China pursue the same thing.
   "Indians and Chinese (people) pursue academic and intellectual training the way Americans pursue sports � with passion, rigor and intensity," Compton said.
   Compton, who�s currently in Beijing to watch the Olympics, enlisted a filmmaking team that includes veterans of the "Frontline" series on PBS to help him create the documentary. The places where he�s screened the film include Harvard, Stanford University and the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado in July.
   The latter event was sponsored by Intel Corp. and during a question and answer session after his film was shown, Compton said he was excited to spot a few rows back from the stage New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. Friedman�s widely acclaimed book "The World is Flat" is what inspired Compton to go to India in 2005, a trip from which the idea for the movie was born.
   Prominently displayed on the Web site for the movie � www.2mminutes.com � is a quote from Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates that reads: "Two Million Minutes casts a bright spotlight on a crisis in this country." A similar thought is reflected in a speech to the nation�s governors in 2005, during which Gates described America�s high schools as obsolete.
   Movers and shakers are paying attention to the point of the film. Compton had a private meeting about the movie in February with presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Compton caught up with McCain�s opponent, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., back in November.
   In addition, Compton is screening the film during the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis next month. He also hopes to be able to take his film to the Democratic National Convention in Denver later this month.

East High removed from State's "high priorty" list of troubled schools

Memphis City Schools gets mixed report card
District improves, but some schools still lag By Dakarai I. Aarons , Memphis Commercial Appeal
Monday, July 28, 2008
   The news on No Child Left Behind for Memphis City Schools is a mixed bag of results, according to information released Monday by the Tennessee Department of Education.
   While the district returned to good standing under No Child Left Behind, the number of individual schools in good standing decreased from 128 to 119.
   In the good news category, the number of schools on the state's "high priority" list dropped by 11, including six schools that had long languished on the list of schools eligible for state takeover.
   Memphis has 30 schools -- down from 41 the year before -- on the "high priority" list, which tracks schools that failed to meet federal benchmarks two years in a row. Twenty of those schools, however, improved in several categories, including 12 of the 15 schools that were eligible for state takeover last year.
   The results released Monday show how close -- or far -- students are from meeting standards for reading and math proficiency, attendance and graduation rates.
   Schools must meet benchmarks in 37 categories or use some other method approved by the state to be considered in good standing.
   "The students, parents, teachers, and staff in schools that performed admirably, as well as those schools that continue to show improvement, are to be commended and should be encouraged by these results," said Supt. Kriner Cash in a prepared statement. Cash and board members are in Park City, Utah, at a reform governance retreat.
   Not all the news was good for Memphis schools, however.
   Memphis schools on the state's less-urgent "target" list, which places schools on watch for narrowly missing benchmarks in the first year, increased to 34 from 16 last year.
   The number of target schools increased statewide as the federal benchmarks went up from 79 to 86 percent proficiency in math and 83 to 89 percent proficiency in reading and language arts.
   That tripped up a number of schools in Greater Memphis. Shelby County's Woodstock Middle and Tipton County's Covington High also landed on the target list.
   A number of Memphis schools used the "safe harbor" provision to meet the mark, which gives schools credit for making a 10 percent reduction in students who tested below proficient the year before and meeting either the attendance or graduation rate target, depending on grade level.
   The number of schools that used "safe harbor," along with details on how individual schools fared on the state's exams, will likely be released by the state in November.
   State officials had high praise for the work done in improving schools that had been on the state's failing list for years, such as Treadwell Elementary, Airways Middle, Vance Middle and East High.
   "They are to be congratulated for what they've done," said Connie Smith, executive director of innovation, improvement, and accountability for the state department of education.
   Smith said she was "particularly proud" of Vance, which had been on the list longer than any of the other schools.
   Smith credited the work done by former Supt. Carol Johnson's "fresh start" plan for the improvements in many schools.
   In those schools, which included Vance and Airways, principals and entire staffs were changed in an effort to boost student achievement.
   But the work remains unfinished. Hamilton High, for example, is in the state's worst-performing category under NCLB.
   Many staff were replaced there last year and Cash recently moved Michael Bates, credited with turning around Humes Middle School, into the principal's position at Hamilton.
   The No Child Left Behind List
   These 56 Memphis-area schools remain on the state's No Child Left Behind list, either as "target" or "high priority" schools.
   Target schools
   The first year a school does not meet federal standards, it is given a warning. There are no sanctions for "target schools," which have another year to demonstrate progress.
   Alcy Elementary
   Alton Elementary
   Coleman Elementary
   Corning Elementary
   Covington High (Tipton County Schools)
   Downtown Elementary
   East High*
   Egypt Elementary
   Evans Elementary
   Fairley Elementary
   Fairview Middle
   Georgia Ave. Elementary
   Getwell Elementary
   Graves Elementary
   Guthrie Elementary
   Hamilton Middle
   Hanley Elementary
   Hawkins Mill Elementary
   Hillcrest High
   Holmes Road Elementary
   Kate Bond Elementary
   Lakeview Elementary
   Lester Elementary
   Lucie E. Campbell Elementary
   Magnolia Elementary
   Mitchell High
   Raineshaven Elementary
   Raleigh-Egypt High
   River City High
   Ross Elementary
   Shannon Elementary
   South Park Elementary
   Vollentine Elementary
   Westhaven Elementary
   Woodstock Middle (Shelby County Schools)

   High priority
   A "high priority" school has missed the same benchmark at least two years in a row. Sanctions in this area can lead up to becoming a school eligible for state takeover.
   A. Maceo Walker Middle
   Booker T. Washington High
   Carver High
   Cherokee Elementary
   Chickasaw Middle
   Cordova Middle
   Corry Middle
   Craigmont High
   Cypress Middle
   Dunbar Elementary
   Fairley High
   Frayser High
   Geeter Middle
   Georgian Hills Elementary
   Grizzlies Academy
   Hamilton High
   Kingsbury High
   Kirby High
   Manassas High
   Northside High
   Oakhaven Middle
   Oakhaven High
   Pyramid Academy**
   Raleigh-Egypt Middle
   Sheffield High
   Treadwell Middle
   Trezevant High
   Wells Station Elementary
   Wooddale High
   Wooddale Middle

   *Moved up from the "high priority" list
   **not a traditional school; most students attend for only part of the school year

East High English teacher named Educator of the Year by Memphis Alliance of Black School Educators
'I guess it was God's calling for me to be an educator' By Linda Moore, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Saturday, July 5, 2008
   Meah King's ['97, Faculty 2002- ] success as a teacher can be measured in many ways, by the number of students who adore her or the lists of administrators who admire her methods. Or there are simply the raw numbers.
   This past school year, 99 percent of the 10th grade English teacher's students passed the state mandated language exam. Over the past five years, the East High teacher's average is about 97 percent.
   For that achievement, along with her activities outside the classroom, King has been named the outstanding educator of the year by the Memphis Alliance of Black School Educators.
   "I see results," said King. "The students are successful regardless of their so-called disabilities and the things that go on at home. We don't let that be an obstacle."
   Although still a young teacher, King, 29, is a standout, said Janice Tankson, treasurer of the alliance and an assistant principal at East, noting that most of King's students are not taking honors English.
   "She's setting those high expectations and the kids are reaching those expectations," Tankson said. "That speaks volumes to us that she's working with those students to be the best they can be."
   East High principal Frederick W. Curry described King as a phenomenal teacher, one of the best he's ever seen.
   "She believes her success is tied to their success," he said.
   King begins every class with a chest-thumping chant of "I can do anything," he said.
   "It's a chant the kids have bought into," said Curry, who is considering taking it school-wide.
   Former students say King is not your average teacher.
   "She makes learning fun," said Alexandria Jones, 18, who will be a freshman at Baptist College of Health Sciences this fall.
   King kept them motivated, kept them reading and had them write at least one essay a week to prepare for the exams.
   "I can't even remember a dull moment in her class," Jones said. "And in 10th grade I had her for sixth period. By the end of the day, after lunch, everyone was ready to go home. But not in her class."
   King also gives of her time and talent away from school, said Jeff Akins, the alliance's president-elect.
   "Not only is she an excellent teacher in the classroom, making sure all her students excel in what they're trying to learn, but she also gives of herself in the community when school day is over," Akins said.
   She is one of the youth advisers for Youth Eager to Serve (YES), a mentoring organization at her church, Lord's Tabernacle Holiness Church, for children 7-17.
   King is the faculty sponsor for Peer Power, a student-to-student tutoring program funded by the Greater East High Foundation.
   "She loves them and they know it," said Margaret Taylor, retired principal of Grahamwood Elementary School and director emeritus for the foundation.
   And King teaches adult General Equivalency Diploma classes and ACT prep classes for high school students.
   King first began working with children at church where at 16 she taught pre-school after school and during the summer.
   She graduated from East in 1997, and earned an undergraduate degree in English literature and master's in instruction and curriculum at the University of Memphis.
   King has been at East for six years.
   "I guess it was God's calling for me to be an educator," King said. "I know it's my calling because once my day is complete I have peace when I go home."

Mitchell Hires New Basketball Coach Reported by: Jamie Griffin
WPTY-TV
July 4, 2008 [The video of this story may be still be available at WPTY-TV]
   Sorrell Valentine ('93 and Faculty) spent his fourth of July watching basketball. "I couldn't find anyone who barbecued," said Valentine. Truth be told, Valentine is just a basketball junkie. "I would do this for free," he said of coaching high school basketball. "If I wasn't coaching high school I would be (volunteering) at AAU basketball or working with kids anyway."
   Fortunately for Valentine, he will be allowed to continue to do what he loves to do and get paid at the same time. Mitchell hired Valentine to replace Jerry Johnson, who recently left to coach at Wooddale High.
   Valentine, a graduate of East High School in Memphis, will take over the Tigers after one season at Treadwell where his team finished 13-15 this past season with a lost in the regionals to Mitchell, who went on to play in the Division I AA State Finals.

U.S. Border Patrol Recruiting Minorities in Memphis Reported by: Joyce Peterson
WPTY-TV
July 1, 2008 [The video of this story may be still be available at WPTY-TV]

   Memphis, TN - Mention a job that pays 70-grand a year, with no college degree or high school diploma needed and 21 year-old Courtney Moore ['05] is all ears. He graduated from East High in 2005, but with spiraling tuition costs making college next to impossible, Courtney's looking at every opportunity.
   "Sounds like a good idea," says Moore. "I'm really thinking about joining the border patrol myself."
   The U.S. Border Patrol is actively recruiting African-Americans right now. Of the 16,500 agents currently on staff, only about 1-percent are Black. The federal government's Minority Recruitment Strike Team is targeting cities throughout the Southeastern United States, including Memphis.
   Agents are telling young people like Courtney this is their chance to do something that pays well and provides a service to their country.
   "What they'll be doing," says Agent Michael E. Douglas, "is protecting the nation from terrorists and drug smugglers. And they'll be making life better for those who are here in this country as citizens."
   To become a border patrol agent, you have to study the law, learn self-defense tactics, take aggressive driving lessons and go through firearms training. And you have to be willing to relocate to the Southwest. Border patrol agents live in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.
   Applicants also need to be able to speak Spanish. Those who can't, will undergo an intensive 8-week language course at the agency's training academy in New Mexico.
   "Recruits are going to have to put in some effort," says Agent Douglas. "They're going to have to put everything they have into it, whether it be academics or the physical abilities. They're going to be taken to their limits."
   Courtney Moore, and his mother Paulette, both agree that a little hard work is worth it in order to get a big payoff.
   "He's an adult," says Paulette. "He has no family as far as a wife or children. This would be a good opportunity for Courtney."
   "It's not about the money," says Courtney, "because everyone needs money. It's about me doing something. I understand it's a dangerous job. But I'm willing. I'm willing!"
   Agent Douglas says 175 Memphians filled out applications during two previous recruiting trips to the Bluff City. Douglas and his team will be back in town on July 25th.

How we met: Separate ways lead back to 'the one' By Anita Houk, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Sunday, June 29, 2008
   They were kids when they met.
   "We were between 7 and 10," declares LaLita Washington Bivins, 31. "He tries to say we were older, that he was not playing with G.I. Joe then. We met as kids at summer camp at Goodwill Homes."
   As predicted, Lonnie Bivins (class year undetermined), also 31, says they met as teenagers.
   "The meeting," he says, "was quite interesting, quite unexpected for me." It was at a party with a mutual friend the summer they were rising seniors -- he at East High, she at Whitehaven High. "From that point on, we talked quite often. We dated for a year-and-a-half, two years."
   He's a jokester. She's reserved. But they made it mesh -- for a while.
   Then she went off to Austin Peay State University, and he attended University of Memphis. Before long, "She went her way, I went my way," says Lonnie.
   LaLita became a Memphis City Schools teacher. Lonnie moved to Houston, Texas.
   "I'm a contractor at NASA," he says by phone from Houston, "at the facility where they do the astronaut training."
   Working underwater can simulate working in space, as a recent PBS documentary featuring Lonnie's unit illustrates. " 'Good Morning America' was here seven or eight months ago and did a live show. 'Armageddon' and 'Space Cowboys' are part of the movies filmed here."
   Oddly enough, he was in Memphis when he dove into this line of work.
   "I was in welding school at William R. Moore (School of Technology), and I was reading a book about underwater welding. I'd never heard of it. A couple of weeks later, about 3 o'clock in the morning, this commercial came on with this guy underwater welding. There was a school down here (in Houston) that offered it. I moved down here the next month, finished school, got a job and been here ever since.
   "But now," he states emphatically, "it's time to come home."
   Since he left Memphis, he and LaLita each married; each had a daughter. Hers, Lauryn, is 10 and lives with LaLita in Memphis; his, Arianna, is 7 and lives with her mom in Houston.
   "When we were married, we weren't in contact," Lonnie says. "But I would always see her mother when I was in town and she would see my mother ... That's how we knew what was going on in each other's lives."
   When they discovered they were both divorced, the terrain changed. He was already planning to return to Memphis, making inroads to a new career here. Then last summer he was invited to a cousin's wedding.
   "When I came home for the wedding, I called (LaLita)." She invited him to speak to her business students at Trezevant Career & Technology Center. "So I did. Then we went out July 20 of last year. Not even a year later, we're married."
   May 10, in the Japanese Garden at Bartlett City Hall.
   "It's crazy," LaLita says, "because we dated on and off over the years. Recently when we got back together, we said, 'OK, this is it.' So we planned the wedding and we thought he'd be in Memphis before now, but hopefully he'll be here by October.
   "He is the one for me -- that's something I always knew, but we had to grow up, jump the hurdles," she says. "He's smart, giving, loves baseball. He reminds me of my dad. He's a 'pretty boy' but doesn't mind getting dirty. He can figure anything out."
   Well, almost anything. Lonnie has been known to ask for help: "When you ask God for certain things, and God puts the thing in your face that you asked for, you can't do nothing but say thank you," he declares.
   "I asked for the chance with specifically her."

In Brief: Jury convicts Memphis man in 16-year-old's murder From The Commercial Appeal, June 21, 2008
   A jury on Friday convicted a Memphis man of felony murder and robbery involving the 2004 shooting death of a high school student whose burning body was found near a bike path near McLean and Chelsea in North Memphis.
   Gerraldo White, 19, will be automatically sentenced to life in prison by Criminal Court Judge John Colton Jr.
   State prosecutor Glen Baity said White and two other men abducted DeAngelo Shaw on the night of May 26, 2008, and took him to the bike path, where he was robbed of drugs and money and then shot.
   They carried him to a grassy area nearby, shot him again and then doused him with gasoline and set him on fire.
   Police said Shaw, a 16-year-old student at East High School, had run away from home five days earlier and had been reported missing.
   Joshua Taylor, 19, also was charged in the murder. His case is pending.
   -- Lawrence Buser

After the glory days pass by, the lessons instilled by 'Coach' continue By Cathryn Stout, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Monday, June 16, 2008
   The kitchen lights are not as grand as the stadium lights he once knew.
   But Jack Turner never needed bright lights to shine. Seventy-seven years old and several years retired from coaching, the gridiron giant radiates leadership as he sits at his Raleigh home crunching tacos with his former players...
   An administrator's offer of autonomy recently lured a local hardwood legend out of retirement.
   For 21 years, Reginald Mosby [Faculty 1986-2007] was synonymous with the East High School boy's basketball program. After taking a sabbatical in 2007, he'll be coaching basketball next year, under the leadership of principal Dr. Lowell Winston at Northside High School.
   "Northside is really blessed to find a coach of this caliber to coach our kids," said Winston.
   Aside from adding a sixth state championship ring to his collection, Mosby has a more pressing goal.
   "To keep those guys off the street," he said of his future players.
   "It's a vacuum for the type of guys that I coached with and against," he said. "And the kids feel it. They don't feel like they have to give back because they don't see their coaches give back."
   Part of his job as a coach, explained Mosby, is teaching about life beyond basketball.
   So he talks to his boys about dating women with values. He forces them to make eye contact when they speak. He reminds them to shine their shoes before job interviews. He even finds jobs for some of them.
   In the 1970s, Mosby coached during the school year and ran the Lester community center pool in the summertime. Daniel Young was one of the high school players he trained as a lifeguard. Now 44, Young has worked his way up to aquatics manager at the same pool.
   Raised without his father in the home, Young is not sure where he would be without Mosby's guiding hand.
   "Probably be in jail. Probably have about three or four babies. Ain't no telling what would have went on," said Young. "It's just a blessing that he was in my life."
   Whether for future or former players, Mosby feels an obligation to offer tough love and unwavering encouragement to the athletes who cross his path, as his grandparents and mother, Lillie Mosby Simmons, did for him.
   "I wasn't privy to being raised by my father," said Mosby, father of two. "I had to scratch my way up, so if I can give somebody else a leg up, I want to."
   At a recent basketball camp at Northside, Mosby scanned the gym of kids until his eyes landed on a middle-schooler about to make a free throw. Before the youngster could release the ball, Mosby put his hands on the child's shoulders, straightens them up and whispered to him.
   Even though the shot missed the basket, the boy looked up at Mosby and smiled.

Northside turns to veteran coaching duo By Jason Smith, Memphis Commercial Appeal
Thursday, June 5, 2008
   Northside athletic director Donald Holmes said this week the school has hired a pair of former East High head coaches to resurrect the Cougars' floundering football and boys basketball programs.
    Holmes said legendary former East boys basketball coach Reginald Mosby has agreed to replace longtime Northside boys basketball coach Curtis Bivins, who was 202-228 in 15 seasons with the Cougars.
   Also, former East boys track and field coach Gary DeBerry is set to replace former Northside football coach Cleodis Weaver, whose Cougar football teams have dropped 30 consecutive games going back to the 2004 season.
   "Both of them (Mosby and DeBerry) have kind of got winning in their system," Holmes said.
   Mosby, who was unavailable for comment, is Shelby-Metro's seventh-winningest boys basketball coach of all time with 500 victories. He takes over a Northside program that won just three games last season.
   "I called him, and he let me know (he would take the job) after he had sat down and thought about it for awhile," Holmes said. "His experience will be a plus for the program."
   DeBerry, who had also been an assistant football coach and assistant girls basketball coach at East, said he hopes to restore some tradition to a Cougar football program that hasn't qualified for the playoffs since 1991.
   "It's a big challenge, but we're going to take it a little at a time and get the guys over here back in the frame of mind of winning," DeBerry said.
   "In the 1970s and '80s, they had a winning tradition over here with guys like Willie Fry (a first-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers) and Mike Hegman (Dallas Cowboys), and we're trying to get it back to that same status.

Don't call Margaret Taylor retired From "The Columns: Alumni Reviews," The University of Memphis Magazine, Spring, 2008
by Gabrielle Maxey
   Margaret Taylor [Faculty 1955-69] ended her 41-year career as a teacher and principal in the Memphis City Schools in 1995, but she's hardly retired. At age 90, she works full time for a mentoring program at East High School designed to generate excitement for learning and give students the necessary tools to graduate and pursue meaningful careers.
   Taylor (BS �63, MA �66) retired from Grahamwood Elementary School 12 years ago after serving as principal from 1972-96. She quickly returned to school, serving as substitute principal for six years and supervisor of student teachers at the University of Memphis for four years.
   Under her direction, Grahamwood was designated a U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon School of Excellence and was named one of the 10 best schools in the state. Grahamwood was so popular during that time that parents would camp out overnight at the Board of Education just to get to their children spots at the school.
   Taylor prefers to share the accolades she earned as an educator. "We had the best faculty, good kids, good, supportive parents, and the Board of Education supported us," says the lively nonagenarian who wears her hair in a sensible gray bun. Taylor has won a string of personal honors as well. She was named Educator of the Year by the University of Memphis Society and Memphis' Outstanding Senior Citizen by the Downtown Kiwanis Club.
   Taylor was tapped for the Peer Power program by businessman and benefactor Charles McVean ['61], who established the Greater East Foundation in 2004. McVean, a 1961 East High graduate and former student of Taylor's, donated $1 million to the school to pay for extra support teachers, building improvements and payments to students who make good grades and who tutor other students. Under the pay-for-performance plan, students make $10 an hour for tutoring math, English and science. The students who attend tutoring sessions, called "scholars," can earn incentives for good grades.
   Tutoring is done for an hour after school Monday through Thursday and three hours on Saturday. East added an eighth period at the end of the day, with only tutoring allowed during that time. Athletics, cheerleading, choir and other activities must wait until after tutoring.
   There are 35 to 40 tutors at East, upperclassmen recruited from the ranks of honor students. They tutor about 100 scholars. Tutors train three days a week for around an hour and a half and teach six to eight hours a week. Tutors are paid for the time they train as well as their teaching. "The tutors benefit by the additional training in communication, academic skills and leadership," says foundation director Bill Sehnert. "They work nine to 12 hours a week, so they don't need to get a job outside of school."
   Scholars and tutors also have a chance to win cash and other prizes in weekly and six-week grading period team competitions. Teams earn points based on quizzes, tests, attendance, and class and conduct grades.
   Many students in Memphis City Schools are classified as economically disadvantaged, says Sehnert. A large number come from single-parent homes, which generally have lower incomes than two-parent families. The way to break the cycle of poverty, says Sehnert, is education. "We want the students to see the connection between hard work, good grades and rewards for performance," he says. "We take kids and advance them a little every day. We make incremental advances. We try to improve not only their grades, but their conduct."
   The results have been impressive since the program was launched three years ago. Of students who attended tutoring last year, 100 percent passed their algebra Gateway exam, compared to 72 percent schoolwide. Of seventh and eighth-graders who were tutored, 100 percent passed the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) test last year, with 51 percent scoring advanced in math. In addition, all of the tutors went on to attend four-year colleges.
   The Peer Power model was created so that other schools can adopt it. The program already is in place at Whitehaven High School. "Margaret Taylor is blessed and also a blessing by being productive in a vital field into her 90s," says Anne Freeman, who established the program at Whitehaven with her husband, Dr. Jerre Freeman. "She has a ready and contagious laugh, a face full of life and a quick wit. I've seen her laughing at a joke while some friends decades younger are still scratching their heads."
   McVean has similar praise. " �Lady Margaret� taught me eighth-grade math at East High School in 1956 through '57," he says. "She is every bit as sharp now as she was more than 50 years ago. Margaret makes a huge contribution to our program at East and is an inspiration to me each and every day. She is a wonderful living example of what the Greatest Generation was all about."
   Taylor is usually at East by 8 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays. "Sometimes I stay until 4:30, 5, sometimes 7," she says. Taylor takes Fridays off since there is tutoring on Saturdays. She reserves some Fridays for trips to casinos in Tunica. ("I take $50 with me. When I spend what I took, I�m done," she explains.) Taylor also has been active in Leadership Memphis, the Kiwanis Club, the Germantown Education Commission, the Memphis Symphony League and Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.
   How does she manage when many others her age have retired? "I keep on keeping on," says Taylor. "It keeps me involved. It's a challenge. I like to see kids learning."
   Tutors and scholars at East begin each learning session by saying a creed which begins "I want to be somebody some day." Most would agree that Margaret Taylor is someone indeed.

Alumni reaching back to help students at former school
Assisting with tutoring, mentoring, keeping history alive From The Commercial Appeal, March 19, 2008
Alumni reaching back to help students at former school
Assisting with tutoring, mentoring, keeping history alive
By Lindsay Moore
Monday, May 19, 2008
   Mattie Brown Guy never attended the new, modern Manassas High School.
   But she walks the halls as if it were her own.
   Students in the cafeteria shout greetings and make room for her at a table.
   Guy, class of '54, is a fixture among the alumni who are at Manassas every Tuesday. She never misses a program or sporting event, and students say she doesn't sugarcoat the truth.
   High school administrators say they need more like her.
   With schools feeling pressured from the outside and the inside, alumni can be a valuable resource, administrators say, providing financial assistance, tutoring and mentoring, while also helping to instill a sense of history, school spirit and pride in today's students.
   "If we don't help them, who will help them?" asks Guy, surrounded in the Alumni Room at Manassas by decades-old memorabilia.
   It was the alumni who bolstered the students after a shooting there last October.
   "They let it be known it was an accident and our school is not bad," said DeMarcus Douglas, 17, who graduated on Saturday. "They stood behind us."
   East High model
   Many see the Greater East High Foundation as a model of how alumni can help.
   The foundation, which has received national recognition, was created by Charles McVean, class of '61. Among it's many functions, the foundation pays students to tutor others after school.
   "We have identified the most underutilized resource in our city today, the top performing students at these inner city high schools," said McVean, chairman and CEO of McVean Trading and Investments.
   Known at East as "Charlie Mustang," a nod to the school's mascot, McVean has funded lunch for 200 during parents' meetings and routinely supplies outside speakers to inspire the students. Recently, visitors from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange exposed students to a new world of possibilities.
   East principal Fred Curry is the first to credit McVean's involvement at East for bolstering test scores and school pride.
   "He has the right idea in terms of trying to get pride back in school and in terms of getting alumni back in these schools and to assist schools," Curry said.
   McVean's idea is also being used at Whitehaven High School, where Dr. Jerre Freeman sponsors the Greater Whitehaven High Foundation.
   Dr. Vincent Hunter, principal and member of the class of '82, has proof the program works.
   "Our scores went from 68 percent to 85 percent proficiency in one year."
   Some hard to reach
   As accepting as some students are of the alumni, in many schools there is a large part of the student body -- teens dealing with bad grades, crime-ridden neighborhoods, uninvolved parents or gang recruitment -- who past graduates don't reach.
   "What we have to do is figure out a way to turn these kinds around who are headed in the wrong direction," says McVean.
   He's planning a tutoring program for the students who are not college-bound.
   The Greater East foundation plans to train 50 tutors at the University of Memphis this summer. If Memphis City Schools gives its approval, the foundation will pay them to work with students.
   While intervention might work, others say programs need to bring in some younger alumni to make an impact on students who are harder to reach.
   At Manassas, most active former students graduated in the '40s, '50s and early '60s, said Nadie Kinnard, president of the Manassas Alumni Association.
   She said the students "think we think everything they do is wrong," said Kinnard, class of '65. "They need somebody that understands their language, why they do what they do."
   Manassas alumni have raised money and maintained a college scholarship program but have been unable to establish a formalized mentor program, Kinnard said. Money always helps, but it's not the only answer.
   "You've got to have some people power," Kinnard said. "Younger people can relate to these students better than I can."
   -- Linda A. Moore: 529-2702
   School Volunteers
   Adult volunteers at Memphis City Schools must submit to a background check and meet other criteria.
   To learn more, call 416-7600 or go online to mcsk12.net and click on Volunteer Services at the bottom of the site index list to the right of the page.
   [A photo which accompanied this story is not included here.]

East alumnus, first woman on MUS board, ends term MUS Today - The Magazine of Memphis University School
March 2008 [posted November 12, 2008]
   At the February Board of Trustees meeting, it was announced that Susan [Bach ('67)] Faber, Jim Varner �73, and Kent Wunderlich �66 were rotating off the board after 52 years of collective experience. They were thanked and recognized as trustees who love this school and have served unselfishly. Each will become a member of the Honorary Board.
   Susan Faber
   Susan Faber, the school�s first female trustee, joined the MUS board in 1998. In her decade on the board, Faber served on the Education Committee and was co-chair of the Doors to New Opportunities Special Gifts Committee. Perhaps her most significant contribution as a board member was being co-chair of the Strategic Plan 2004-05 (which also included her being co-chair of the Strategic Plan Ad Hoc Committee on Process). Academic Dean Rick Broer, who was co-chair of the strategic planning process with her, recounts, "Susan Faber was a terrific trustee to work with. It is easy to see that she loves MUS and always has tried to keep the school�s best interest uppermost in her mind. As co-chair of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee, she was a great leader. She worked hard and kept the group organized and focused, yet she made the work interesting and fun. I think of her as a quiet but extremely effective trustee."
   Faber and her husband, Butch [Faber ('67)] , were founding members of the Thorn Society and are currently members of the Thorn Society Headmaster�s Circle. They are the parents of sons, Michael �96 and Robert �98, and daughter, Carey. Faber is a graduate of East High School and Indiana University.

East High Foundation Gains Admin Friend
ANDY MEEK | The Daily News
Monday, April 21, 2008
   President George W. Bush did not forget about his impromptu encounter late last year with a Memphis businessman and a University of Memphis student.
   The two Memphians had crossed paths with the president in December at a political fundraiser in Omaha, Neb. Local commodities trader Charles McVean ['61] and U of M student Cortney Richardson flew to the event and approached Bush with the goal of selling him on the strengths of an emerging academic foundation at East High School.
   McVean, an East alum, started the foundation in 2004 with the basic idea that upperclassmen at the school would be paid $10 an hour to tutor their fellow students. Richardson is involved with the program as a tutor.
   During their encounter with Bush in Omaha, where the president had traveled to support the U.S. Senate candidacy of former Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns, the president told his personal assistant to give the pair from Memphis a business card. A packet of material describing the East High program was then forwarded to the White House.
   Bush eventually asked John Bailey, a domestic counsel affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education, to get back in touch with the backers of the local program known as the Greater East High Foundation. That's what led to a 45-minute conference call last week involving McVean, foundation director Bill Sehnert and Bailey as the representative of the education department.
   Taking the next step
   Bailey, impressed with the pitch he was given, at one point asked the East High officials, "What can we do to help?"
   "Charlie said, 'Well, what you can do to help is we believe that a proliferation of these types of private foundations that are privately funded around the country could receive grants from the government or from other private foundations that would pay for performance,'" Sehnert recalled. "And (Bailey) thought that was a good idea.
   "They liked the idea of each foundation basically working with one or two schools, because that way the money goes more to the tutors and to the students in incentives rather than to a large organization."
   Bailey already had read up on the program before last week's phone call. But he also requested more written information on things such as the program's intent to hire additional tutors and the impact of those additions.
   That supportive nod from the nation's capital, meanwhile, joins encouragement from the public and private sectors around the country for the local academic program. After a recent visit to Bolivar County, Miss., for example, one of McVean's friends in the area decided to help launch a version of the academic tutoring program there.
   At the program's three-year anniversary celebration last year, a panoply of notable guest speakers was brought in to praise the effort. Among those people was Clear Channel Communications co-founder and Texas billionaire Red McCombs.
   Creating masters
   And the East High program, which started out as a way McVean figured he could give back to his alma mater and have his money put to productive use, is growing. New college-age tutors will be added to the program's lineup for the next school year.
   "We're going to hire 25 college tutors for next year," Sehnert said. "And we're going to try to use those tutors during the day. They will be math, science and engineering students, so they will have the subject content knowledge.
   "One of the problems in our schools is that we give kids many, many different choices, so they become masters of nothing. And then when they graduate, if they do graduate from high school, they're not really very well-versed in math or very well-versed in science or very well-versed in English."
   Interest in the program is blossoming in other corners. Backers of the foundation have met with officials at Douglass High School in Memphis with the hope of starting a version of the program there. At the moment, East High foundation supporters closer to home are especially eager to bolster the program's lineup of tutors.
   "That," Sehnert said, "will be a walking demonstration to kids that they can succeed."

How we met: Couple 'In the Right Time' for love
Professionals find vision and fulfill their destinies By Anita Houk
Special to The Commercial Appeal
Sunday, April 6, 2008
   "Ricky's vision," his bride, Gwendolyn, explains, "is to help people be their very best, and that's right in line with my vision as well: helping people understand how to get to the next level toward their purpose, their destiny."
   Who knew, they marvel, that when she attended and he emceed a 2006 Habitat for Humanity Women Build fund-raiser that they were fulfilling their destinies to build their lives together?
   "The theme of our wedding," Ricky L. Tucker ['75] inserts, "was 'In the Right Time.'"
   And so it was that in the right time a mutual friend introduced them.
   "I was the manager of diversity and inclusion at International Paper," says Gwen J. Nicholson Tucker. "He told me about being an executive coach, and I thought, wow, this might be an opportunity to understand better what he does in terms of coaching, about young professionals moving up in the organization, and specifically African-American males and what skills and tools they need to move up in corporate America.
   "That was Sept. 7, 2006, we met. We exchanged business cards."
   A few contacts later, Gwen invited Ricky, who owns Rix International, to her office to discuss his proposal to work with IP employees. At that first meeting, he had made an impression.
   "Ricky said that as he was building the executive coaching business, that it was developing his character. I don't hear many people talk about developing their character. People talk about what they do, but not about evolving in their character. So that was something that really stood out to me."
   They talked business -- "I felt that I was getting grilled!" he admits -- and at some point he volunteered his professional package for auction at her church fund-raiser. And then ....
   "I went to this one appointment so that I could secure the business (with IP)," Ricky says, "but between the time I went there and the time I left, it was decided."
   "...We couldn't pursue the business part of the equation," says Gwen.
   They were discussing assessment tools and personality profiles. He knew his. He asked about hers. At first she recoiled, but then took the risk. "I'd never shared anything of that magnitude," she admits.
   He realized the import. "I definitely don't mix business with pleasure," Ricky says, "and I don't take advantage of people. I think I said something to her like, 'I don't have mine but my kimono is open, so if there's anything you want to ask me, you can.' "
   "As I think about it," Gwen continues, "there were certain gates of trust that had to be passed through, and that was me taking a risk to trust him. It was a risk that I took. I found out it was (trust) well-placed. I think this must have been the second or third time that we had met."
   They had learned about each other quickly. He's from Memphis, graduated from East High, University of Tennessee-Knoxville and has worked toward a master's degree. He's 51, divorced, has lived in Indiana and visited South Africa.
   "My prayer was to grow to an international business" and return to South Africa and do good, he says. But then: "When there were straight-line winds in Memphis, my cousin was in an accident and in a coma; he passed away. He had two children. Now, when my mom passed away, his mom had stood in the gap, she was there for me; so I said, I have to come here for him."
   That was 2002, two years after Gwen had moved from her home state of Florida to Memphis for her job at International Paper. While she wasn't looking for a husband, "I'd really been praying for a long time to be married to the right man, the husband that God had prepared for me," says Gwen, 48. "One of the things I've longed for is for the man I'm to marry to ask for my hand in marriage, regardless of how old I am. And he did that."
   They met in September; he proposed in November. He met her family and friends and passed all their tests. She was delighted: "I didn't wait this long to get married to get it wrong!"
   They married April 28, 2007, at The Life Church of Memphis. She has joined Ricky at Rix International, and they do business as a team.
   "I had this vision in my mind that I would probably die alone and lonely," Ricky says. But instead, he found "my soulmate."
   "He calls me My Joy," says Gwen, beaming. "My middle name is Joy, but he says My Joy."

Alumnus featured in column: "80 percent of poor Americans work"
The road from government aid to self-sufficiency often not a smooth one By Wendi C. Thomas
The Commercial Appeal
Sunday, March 30, 2008
   Poverty in Memphis looks a lot like Taurus Green.
   In fact, 80 percent of the poor people here are single moms and their children.
   Green, 30, is raising her three daughters in a drafty duplex in Parkway Village.
   She dropped out of South Side High School in the 12th grade, but earned a GED from a program she later found out wasn't certified. She can't afford a car, so her world is limited to where she can get rides or where the bus goes.
   Best-case scenario: She earns $800 a month cleaning houses. That's $9,600 a year, which puts her at less than half of the federal poverty level for a family of four -- $21,200.
   But you can't raise a family on $800 a month, so Green receives government assistance. There's about $400 a month in food stamps for her girls, 22-month-old Makayla, 7-year-old Jada and 13-year-old Candace. Section 8 pays for her apartment and part of her staggering utility bill.
   Overweight, Green vows that this month is the month her diet and exercise program will begin in earnest. She takes a handful of pills daily for high blood pressure and diabetes.
   And for many people, including most who have never been poor, that's all they need to know about Green and her family.
   The thinking goes like this: Green made poor choices and now, she's paying for them. No, correction, taxpayers are paying for Green's poor choices.
   For those whose safety nets have safety nets, it can be difficult to muster any compassion for Green.
   After all, no one made her get pregnant. No one made her drop out of high school. No one made her have three children, all by different fathers, only one of whom is involved in his daughter's life.
   But Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., were he alive today, might see Green's fate a bit differently. He would have less judgment for how Green got where she is. He would want to know how America planned to help Green and the other 35 million Americans who live in poverty.
   When King was assassinated, he was in the midst of planning a Poor People's Campaign, an effort that was unpopular even among his civil-rights compatriots. The campaign, which culminated posthumously with a monthlong settlement camp of poor Americans on the National Mall in Washington, demanded that the government provide more jobs with a decent wage, better unemployment insurance and higher-quality public education to prepare children for the workforce.
   "Instead of spending $35 billion every year to fight an unjust, ill-considered war in Vietnam and $20billion to put a man on the moon, we need to put God's children on their own two feet," King said on March 18, 1968, in speech to striking Memphis sanitation workers.
   But to be fair, poverty 40 years ago didn't look like poverty today. Then, poverty was starvation, homes with rodent and insect infestation but no heating or indoor plumbing.
   And that's not to say that there aren't poor people in America living in such situations. But Green and her family do have food, shelter and clothing. There is just little room in her budget for extras and certainly no money for emergencies.
   Even the $6 it cost for her daughter Jada's field trip to Pink Palace is a strain.
   A former resident of the Dixie Homes housing project, she moved into her duplex in July and has received job training through Memphis Hope. For her perfect attendance and stellar performance in a job-training class, she got a computer, which she used to make fliers for the residential-cleaning business she hopes to start.
   The computer is now unusable, felled by a virus and Green isn't sure how to fix it.
   Besides, a computer isn't a necessity. What she needed more than a computer was new shoes. Hers had holes in them, and she suspects walking to and from the bus stop with wet feet is probably what made her sick with the flu.
   So when she got her tax refund, it was quickly spent -- on shoes for her and clothes and shoes for her children. On buying the dryer she'd been renting. On a working TV. Life insurance policies for her children. Stocking up on canned goods. And paying all her bills, including an overdue $500 utility bill, through April.
   Like 80 percent of poor Americans, Green works. She has a few regular clients, but if they go on vacation or just don't need her that week, she doesn't get paid.
   In late March, she had $2.41 in her checking account and $14 in her savings account.
   She used to get $142 each month in cash assistance, but last month, she turned that down. The check came with strings -- including a requirement to spend 30 hours each week either at work, school or in volunteer service, but volunteering just a few blocks away at her daughter's school didn't count.
   Green knows her time on welfare is running out. The 1996 Welfare Reform Act limits benefits to 60 months over a lifetime, with some exceptions for aid to children.
   Green estimates she may have two years of that five years left.
   "That's one of the reasons I gave the check up. ... I wanted to see if I could do it myself."
   * * *
   That's a myth about the poor -- that they don't want better for themselves. That they don't want to work, that they're lazy.
   "Sure, that group is there," says Doug Imig, professor at the University of Memphis and fellow at the Urban Child Institute. But that group gets magnified well beyond its size, and examples of fraud are held up as the norm rather than the exception.
   More importantly, says Imig, "We need to pause and realize we hold completely contradictory attitudes" about poor people.
   On one hand, Imig says, we believe poor people are a crafty bunch, adept at scamming the system so they can collect a check. But at the same time, we believe that they must be dumb, because otherwise, they'd figure out a way to escape poverty.
   But moving from poverty to self-sufficiency is rarely a smooth transition free from setbacks.
   Imig has his urban-policy students meet in the Walgreen's lot at Poplar and Cleveland.
   The students are to pretend as if they have a baby in arms and just 20 minutes to find dinner before catching the next bus home.
   Will they try to cross Poplar to go to Kroger -- and if so, will they spend part of that 20 minutes sorting through the produce for the most healthful food available? Or will they pick up a quart of milk at Walgreen's? Or will they stay on the same side of the street and grab some fast food from McDonald's?
   "It's hard to be poor and this is a city that's hard to be poor in," unlike other cities that have efficient mass transportation, Imig says.
   Many Americans earning a middle-class income are still just a paycheck or two away from poverty, and but for the safety nets they have -- families with financial resources, property that can be pawned, even the smallest of nest eggs -- they, too, might find themselves in need of welfare.
   Welfare, Imig says, can be likened to a hospital room with two beds.
   "In one bed, there's someone who stays for just six months. And the other bed, a new patient comes every day," says Imig, who has a "Poverty Sucks" sticker on his office printer.
   "Yes, both beds are occupied all the time, but 98 percent of the use is short-term."
   The new patient would be Lashadran Nelson [class year undetermined], who is well on her way to moving off government assistance.
   Nelson, 21, had graduated from East High by the time she had Aniyah, who turned 2 in January. Aniyah's father, his family and Nelson's mother and grandmother were there with cameras when Aniyah, dressed like a little angel, won a fashion show at her Binghamton day care center.
   Welfare reform forced Nelson, and thousands of other Memphis mothers who receive government assistance, into a workforce-readiness program at BRIDGES.
   Nelson came to the Downtown center last July with a bad attitude, a pierced eyebrow and yellow hair she later dyed hot red. Her clothes were better suited for a night club than an office.
   But that was before she was taught what it'd take to succeed in a professional environment, lessons her mother, who is an IT coordinator for BRIDGES' workforce-development arm, had tried to teach her but Nelson wouldn't listen.
   "My attitude has really improved," says a poised Nelson over dinner, her brown hair braided neatly.
   But, Nelson admits, "It took someone else to tell me."
   That someone else was Pam McCoy. Dr. McCoy, director of supportive services for BRIDGES' Work Bridge program, who is proud to tell you she went from a GED to a Ph.D.
   McCoy, 51, dropped out of high school and had her first child at 15. She married her daughter's father, but was separated just a few years later and divorced in eight years.
   Unmarried, she relied on the government for help, following in the single-motherhood path traveled by her mother and her grandmother.
   But then she got a break, a break that makes the difference between failure and success: Patient teachers and a devoted financial-aid counselor at what was then Shelby State Community College.
   Her first day at junior college in 1977, she showed up wearing a halter top and too-tight jeans, sporting red hair and a gold tooth right in front.
   "With the attitude I had, the first week, I ended up cussing out the dean of students," probably over her financial aid, she assumes.
   "My mindset was, 'You owe me something.'"
   The kindness of her teachers softened her spirit. After she got her degree in counseling at Shelby State, she was hired as an academic adviser. And she had her gold tooth replaced with a natural-colored one.
   In 1991, she got her bachelor's degree in human relations from Western Illinois. She moved to Tulsa, Okla., and earned her master's degree in counseling from Oral Roberts University in 1996. Her Ph.D. came from Jacksonville Theological Seminary in 2003.
   When McCoy -- affectionately called "Madear" by younger BRIDGES clients and staffers -- talks to recalcitrant mothers uninterested in the training program, she does so with the special insight of having been where they are now.
   "You're setting yourself up for defeat," she tells them, when they come in with pierced lips and unusual hair colors. Society will judge them on their appearances -- that's reality, so deal with it.
   Yes, it's hard to be a single mother navigating an often-unfriendly system, when you're so easily knocked off course by a sick child or a late bus.
   "Sometimes we beat ourselves down and we refuse to come up and come out of that," McCoy says.
   But, McCoy says, "Once we change our thinking, we can change our life."
   For Nelson, her thinking changed when Aniyah was born. "When you have a child, it's not about you no more."
   After her classes at BRIDGES were over, she was hired there part-time, and in that job, she and another BRIDGES graduate transformed the transportation-payment system from a daily time-sucker to an orderly process that happens just once a week. Her initiative -- seeing and solving a problem -- impressed McCoy and others. And last month, BRIDGES hired Nelson full-time.
   When the new BRIDGES workforce classes begin on Mondays, it's Nelson who gives a pep talk to the women, most of whom are as reluctant to be there as she was.
   "You can't look and them and say, 'They're not going to do anything' because I had that same expression on my face."
   Still, the transition hasn't been easy. In her first few weeks as a full-time employee, in her first professional job, she sneaked into a bathroom stall to cry.
   Nelson was overwhelmed by all the work, she explained when her mom saw her tear-stained face.
   But she was also crying for joy.
   "I am so proud of myself."

Back in the saddle
Stable operators treat horses like athletes From The Commercial Appeal, March 13, 2008
Back in the saddle
Stable operators treat horses like athletes
By Chris Van Tuyl
Thursday, March 13, 2008
   Trey Lawson has an accounting degree from Ole Miss, but the 26-year-old's office setting isn't typical. On any given day, he can stomp around 65 acres.
   Lawson has returned home to Olive Branch to work with his parents, Wes [Lawson ('68)] and Rose Marie [Manning ('73)] Lawson, at Oak View Stables, an equestrian training center that has been operating in the Mid-South since Oct. 1, 1977.
   "Ole Miss treated me well, but I was ready to come back to work and play with the horses a little bit," Trey said.
   "It's an addiction in the blood. When you grow up with it, it's hard to move away from it. You're stuck with it one way or another."
   For Trey, it's a good kind of "stuck." He's surrounded by beginner, intermediate and advanced riders every week.
   "We take them as early as about 5 or 6 and work 'em on up as far as they want to go," he said. "We've got people that are happy to sit there and walk around in circles, and we've got people who are ready to gallop at the next big jump in front of them."
   Oak View opened its doors in Germantown but moved to 13600 Looney Road in Olive Branch a little over a decade later.
   "It's been a beautiful life in DeSoto County," Rose Marie said. "I love it."
   The horses certainly aren't complaining.
   "Everybody is checked on everyday," said Trey, "most of the time more than once. They have blankets that come on and off with the weather. They have their own medications, their own speciality diets, their own particular brand of hay -- it just depends.
   "They're professional athletes and we treat them as such. A lot of times, as a professional, we all wish we could be as well-treated as our horses."
   In the next couple of months, it will be prime time for shows and summer camps at Oak View. The next Hunter/Jumper Show is scheduled for May 31, while four sessions of camps begin June2. That means plenty of excitement -- even for Wes.
   "I rode horses as a kid," he said, "but I think my wife married me because I knew how to operate a shovel."
   On a serious note, Wes is the chief groundskeeper, yet his feet aren't always on the ground.
   "He very much appreciates any hauling jobs he can get," Trey said. "He'd take horses all the way to Canada and back if need be."
   For more information on Oak View Stables, visit the Web site oakviewstables.net or call (662) 895-4544.

Don't judge East by actions of a few From Letters to the editor, The Commercial Appeal, March 3, 2008
Don't judge East by actions of a few
   It is quite unfair to categorize the East High student body as uncivilized because of the actions of a few students, as the writer of a Feb. 28 letter to the editor did [see below]. He is obviously basing his opinion on mere observations and not facts. I'm sure if he truly paid attention, he would see that it is the same students who cut across his yard each day, not the entire student body.
   I am a proud 2003 graduate of East High, and I recently received a B.S. degree from Middle Tennessee State University. I also have classmates who have gone on to graduate from institutions such as Morehouse University, Clark-Atlanta University, Dartmouth University and MIT, just to name a few. Several people who are employed in the medical field in Memphis are products of East's optional Health Sciences program and the Health Occupations Students of America program the school provides. I believe we are very productive, civilized citizens of Memphis.
   Although I do believe that some people need to better their parenting skills, you can't expect the school to pick up where parents leave off. That's what a community is for, or at least that was the original idea. If the writer is so concerned about the behavior of these students, who apparently reside in his community, maybe he should mentor them instead of criticizing them.
   Kearea Ellis
   Memphis

East students are uncivilized From Letters to the editor, The Commercial Appeal, February 28, 2008
East students are uncivilized
Thursday, February 28, 2008
   The author of your Feb. 21 letter "High expectations are the answer," [see letter below] East High School principal Frederick W. Curry, would do well to observe the behavior of some of the East pupils when they leave school at the end of the day.
   If indeed he thinks these pupils conduct themselves as members of a civilized community, he is sadly mistaken. I live in close proximity to East, and I see and hear the way those so-called students behave.
    Fist fights, yelling obscenities at each other, walking across people's yards -- these are the order of the day. Shirts are hanging out of trousers, which are worn to the point of hardly covering body parts that civilized society expects to be covered.
   These students Curry seems to be proud of have picked flowers from my garden and thrown stones at my dog. The blame for this behavior obviously falls on the parent/parents. Since they have failed, we hope the school will pick up where society has not.
   The letter also stated that each East staff member is asked to mentor one student. Unless the ratio of staff to student is one for one, then I believe the majority of these students do not experience this encouragement.
   The community judges East by the observed behavior of its students. While success may be observed inside East, it certainly is not displayed in the neighborhood in which these students live.
   Finally, I would like to share this thought: "Self praise is no recommendation."
   John Nicholas
   Memphis

High expectations are the answer From Letters to the editor, The Commercial Appeal, February 21, 2008
High expectations are the answer
Thursday, February 21, 2008
   I applaud Mayor Willie Herenton for his leadership and concern for our plight as educators (Feb. 14 article, "Beefing up school safety"). Metal detectors and more police reinforcement seem to be the way of large urban school districts. These strategies will definitely quell the violence. But is this what we really need in our schools?
   It has been my experience, as a principal, assistant principal, teacher and football coach, that high expectations and character education for all students make schools safe. Students rise or fall to expectations set for them.
   We do not have a Memphis Police Department officer assigned to our school. Instead, my staff members are asked to mentor one student. We believe high expectations are taught through good teacher-student relationships. At East High School, we expect our students to conduct themselves as members of a civilized community.
   When I arrived at East there was much chaos with an officer assigned to our school. Some students who have succumbed to a lifestyle of gang violence may see it as a "badge of honor" to be arrested or to challenge police authority. It has continued to be my observation that corporal punishment and a stronger Memphis police presence in the school lower expectation. This is evidenced at East High School, as we have experienced decreased numbers of Memphis police calls and discipline referrals over a three-year period with no police presence and no corporal punishment.
   We have maintained high expectations for our entire student body, and they do a great job of governing themselves accordingly.
   I also believe children must be taught how to behave. We have found that teaching them to "use your inside voice, tuck in your shirt, and walk to the right of the hall," are important elements of behavior for children.
   Methods we use to teach good character and behavior include requiring our students to learn the school creed and school poem, "Invictus." We also enlighten our students school-wide through announcing daily character words, having character assemblies, and showing great movies like "Akeelah and the Bee."
   Older students at East mentor and tutor younger students after school through our "Peer Power" program. We use "Trust Pays" as a tool for students to take ownership of their school. They are rewarded when they report instances of crime and graffiti to trusted adults.
   I am convinced that high expectation and good character translate into a safe environment. I am proud to report that these things work for us at East High School, and can work at all high schools.
   Frederick W. Curry
   Principal, East High School
   Memphis

Alumnus opens new store From The Commercial Appeal, February 2, 2008
Vineyard vines spreads to Memphis
Clothing fashion shop opens at Regalia site
By David Flaum
Saturday, February 2, 2008
   Almost as quietly as vines grow, vineyard vines, the retailer of bright-colored, preppy fashion, opened its first Memphis store Friday.
   The joint venture with Oak Hall, which has sold vineyard vines goods for several years, is next to the Oak Hall store in Regalia Center.
   "We've been working on this for three months and it all came together this week," said Bill Levy, co-owner of Oak Hall...
   The Oak Hall and vineyard vines folks hope to use the grand opening event to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, a charity Oak Hall has long supported, Levy said. Pediatric oncology is also an interest of the vineyard vines leaders, he said.
   The store may set aside a percentage of sales revenue for grand-opening week for St. Jude and try to give St. Jude patients gifts -- hats or shirts -- from the store, he said.
   In addition, the owners will look into creating a vineyard vines product line from which profits would go to St. Jude, Levy said.

Peer Power program at East High appeals to entrepreneurial spirit of student tutors
From The Memphis Business Journal, January 18, 2008, posted January 31, 2008
Memphis Business Journal - by Karen Ott Mayer
Friday, January 18, 2008
   Peer Power represents the best marriage of business and education.
   When local businessman and founder of the Greater East High Foundation, Charles McVean ['61], formed the foundation for the express purpose of funneling private funds into a single public school, he stepped into uncharted territory.
   What he believed, however, was that by tying simple business principles to an incentive-based tutoring program, educational performance just might improve.
   "We are students of global economics," says McVean, who has personally invested $2 million in foundation programs over the past three years. "Unless we can impact the next generation of kids, America doesn't have a chance to continue being a world leader."
   More importantly, Peer Power recognizes an untapped resource within East High School: "The most underutilized resource is the top-end kids in inner city schools," he says.
   Peer Power treats top-notch students as employees, effectively making their tutoring role also their first job where they are paid at least $10/hour to tutor.
   This past year, the program's third year, 250 students participated. Tutoring happens four days during the week and for at least three hours on Saturday.
   Besides collapsing the teacher ratio from 25:1 to 2:1, Peer Power seeks to change culture.
   "We recognize that the strongest influence on a 7th grade child is a high school student," McVean says. "They look up to them for good or bad. By making this program the desired, elite activity, we can do things like replace gang activity with a competitive team identity. And as business people, we know people respond to monetary incentives."
   And it's working.
   In 2006, 97% of those tutored (called scholars) passed the Tennessee standardized Algebra I Gateway exam, compared to only 52% of the untutored. In 2007, that number jumped again, with 100% of scholars passing the exam.
   Alyssa Carter, now a sophomore at the University of Memphis, became a Peer Power tutor in 2005, helping tutor football scholars in math.
   "I think the most surprising thing I've seen is how motivated kids are," Carter says. "They can relate to someone their own age."
   Students like Carter submit to a formal hiring process.
   "Tutors participate in 80 to 100 hours of paid training during the summer," says William Sehnert, foundation director. "Before that, we ask for a faculty recommendation and students must display honor conduct and be involved in the school as a whole."
   Another important feature of Peer Power is the team approach. Scholars are broken into teams and compete through quizzes, attendance and conduct.
   "Every six weeks, teams are eligible for monetary incentives of $75 and $100," Sehnert says.
   Perhaps the most exciting part of Peer Power for McVean and his team is that the program can be easily duplicated, and his primary objective is to see it replicated nationwide. In the past year, it has been replicated with success at Whitehaven High School where the program is funded by Jerre Freeman.
   "It is management intensive and takes qualified, motivated people to support it, but with the support of the school administrations and strong discipline, anyone can have results comparable to our success," McVean says.
   An early challenge McVean encountered at East High was the lack of discipline: "When we went into the school three years ago, it was bad. You couldn't hear over the noise in the halls."
   McVean says that the support of East High principal Fred Curry and the administration has been essential.
   "Teachers in public schools often get too much blame for education problems," he says. "They signed up to teach, not raise kids. What we've got is a broader societal problem stemming from the failure of the traditional family unit."
   In this light, McVean explains that tutors accept an even greater role.
   "Tutors are qualified to help in the teaching of intangibles, acting almost like surrogate parents to the younger kids," he says.

   Greater East High Foundation
   Chairman: Charles D. McVean
   Address: 850 Ridge Lake Blvd., Suite 1
   Phone: (901) 761-8400
   Web site: www.easthighfoundation.org

Memphian set for Tennis Hall induction
From The Commercial Appeal, January 15, 2008, posted January 16, 2008
By Phil Stukenborg
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
   She had been invited by friends last summer to The Racquet Club to play tennis, the sport that has been her calling card and companion for more than 55 years, when Bonnie Dondeville Farley was hit, not with an errant forehand, but unexpected news. Bonnie Dondeville Farley, well known for her competitive play, has earned her spot in the USTA Southern Section Tennessee Tennis Association Hall of Fame.
   The invitation to play tennis was a ruse. A party celebrating her entry into the USTA Southern Section Tennessee Tennis Association Hall of Fame was not.
   A lifelong Memphian known by the local tennis community for her fierce competitive nature, her blistering forehands -- righthanded and lefthanded -- and her deep love of the game, Farley, 63, will be inducted into the hall during ceremonies held Jan. 26 in Cool Springs, Tenn., a Nashville suburb.
   Also inducted will be Knoxville native Ben Testerman, a former Top 20 player in the world and a one-time Australian Open quarterfinalist, and Chattanooga's Sue Bartlett, a former All-American at UT-Chattanooga and a longtime high school coach.
   "I'm so proud, it's really neat, it's really cool," Farley said. "I'm probably going to be boo-hooing because my mom and dad won't be there to see me inducted, and they sacrificed so much for me to play tennis."
   Farley said her tennis-playing parents, Clem and Jean, introduced her to the game when she was 5, taking her with them when they'd play matches at old Beauregard Tennis Center. Using a cut-down racquet, she'd hit balls off the backboard on Court No. 18.
   "I'd hit against the wall with one hand, change hands, and hit with the other hand," she said.
   The practice developed two strong forehands, allowing her to avoid using a backhand stroke. By the time she was 12, Farley was playing -- and winning -- local tournaments for 15-year-olds and competing deep into the draw in older age brackets.
   "That whole first summer I competed, I didn't know how to keep score," she said. "All I could do was run over to the ball and dink it back."
   She quickly progressed, learning more about the game than keeping the score. By 1959, when she was 14, Farley competed in national tournaments in Philadelphia and Chicago and earned a No. 1 ranking in the South in the 15-and-under division. In 1960, she was ranked 15th in the nation in the 15s.
   As an amateur, she dominated the women's open division in Tennessee. From 1962, when she graduated from East High, through 1974, she was ranked No. 1 in the division on six occasions.
   While her success as a junior generated headlines, Farley garnered extensive publicity in the early 1960s when, as a student at then-Memphis State University, she tried out for, and made, the men's tennis team. Few college athletics programs offered women's tennis, so Farley played her way onto the Tiger team at the No. 5 singles position. In 1963, she won the singles title at her position while competing in the Tennessee Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships at Sewanee.
   An excellent doubles player, she and Ken Lewis formed the No. 1 doubles team at Memphis for two years and went undefeated.
   Despite the attention her college career brought, Farley admits she wasn't trying to be a pioneer or make a statement for the women's game.
   "There's no doubt in my mind the best women aren't going to come close to competing against the men," she said. "But that was a two-year fun thing. Then I had to get serious about getting my degree."
   Farley taught children with special needs in the Memphis City Schools system for 42 years, retiring last May after spending the last 26 of those years at Egypt Elementary. She played tennis competitively and taught the sport until 1983 when her son, John, was born.
   It was during those local events that her legend as an intense competitor grew. Former Tiger men's player Phil Chamberlain, a member of Memphis' team in the mid-1970s, often drew Farley and her partner in local mixed doubles events. He called her "intimidating."
   "If she had a good partner, she'd win with whoever she was playing with," Chamberlain said. "She was a dominating player and a great competitor. And her ground game was awesome."
   Chamberlain said Farley's unique two-forehand ground game made it difficult to choose how to serve to her.
   "I remember thinking, 'Where do I serve it? Out wide or to her body?"' said Chamberlain, who is tournament director of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and Cellular South Cup, the annual pro tennis stop at The Racquet Club. "I've never seen someone who had two forehands before or since Bonnie."
   During her dominating run in the women's Open division in the state from 1962-74, Farley was ranked No. 1 in doubles three times and No. 2 twice, including once with her mother, Jean.
   "She was dynamic," said Charlotte Peterson, who played and coached women's tennis at Memphis. "And those were heavy, devastating forehands she hit. If you tried to make her decide which forehand to hit by hitting it down the middle, it didn't matter. The ball she hit was so 'heavy,' it was like hitting a rock."
   Peterson also played in tournaments where her doubles team often drew Farley's.
   "Her first shot was always at the net person, especially in mixed doubles," Peterson said. "She was so competitive. And she didn't like to lose. She was fun to play against, but she was scary to play against, too."
   As intense and competitive as she was, she also showed a compassionate side on the courts. Although she taught lessons at several country clubs and tennis centers through the years, she often gave lessons for free on the Memphis Park Commission's public courts. Her skill level allowed her to be placed in exhibition matches against some of the sport's legendary players, including Pancho Segura and Tony Trabert.
   Tommy Buford, a longtime tennis teacher in the Memphis area and a former director of the pro tournament at The Racquet Club, said, like several others who saw Farley play as a junior, that she could have competed at a higher level. Farley said, "a lot of things held me back, one was a lack of funds; I couldn't even afford a tennis lesson."
   She said she doesn't regret what some regard as a missed opportunity.
   "It's a shame she didn't have a chance to expand her skills outside of the Mid-South area," said Buford, who lives outside of Boise, Idaho.
   Farley will add the Tennessee Tennis Hall of Fame honor to several others she has received, including an induction into the University of Memphis' M Club Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Memphis Amateur Hall of Fame in 1982.
   "Had she been in the right place, she could have played on the pro circuit," Peterson said. "My hat's off to her for getting in the Hall of Fame."

The Value of Good Grades
Schools offer Happy Meals and cash to improve scores
The following excerpt is from U.S. News & World Report, January 3, 2008.
By Eddy Ramírez
   Facing mounting pressure to raise students' scores on standardized tests, schools are prodding kids to work harder by offering them clear-cut incentives. Happy Meals are at the low end of the scale. With the help of businesses, schools are also giving away cars, iPods, coveted seats to basketball games, and—in a growing number of cases—cold, hard cash. The appeal of such programs is obvious, but the consequences of tying grades to goods are still uncertain.
   ...
   Even if rewards don't lead to individual achievement on a test, they could have a meaningful effect in the school. Rather than give money to his college alma mater, Charles McVean ['61], a businessman and philanthropist, started a peer tutoring program at East High School in Memphis, where he was once a student. The program pays higher-achieving students $10 an hour to tutor struggling classmates and divides them into teams. During the course of the year, students bond and compete. The team that posts the highest math scores wins the top cash prize of $100. McVean calls the combination of peer tutoring, competition, and cash incentives a recipe for "nothing less than magic."
See the full article at U.S. News & World Report.

Presidential Approval
East High tutoring program receives supportive nod from Bush
From The Daily News, December 11, 2007
ANDY MEEK | The Daily News
   President George W. Bush flew to Nebraska last week to attend a political fundraiser. University of Memphis student Cortney Richardson ['07] flew to the same event, albeit for a different reason.
   Richardson, accompanied by wealthy Memphis commodities trader Charles McVean ['61], hoped to score some face time with the president and bend his ear about an emerging academic foundation at East High School. The U of M freshman got his wish, and then some.
   Bush was in Omaha to support the U.S. Senate candidacy of former Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns. Richardson and McVean showed up on behalf of the Greater East High Foundation, a peer-tutoring program launched with funding by McVean, a 1961 East High graduate.
   A few weeks before the Nebraska event, the East High program celebrated its third birthday with an event at the school that included a panoply of notable guest speakers. Among those brought in to extol the program's virtues was Clear Channel Communications co-founder and Texas billionaire Red McCombs. Johanns was there, too.
   The month before that saw Lamar Alexander, a former U.S. Secretary of Education and one of Tennessee's current Republican U.S. senators, show up to applaud the work at East, which uses academically strong students to tutor their struggling peers.
   Hopes for the road
   Fresh off all that attention for the fledgling program, McVean and his protégé took their effort on the road.
   "Actually, we were in line to take a picture (at the fundraiser), and we had some documents about the program we wanted the president to see and take with him so that he could read on the plane back home," Richardson said.
   They were told they wouldn't be able to give anything to the president, however, so McVean and Richardson quickly improvised. McVean let the young East High alumnus make the pitch himself.
   "I just went up and told him, 'I'm Cortney Richardson from the Greater East High Foundation of Memphis, Tenn.,' and 'This is an exceptional program,'" said Richardson, recalling his pitch to Bush. "And I told him, 'Sen. Lamar Alexander and Red McCombs from San Antonio think so, too.'
   "Then he interjected, 'You mean Big Red McCombs from San Antonio, Texas?' And we said, 'Yes, sir.' And we told him Red McCombs said this tutoring program concept is the most significant advancement in education in the last 100 years. (Bush) said right then and there, 'It's a deal.' And he told his personal assistant to give us a business card."
   Proof is in the results
   McVean founded the program in 2004. The basic idea is that East High upperclassmen are paid $10 an hour to tutor their fellow students.
   As a measure of the program's success, in the last school year 100 percent of the seventh- and eighth-grade students who receive the tutoring at East passed the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) tests.
   Bush promised he would read everything that Richardson and McVean forward to Jared Weinstein, the president's personal assistant. The president also gave Richardson a pointer about his salesmanship.
   After Richardson made his initial pitch, Bush gave him Weinstein's card, then said: "C'mon, let's take this picture."
   Richardson tried to get in another plug for the program at East and share a few statistics related to it.
   "But he stopped me and said, 'There's one thing you need to know as a salesman. Once the deal is closed, stop selling,'" Richardson recalled.
   Following that brief encounter, McVean held court last week in the school library at East. Voice booming, arms outstretched, he predicted to a small group of teachers and participants in the foundation that Bush ultimately would pay a visit to the school.
   Then the transformative program would be on everybody's map, impossible to ignore.
   "We've spent a couple of years trying to create a model that could be replicated elsewhere," said Bill Sehnert, the foundation's director. "Cortney's an example of that model. And if we can create a couple hundred Cortneys and get other schools to create a couple hundred Cortneys, then the future for Memphis gets a lot brighter."

Farmer's Market open house draws crafters, sellers for last hurrah
From The Commercial AppealDecember 2, 2007, posted December 20, 2007
By Pamela Perkins
Sunday, December 2, 2007
[Editor's note: this story has edited to condense it from the original]

   ... other customers got to come back to the Farmer's Market one last time this year for its open house Saturday...
   "This is kind of our last hurrah before the Christmas shopping season is over," said Farmer's Market manager Mark Hoggard.
   Usually open only May through October, nearly 30 vendors of arts and crafts, jewelry, woodwork, Christmas decor, pies and pastries and other delicacies and knickknacks came back for the open house. Hoggard hopes to make it a major annual event.
   "We had a small one last year, but it wasn't quite this magnitude," he said.
   He said it was designed to showcase vendors who don't just sell the traditional farmer's market produce.
   "Through the course of the summer you had people coming in that are buying fruits and vegetables and flowers that are available that time of year. Crafts vendors sometimes don't get the full impact of it. Their season is more or less when people are buying gifts during the holidays," Hoggard said.
   The open house also probably helps the business stand out among the growing number of farmer's markets in the Mid-South...
   Locally, Arlington started one this year and the Memphis Farmer's Market downtown opened last year. Organizers of both markets have said they wanted to bring their communities together while giving them an economic boost.
   "A lot of little communities have it ... for little, small farmers, which is great. Somebody has a backyard garden and has a few tomatoes, a few extra heads of lettuce or cabbage and wants a place to market them," Hoggard said.
   "Everybody thinks it's just the way to go. It's great for a community."
   Hoggard also said if the newer farmer's markets have hurt his business, he hasn't noticed.
   Neither has Eric Matheson ['58] of Germantown, who sells Jerry's Deep Fried Peanuts just about every day during Farmer's Market season.
   "There's so much customer loyalty. ... It's unreal," Matheson said. "I get almost 30 to 40 percent in repeat business. And I've made a lot of friends."

November, 2007 - Chas McVean ('61) and Courtney Richardson ('07) were interviewed on WREG-TV (Memphis) morning program November 21, 2007, discussing The Greater East High Foundation's peer tutoring program. The video can be seen on youtube.com

Pep Rally for Alumnus McVean and Peer Tutoring Program
The East High Alumni Page, November 28, 2007
   The Greater East High Foundation held what amounted to a pep rally for hundreds of spectators the evening of November 20, 2007, in the auditorium of East High School.
   The program was billed in various ways, depending on the source of the information. The Greater East High Foundation called it "A Birthday Celebration of Accomplishments," the school announced the event as the "McVean Auditorium Dedication Ceremony," and The Commercial Appeal called it "a ceremony Tuesday to commemorate the school's 60th anniversary and the role the Greater East High Foundation has played in boosting student performance." The event was about as focused as the decision on what to call it.
   Starting fifteen minutes late and going 30 minutes beyond the advertised time, the program mostly featured politicians, friends, and associates of Charlie McVean ('61) trading accolades with McVean about each other.
   A former faculty member of East, Mrs. Margaret Taylor, was celebrated for her many years of educating the children of Memphis, first as a teacher at East High, then as an award winning principal at Grahamwood Elementary School. For the past three years she has been very involved with The Greater East High Foundation's efforts at East, first serving as its director and now as director emeritus. Mrs Taylor turned 90 years old late this month. Dr. Shirley Raines, President of the University of Memphis presented Mrs.Taylor with a certificate of appreciation for her service in education and City Councilman Jack Sammons gave her a key to the city. In response to the accolades, Mrs. Taylor said, "I think for the first time in my life I'm speechless. All I can say is I'll get even with you!" She went on to say, "Thank you for all your good thoughts. I'll try to live up to them. Thank you."
   Some of the compliments seemed overly exaggerated. Mr. Red McCombs of Texas, a wealthy businessman who made a fortune with major league sports teams, a major broadcasting chain, and car dealerships, and who has donated millions to the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and to the University of Texas-Austin, alluded to Mr. McVean's inspired peer tutoring program at East as being one of the greatest innovations in education in the past 100 years. Peer tutoring may be a winning strategy for secondary school education, however, it was already an established program at several schools nationwide, most notably perhaps, through the Breakthrough Collaborative, before Mr. McVean began The Greater East High Foundation.
   Dr. Carolyn Farb, a Houston, Texas, based fund raiser for charities, deviated from the ad-lib nature of the comments making a prepared speech.
   According to Mr. McVean, both Dr. Farb and Mr. McCombs are associates and/or friend of his who he persuaded to join him specifically for this event.
   There were brief moments of substance during the evening's comments. Mr. McVean called on the "rank and file of the middle business leaders" to get involved in programs such as his Greater East High Foundation. Mr. Jerry Freeman who has adapted the peer tutoring program at East for Whitehaven High School and Whitehaven High principal Dr. Vincent Hunter spoke of major gains in academic testing results after just one year of the program at that school.
   There was a brief discussion of a chart displayed on stage showing that of those students to receive peer tutoring through The Greater East High Foundation's program at East, 51 percent graded "advanced" on state standardized testing of mathematics. Several other charts indicating academic improvement by pupils participating in the program were displayed outside the auditorium doors and in handouts for attendees to review. (see charts below)
   Not to miss the apparent point of the night, councilman Sammons announced that the City Council had designated Poplar Avenue from Lafayette Street to Holmes Street "Charlie McVean Parkway" and that signs announcing that would be posted along that stretch of highway that fronts the East High School property.
   Finally, near the end of the program, East principal Fred Curry was able to quickly announce the East High auditorium was being named in honor of Charles McVean, a fact already reported here several months ago when the city school board approved the naming.
[If you attended the above event, The East High Alumni Page would like to know. Send us a message at editor@EastHigh.org

Resources: Visit The Greater East High Foundation web site
See the charts:

Good news at MCS
From The Commercial Appeal Editorial page, November 23, 2007, posted November 25, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
   If Memphis City Schools is the hopeless case it's portrayed as by some critics, how does East High senior Alexandria Jones manage a 4.883 grade point average while taking calculus through dual enrollment at Southwest Tennessee Community College and tutoring an East High freshman?
   Why were last year's seniors throughout the MCS system offered 3,436 scholarships, only 189 of which were for athletics, worth $97,353,806?
   The reason is that MCS has the resources to help students perform academically and even excel if they're motivated to do well.
   While management problems in the district and a grand jury investigation of school building contracts dominate the headlines, there are good teachers and administrators quietly and effectively carrying out the district's educational mission.
   And there are students like Jones, who manages to keep her grades up, take a college-level class and help freshman Jerica Falls in her studies, earning $10 an hour in a Greater East High Foundation tutoring program.
   Greater East High Foundation is the creation of businessman and East alum Charles McVean ['61], who has a desire to see the school recapture some of the glory of its earlier years.
   It's the kind of program that can provide the motivation and the role models to help students excel no matter what their socioeconomic status may be.
   Help like that isn't available at every one of the district's schools, but it sets an example that alumni and support groups throughout the system should try to follow.

Students reap benefits of peer tutoring
TCAP scores soar thanks to East High Foundation program
From The Commercial Appeal, November 18, 2007, posted November 20, 2007
By Dakarai I. Aarons
Sunday, November 18, 2007
   The way Jerica Falls and Alexandria Jones talk, you'd think they'd grown up together as sisters.
   The two East High School students have formed a tight bond in the months they've spent together in the Greater East High Foundation's tutoring program, often finishing each other's sentences.
   Jones, a senior with a 4.883 GPA, spends her afternoons helping Falls, a freshman, with her geometry homework.
   She is taking calculus through dual enrollment at Southwest Tennessee Community College.
   Jones said she's also seen a benefit from participating as a tutor.
   "Being a tutor has taught me how to analyze a problem," she said. "That has helped me with my communication skills and people skills."
   And Falls says learning from a peer is sometimes less intimidating than working with a teacher one-on-one after school.
   "To have someone your own age who knows the subject, it helps you form a relationship with them."
   And the personalized attention is also a plus, she said.
   "In a classroom, the teacher has 20 or 30 other students to think about," Falls said.
   Founded in 2004 by businessman and East alum Charles McVean ['61], the foundation aims to help return the school that has seen many transitions in the past decade back to its former glory.
   Nearly 120 students participate in the foundation's program, which works with students for an hour after school Monday through Thursday and three hours on Saturday mornings.
   Students receive tutoring from upperclassmen in mastering their math, science and writing skills. The tutors are paid $10 an hour.
   The foundation's work will be celebrated at a Tuesday night ceremony in the school's auditorium.
   Legendary Memphis educator Margaret Taylor [Faculty], who will turn 90 later this month, plays a key part role in the foundation's work, spending countless hours each day mentoring and tutoring students.
   The student-to-student tutoring has paid off.
   In the 2005-06 school year, 97 percent of the foundation's seventh- and eighth-graders passed the state's Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program tests. Last school year, 100 percent of students passed, said Bill Sehnert, the foundation's director.
   In a study released earlier this year by the University of Memphis' Center for Research in Educational Policy, researchers found that students in the scholars tutoring program scored "significantly higher" than their peers at the school.
   Sehnert said he is proud of the results, but those test scores are just the beginning.
   The foundation's hope is to make sure these students advance through school and do well enough on the ACT college entrance exam that they can attend the nation's top colleges and universities on scholarship.
   Along the way, students learn the benefit of giving back to their community and can help create a vibrant workforce for Memphis, Sehnert said.
   At the end of the year, they can look and say, 'I've helped my fellow kids.'" he said.

   East High Celebration
   What: East High School is having a ceremony Tuesday to commemorate the school's 60th anniversary and the role the Greater East High Foundation has played in boosting student performance.
   Who: Speakers include philanthropist Carolyn Farb of Houston, Texas, who has raised more than $35 million for hundreds of charitable causes and Clear Channel Communications co-founder Red McCombs.
   When: The celebration will take place Tuesday from 5 to 6 p.m.
   Where: It will be held in the East High auditorium, 3206 Poplar.

Alumnus expresses views on annexation
From The Commercial Appeal, October 26, 2007, posted November 1, 2007
Compiled by Raina Hanna
Desoto Appeal, October 26, 2007
    How do you feel about the city of Olive Branch's plans to annex the land east of the city to the Marshall County line? [italics theirs]
   Well, I don't suppose we have any choice about it happening. I really wish they would let the residents vote on it. They didn't ask or get our opinion, but I guess we'll have to accept it.
   Wes Lawson ['68]
   DeSoto County
   "My Two Cents" takes the pulse of the DeSoto County community on topics in the news....

Alumnus album features songs about Mid-South murders
posted October 16, 2007
   Bob Frank ('62) is featured in an article in the October issue of Memphis Magazine about his colaboration with another Memphian in producing an album with songs about legendary or actual murders having occurred in the Mid-South. There is also a web site for the album and the artists.

Aim high, honors students are told
Alexander cites work of East High Foundation
From The Commercial Appeal, Tuesday, October 16, 2007 By Dakarai I. Aarons
October 16, 2007
   Sen. Lamar Alexander told East High School honors students Monday not to let challenges like poverty get in the way of their goals.
   "Aim for the top," Alexander said. "There's more room there."
   Tennessee's senior senator was on hand for a ceremony naming the school auditorium for businessman Charles McVean ('61), who founded the Greater East High Foundation.
   Alexander said there is support on Capitol Hill for giving more flexibility to teachers in helping students succeed.
   He cited the Greater East High Foundation's work in mentoring students as an example of local-based solutions that help schools succeed.
   "Back in Washington, I think we need to make sure we give schools and states the flexibility they need to use models like this program and the work of Charles McVean to improve the rest of our nation's schools," said Alexander, a former U.S. secretary of education.
   Alexander, who sits on the Senate's Committee on Health Education, Labor and Pensions, said the No Child Left Behind law has been good for the country, but could use some work, as it undergoes reauthorization.
   The current rules heavily penalize schools that narrowly miss the benchmarks, placing them on the same level as schools that are consistently underperforming, Alexander said.
   In a few weeks, he will introduce a bill that creates a pilot program that would allow 12 states to create their own method for calculating Adequate Yearly Progress under No Child Left Behind, with permission of the U.S. Department of Education.
   The states would have to keep the same standards, but would have more flexibility in determining whether students and schools have met those standards.
   States would also be given more leeway in how to spend education dollars.
   "We ought to catch people doing things right rather than wrong," he said. "In No Child Left Behind, it seems like we give only C's and F's."

Former East Student Asks Mayoral Candidates Question
   From WMC-TV Mayoral Election debate, September 21, 2007
John Reed (associated with the Class of '69) was one of the members of the public chosen to ask the Memphis mayoral candidates a question during WMC-TV's candidate debate airing Friday, September 21, 2007. He asked, I was wondering if there's one thing ... that inspired you to want to run for mayor."
   The debate telecast can be viewed on the Internet by pointing your browser to www.midsouthvotes.com and selecting to view the "Memphis Mayoral Debate (Part 1)." Reed appears in the clip entitled "Memphis Mayoral Debate (Part 2)," which has to be selected separately.

Family marks 90 years
From The Commercial Appeal " My Life" section September 16, 2007
By Mary Mitchell
Special to My Life
Sunday, September 16, 2007
   Winnie Allbright [Faculty]* recently celebrated her 90th birthday. She was feted by family on a railroad car in Collierville. Family came from Los Angeles, Atlanta, Gatlinburg, Mississippi and Memphis. Food and celebration were the order of the night.
   Winnie has three nieces; Mary Mitchell and Martha Gandy of Memphis, and Charlene Stinson of Gatlinburg. Winnie has been a second mother and best friend to all her nieces, as well as her great-nieces and nephews. Her family feels that she's "the greatest" and that she has been a wonderful influence to all of them through the years.
   Winnie was born in Arkansas and raised in Harrisburg. She graduated with a bachelor of science degree in education and began teaching at Oak Ridge, Tenn., during WWII. After college, she married Paul H. Allbright. He was sent to Pearl Harbor and was there on the day of the bombing.
   In addition to her teaching, Winnie has enjoyed being active in community service. She served as president of the American Association of the University Women in Memphis and was honored by the AAUW with a Grant Fellowship Award. She also enjoyed being a docent for the Wonder Series.
   Winnie's hobbies include pickling, cooking, traveling and educational tours. She is a member of Kingsway Christian Church.
   Mary Mitchell is a niece of Winnie Allbright.

*See Mrs.Allbright's page in the Elementary section.

Harvey Goldner Remembered
From KPLU, September 10, 2007
Daysha Eaton
   SEATTLE, WA (2007-09-10) Earlier this year, Seattle lost a man who became known as the Bard of Belltown. Harvey Goldner ['60] was a regular at poetry readings across the city, where he became a mentor to many. After years of chain-smoking, Goldner died this summer at age 65. A memorial for him brought Seattle's poetry community together. KPLU'S Daysha Eaton has more. (5:00)
[The story can be heard at this KPLU link.].

A printed obituary for Harvey Goldner is available.

East principal, coach smooth over concerns
From The Commercial Appeal, September 4, 2007
By Jason Smith
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
   While most of you were barbecuing and spending your Labor Day relaxing, I arrived at work Monday afternoon to find several urgent phone messages alerting me that Fred Curry, the principal at East, had fired his head football coach and his staff following the Mustangs' 12-6 loss to Wooddale last Friday.
   The rumor had also reached the high school sports message boards. On CoachT.com, a post titled "Memphis East, Principal fires entire football staff -- new direction again?" also claimed that Curry dismissed the entire Mustang coaching staff sometime after Friday's loss.
   Keep in mind, this is the same Fred Curry who dumped former Mustang coach Wayne Randall following the 2005 season for no reason other than "as a new principal, I want to take the football program in another direction."
   But Curry said Monday that contrary to rumor, he has not fired second-year head coach Marcus Wimberly, whom Curry described Monday as "a good influence and a great guy."
   Curry did confirm, however, that he met Monday morning with Wimberly and members of the Mustang booster club to discuss what he called "some concerns" he had about the program.
   "I met with the coaches this morning and I met with parents. We kind of ironed out those concerns, so he's still my coach," Curry said.
   "It had nothing to do with winning, because as you know, I would've kept my last coach if everything had to do with winning. ... I just thought that we needed to get on the same page in terms of what kind of young men we want to produce."
   Also reached Monday, Wimberly, an East graduate whose Mustangs have gone a combined 6-7 since his hiring last year, said Curry's concerns were "smoothed over" during Monday's meeting.
   "That's what he conveyed to the parents and myself, that it wasn't about wins and losses," said Wimberly, whose Mustangs (0-2) travel to face 12th-ranked Fairley on Friday. "Like I tell everybody, I have a young football team, and in the years to come, I think we're gonna be pretty good. I think we're gonna end up being pretty good this year.
   We're going in the right direction. Everything's been smoothed over, so we're all right."

Outdoor warning siren on the roof of East High School one of the oldest

   In an article published in the "My Life" section of The Commercial Appeal September 1, 2007 (or possibly August 25, 2007, the newspaper gives both dates) focusing on the career of an employee of the Memphis/Shelby County Emergency Management Agency, a photo of the siren atop East High School and a cutline (caption) was included:
Officer Thompson checking the Biersach & Niedermayer outdoor warning siren on the roof of East High School. It is one of the oldest sirens in Shelby County, powered by electricity now but originally operated by a gasoline engine.

Recent articles in the "Memphis Memories" column of The Commercial Appeal have included the following:

In the August 18, 2007 Memphis Memories features a photo of Mac Holladay ('63).

Mac Holladay, age 8, 1963 alumnus of East High

The August 25, 2007 Memphis Memories also carried an article from 1982 about Jake Schorr ('58):
August 25
25 years ago: 1982
Jake Schorr and Shawnee Cavnar have expanded their carriage business in the shadow of downtown Memphis. They're restoring several 1890s-vintage horse-drawn carriages salvaged from an old barn near Jackson, Tenn. When finished, the enclosed carriages will be used by River City Carriage Tours for cozy wintertime tours of downtown Memphis and others will be sold to collectors. Schorr, a woodworking hobbyist who does most of the restoration, says the restored carriages are worth about $5,000.
The August 25, 2007 Memphis Memories featured a picture of former East High faculty member and head football coach Bobby Brooks (faculty approximately 1960-1966) when he was a student athlete at Memphis State College.
Bobby Brooks as a college student and football player.

No verdict again in 2001 killing
From The Commercial Appeal, August 21, 2007
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Greater Memphis
   For a second time this summer, a jury could not reach a verdict in a murder trial involving a shooting outside 150 Peabody Place.
   John Edward McClee, who is now 25, was charged with killing Tedrick C. Dawson ['93], 26, on Aug. 26, 2001, outside of Jillian's.
   Dawson was shot once in the shoulder and twice in the back, while a friend, Romond Arnold, was shot in the buttocks, police said.
   McClee did not deny the 1:50 a.m. shooting, but said he acted in self-defense.
   A Criminal Court jury deliberated more than 10 hours Friday before announcing it was deadlocked on the second degree murder charge.
   McClee was convicted on three lesser charges, however, including reckless endangerment, possession of marijuana and unlawful possession of a weapon.
   The case is set for a status report next month.
   -- Lawrence Buser

A previous story about Mr. Dawson's death is below.

Laptop computers to be supplied to East pupils and teachers
   August 21, 2007 - East High is among 16 Memphis high schools in which an "Interactive ACT-Designed Laptop Learning System" will be implemented, according the the Memphis City Schools system.
   The Epic Learning System, developed by the academic standardized test firm ACT, provides the laptop computers loaded with Math, Science, English and Social Studies courses. The school system claims the pupils will be able to submit assignments and quizzes online to be graded automatically and placed in the teacher’s grade book, allowing students and their parents to receive immediate feedback.
   “We believe that this supplemental curriculum and instructional support program will enhance the positive academic programs already in place that are designed to accelerate achievement and directly impact student performance on the ACT,” said Dr. Alfred Hall, Chief Academic Officer for Memphis City Schools.
   The laptop computers should be in place at the schools in September.
   There is a web site with more information about the Epic Learning System at http://www.epiclearningsystem.com/aboutEpic.asp
   Source: Memphis City Schools

2007 ACT scores may show small improvement
   August 19, 2007 - The academic testing service ACT has released the composite ACT scores for graduating high school seniors and it appears to show a very slight improvement in the level of accomplishment at East High.
   The average composite ACT score for the East High Class of 2007 was 16.8, according to an August 19 article in The Commercial Appeal. State data shows the "three year average" ACT composite scores for East pupils at 16.7 for 2005 and 2006. However, the numbers may not be comperable since one is based on a "three year average" and may include all pupils who took the test and the 2007 figure purports to show the composite score of graduating seniors.
   The 2007 graduating seniors average composite score average for all city schools was 17.7, the average for all Shelby County schools was 21.7. The Tennessee average for the Class of 2007 was 20.7 and the national average was 21.2. White Station High and Houston High had the highest local public school averages with seniors at both instutitions averaging a composite score of 23.6.
   There have been other indications of some improvement at East High. While the state has involved itself with the running of East due to inadaequate progress over recent years, it did classify the school as "State/LEA Reconstitution Plan 1 - Improving" in July. The East High Alumni Page had earlier reported that the results of the Gateway exams showed significantly higher scores which met the level required by the state to be categorized as satisfactory performance. The results of other standardized tests have yet to be released to the public.
   Please also see the reports below: "State recognizes improvement at East," and "Could these numbers represent the much needed turnaround?"
   Sources: The Commercial Appeal, Tennessee Department of Education, ACT, Inc., The East High Alumni Page

Race led to firing, alleges ex-coach
From The Commercial Appeal, August 10, 2007
By David Healy
August 10, 2007
   Wayne Randall was a successful head football coach at East High School before leaving 17 months ago.
   A lawsuit filed by the coach earlier this year, claiming racial discrimination, may shed some light on why he is now coaching Munford High.
   In his lawsuit Randall contends that East principal Fred Curry fired the coach because Randall is white.
   The lawsuit states Curry, "created an atmosphere of racial animosity and let it be known that he wanted a black football head coach. Although Mr. Randall produced a winning team that won a state championship, Mr. Curry never gave a reason for his dismissal."
   Numerous attempts to reach Curry were unsuccessful.
   In the defendants' answer to the complaint, attorney Michael R. Marshall, who is out of town, wrote that "the defendants had legitimate nondiscriminatory reasons for relieving Mr. Randall as football coach at East High School."
   Curry gave little reason for Randall's firing.
   In a March 21, 2006, story in The Commercial Appeal, Curry would only say, "I can't tell you another reason other than as a new principal, I want to take the football program in another direction."
   The lawsuit names Memphis City School board members and former Supt. Carol Johnson as co-defendants.
   Efforts to reach school board officials regarding the lawsuit and Randall's claims were unsuccessful.
   Randall, who also declined comment on advice of his attorney, became head coach at Munford a month after his dismissal at East.
   Randall seeks $500,000 for mental and emotional distress from his termination, and another $100,000 in punitive damages against Curry individually.
   Randall's attorney, Richard B. Fields, filed the lawsuit March 9 in Shelby County Circuit Court.
   "We have a great case. There was no reason for him to be fired," Fields said. "Coach Randall's teams did extremely well and he was universally loved by the parents and the students at the school. He was one of the most outstanding coaches in the history of Memphis football. The principal simply didn't want him to coach anymore because he was white."
   Fields said it may be two years before the case is finally decided.
   In his 12 seasons at East, Randall led the Mustangs to nine straight playoff appearances and won the 1999 Class 4-A state championship. He had a record of 100-42, and over the last eight years averaged 10 wins a season.
   Last year, Randall led Munford to an 8-4 record and the District 7-4A championship. Munford won just two games the season before Randall's arrival.

State recognizes improvement at East
August 6, 2007
The latest State evaluation of East High School, released Aug. 6, 2007, puts East in the category of "State/LEA Reconstitution Plan 1 - Improving." For the previous school year (2005-2006), it was listed simply as State/LEA Reconstitution Plan. The "improving" aspect may reflect better TCAP results anticipated after scores on Gateway exams were higher. See our related stories below: "Could these numbers represent the much needed turnaround?" and "State intervenes in running East High School - details now available."

State intervenes in running East High School - details now available
by Ken Welch, editor, The East High Alumni Page
August 2, 2007
[updated 4:05 pm CDT with comment from Principal Curry]
   The State of Tennessee Department of Education intervention into the running of East High school calls for changes in the guidance office but endorses the leadership of top administration at the school.
   See the directives
   Since the implementation of the No Child Left Behind and other monitoring methods early in this decade, East High has performed poorly. The State put the school "on notice" that it needed to improve during the 2001-2002 school year. Each year thereafter the school has received some classification indicating significant improvement was needed. On July 31, the State announced its direct intervention in the troubled schools, its most forceful step yet. It has classified East as being in the State/LEA Reconstitution Plan category.
   In its directive to the school system, the Department of Education says it found East's principal for the past 2 years, Fred Curry, to apparently be "an effective administrator who communicates high expectations to both staff and students." The report says Mr. Curry is well respected by the faculty and has 2 educational facilitators who also seem to be effective. This endorsement of the school's leadership is in contrast to some other of the schools in which the State is ordering the administration be changed.
   After the directive was issued, Mr. Curry said, "My vision of East High is to not only raise the academic rigor to where it was [decades ago]..., rather to raise it to a level where our kids can compete academically with the Japanese, Indians(India) and the rest of the global community."
   The primary personnel directive given by the state for East High is that it orders the reconsideration of the removal of one "effective" guidance counselor and the retention of one "ineffective" counselor. The report indicates the retained counselor was kept on the school's staff due to seniority and tenure issues. The report also calls for the school system to ensure that the school has a "highly effective" attendance clerk to address student attendance and participation rates.
   Beyond those personnel considerations, the orders from the State for East High generally are of a supporting and monitoring nature. It calls for an incentive plan, including bonuses, for attracting and keeping qualified administrators and teachers who meet performance benchmarks for student proficiency. It also directs that the school to be afforded the necessary resources for behavioral and family specialists.
   The State is requiring the school system to provide special oversight and support to East and the other school in which it is taking direct action. It also is requiring a number of reporting actions such as a response within 10 days of how it will implement the orders it has been given and to show cause if it fails to follow staffing recommendations made by the principal or the special personnel assigned to oversee the school's rehabilitation.
   The Department of Education says the current $12.8 million renovation must be completed by the time students are to resume classes on August 13 and that some stolen technology equipment be replaced in the same time frame. (See our report on the renovation in a August 1, 2007 edition of the Mustang Roundup - Alumni Edition.
   You can see all the directives ordered by the State Department of Education by clicking/selecting this link.
   It should be noted that East no longer has a middle school component. The seventh grade was removed from the school for the 2006-2007 school year and with the opening of classes August 13, East becomes a pure high school with only grades 9 through 12.
   The State is expected to release its latest "report card" on the evaluation of East and other schools within the next several days.
   For more information about the academic performance at East, you may review the Today's East High section of The East High Alumni Page and the story below about the improvement on some standardized tests.

Mustang Roundup — Alumni Edition: Photo tour of $11.5 million renovation as construction rushes toward completion
Biggest visual change in decades underway at East High
Click here to go to the August, 2007 edition of the Mustang Roundup — Alumni Edition.

State intervenes in running East High School
August 1, 2007

   A day after the announcement, details as to how the Tennessee Department of Education intervening in the running of East High and 16 other Memphis schools remain hard to come by. [see above update] As reported yesterday, the Department of Education is intervening in the running of East High School and 16 other city schools after years of unsatisfactory performance.
   Memphis City Schools did finallly post some general information on its web site about the state's intervention.
Out of the $42,040,000 in additional state revenue (BEP 2.0) going to the Memphis City Schools district, $9.7 million will be used for intensive improvements in teaching and learning in a core group of Memphis City Schools currently on the state’s probationary list of “striving schools.” The remainder of the funds will be used across the district for additional teaching and teacher support and enhanced academic and student support programs. Governor Phil Bredesen has mandated that the school district adopt and implement a stringent action plan for schools that still remain on the state-identified probationary list. Each of the Memphis schools in the core group will receive academic support tailored to its particular needs. In addition, the probationary or “striving” schools will have longer school hours beginning with the start of the 2007-08 school year. The plan for these “striving schools” is modeled after Douglas Reeves’ STAR Model for Success, and other strategies successfully implemented in the Miami-Dade and New York City Public Schools. Schools will be provided with ongoing professional development for their teachers, more visible tracking of student progress, additional staff and greater collaboration between school staff, parents and students. The plan also provides district-level accountability and support, such as content-area specialists to work with school-based literacy and mathematics coaches and an academic superintendent to directly supervise the principals in the core group of schools. The anticipated group of schools to receive this support are: Airways Middle, Carver High, Cypress Middle, East High, Fairley High, Frayser High, Geeter Middle, Hamilton High, Kingsbury Middle/High, Sherwood Middle, Treadwell Elementary, Treadwell High, Vance Middle, and Westside Middle. The school day at those schools for the 2007-08 school year will begin at 7:30 a.m. and end at 2:45 p.m. This change adds 30 minutes to each school day, for the equivalent of approximately 14 additional days of instruction each year. In addition to a longer school day at these schools, other changes for the “striving schools” are: * Graduation coaches will be hired for high schools, based on a state recommendation to increase graduation rates. The coaches will provide intensive support of schools and students. * Additional staff will be hired for the probationary schools, including literacy and mathematics coaches to help monitor and improve teaching and learning. * Based on the need of the individual school, an additional parent/family or behavior specialist will be allocated to the school. * Based on the school’s need, an additional school counselor or social worker will be allocated. * Performance-based incentives for principals, teachers, and staff will be offered. Slightly more than $14 million of the funding will be used across the district to hire additional teachers and staff to support schools with high percentages of Special Education students, additional mathematics teachers and tutors to lower the student-teacher ratio in secondary schools, additional support for English as a Second Language teachers, for ongoing, comprehensive school-based professional development for teachers, and an additional allocation for supplies and materials for every teacher in the Memphis school district ($200 per teacher, double the amount teachers received previously). The changes will be in place for the 2007-08 school year. Memphis City Schools will work collaboratively with the state to successfully implement the measures.
   Neither the Tennessee Department of Education nor East High Principal have yet responded to requests from The East High Alumni Page for more informaton.
   As indicated in the story below, East Principal Fred Curry had hoped improving test scores would keep the state from taking immediate action. To what extent the improved scores, if they hold true for all the standardized tests, may mitigate the state's intervention in the oversight of East High remains to be seen.
   More details here as they become available.

Special Report:

Could these numbers represent the much needed turnaround?
Indications are of academic improvement at East High
A special report from The East High Alumni Page
July 13, 2007
   The top administrator at East High School is smiling these days. After years of academic and disciplinary difficulties, there is hope a new trend is beginning. Although some of the aggregate standardized test scores for the 2006-2007 school year have not been released to the public yet, those that have seem to indicate a considerable improvement. “I’m amazed and pleased,” said second year principal Fred Curry as he discussed the “quick” turnaround he’s seen since coming to the school.
   With some data to indicate improvement and optimism by East’s principal, for some the dismay about the school’s performance may now replaced by questions. Has East High turned the corner? Could East High be headed in the right direction with enough momentum to establish an ongoing trend leading to it regaining the academic status it once had?
   Pupils who entered the ninth grade in 2001-2002 must obtain a score indicating “Proficient” or “Advanced” on each of the Gateway examinations in three subject areas - mathematics, science and language arts - in order to earn a high school diploma. Mr. Curry says the Gateway results for East for the 2006-2007 year were up significantly. The school’s percentages of students taking the Algebra I Gateway exam this year getting proficient or advanced scores was 77% compared to 52% the previous year. In English II, essentially 10th grade English, 91% attained the proficient or better categories. In 2005-2006 the figure was 85%. The Gateway results for Biology were 91%, an increase of 9 percentage points over last year’s scores. All of this year’s Gateway scores are above those the state requires as satisfactory performance.
   After more than two decades as one of the premier academic public schools in Memphis and the region, the problems were first noted in the 1970s. East High becomes a school administrators considered as a school in trouble. At that point, a public acknowledgment of the problem was that many in the school’s attendance district were choosing not to go to East. By the 1990s and 2000s, as standardized testing scores were mandated to be made public, the highly questionable academic performance of the school’s students became apparent. Average ACT composite scores had plummeted to the low 16s. As a comparison, White Station High School’s 2005 composite ACT score was 23.2. ACT possible scores range from 1 to 36. The University of Memphis requires a 19 on the enhanced ACT for admission without a student being required to take special remedial courses. Since the federal government got highly involved in academic accountability in the past few years, East was characterized as deficient in meeting No Child Left Behind requirements. It was assigned the status of "restructuring 2" by the state in 2005, meaning significant changes in the school were required. Options included conversion to a charter school, replacing existing staff, taking over management or contracting with a university to take over management.
   Principal Curry has made changes. A number of faculty members, including coaches, have left the school, more advanced placement (AP) classes have been offered, and he has continued the work with The Greater East High Foundation, which had begun to organized peer-to-peer student tutoring and classes the year before Mr. Curry was transferred to East, and with other individuals and organizations offering help to the school. It takes two years of satisfactory performance for a school to get off the “target list” of troubled schools. The tale is not yet told as the full assessment for this year has not been released and it will take likely take years of improvements to bring East High into academic repute. The alumni of East High will be watching closely and with great hope.

Critic back at Malco job -- temporarily
Chain now requires 'confidentiality agreement'
From The Commercial Appeal, June 19, 2007
By John Beifuss
June 19, 2007
   It was more like compromise time than clobberin' time when projectionist Jesse Morrison and Malco senior vice president Jimmy Tashie ('66) met Monday morning to resolve Morrison's suspension for writing an unauthorized early review of "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer."
   The outcome: Morrison is back at his 30-hour-a-week, $7-an-hour job at Malco's Ridgeway Four for the next two weeks, after which he'll leave to pursue other opportunities.
   What's more significant is that as a result of the Morrison incident, Malco projectionists and other employees who see advance screenings of films will be required to sign a "confidentiality agreement" stating they will not write about the movie in advance of its opening date.
   Other movie chains may follow suit, Tashie said. "There's heightened security now, there's no doubt about it," he said.
   Morrison, 29, became something of an Internet celebrity after he was suspended June 11 for posting a week-early pan of "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" on the popular Web site, Ain't It Cool News (aintitcool.com).
   Morrison -- who also writes reviews for his own site, Memflixbeyond.com -- blasted "Silver Surfer" after seeing the film when he projected it at a private "trade screening" for Malco officials and other local movie exhibitors.
   Angry representatives of 20th Century Fox, the studio that produced "Silver Surfer," contacted Malco to complain, and Tashie suspended Morrison for what he called a breach of trust.
   The disciplinary action generated nationwide debate about freedom of speech, job responsibility and the Internet's impact on movie publicity.
   Many members of the online community accused Fox and Malco of violating Morrison's free speech and punishing him for not liking the movie.
   The story was picked up nationally, with The Hollywood Reporter writing that the incident "might mark the first time someone working in the entertainment industry has lost a job for voicing an early opinion online."
   Monday, Tashie lifted Morrison's suspension, but with the stipulation that the projectionist would no longer work advance screenings. Morrison decided to return to work but gave two weeks' notice.
   "The national exposure ... put a strain on the employee-employer relationship," Morrison wrote Monday on his Web site. "I don't believe it is a reparable situation. I feel it's better to just move on."
   The brouhaha didn't hurt "Surfer" at the box office, where it was No. 1 this past weekend, earning more than $57 million.

Longtime East coach moves on

From The Commercial Appeal, June 7, 2007
Jason Smith
June 7, 2007
   After 21 years, the hardest part of leaving East High was packing up his white van with more than two decades worth of memories as the Lady Mustangs' track and field coach.
   "It hurt me," longtime East coach Danny Joe Young remembers of last Thursday, his final day at East. "All the kids had gone home, and I had one girl that came up there Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and helped me real hard, crating stuff up and boxing stuff up and loading stuff up.
   "It hurts, but they understand. They understand it wasn't my doing and that I'm not walking out on them just because we've had a couple bad years here lately. This was probably one of the best and most memorable teams I've ever had because everything that came out of my mouth, these kids listened to."
   One of several longtime East coaches to have recently been "surplussed" (let go), Young, 56, who guided the Lady Mustangs to seven track and field state titles since joining East in 1985, is set to become the new girls cross-country and track and field head coach at Melrose.
   "It was just like the sky opened up," Young said this week. "(Melrose principal LaVaughn) Bridges opened his arms up and said, 'Mr. Young, I've been watching you for 20 years and I've seen what you've done at East High School -- not just win, but how you handle your kids and how you teach life skills.' He said, 'I want you on my team. My kids deserve that. They haven't had it in years.'
   "I mean, what can you say? He wanted me, and he wanted me for the right reasons."
   Young said he harbors no ill will toward East principal Fred Curry, who, since his hiring at East in 2005, has also let go longtime Mustang football coach Wayne Randall, legendary Mustang basketball coach Reginald Mosby and Mosby's longtime assistant, Willie Turner.
   "I'm a very loyal person when it comes to Mr. Curry," said Young, who also led the Lady Mustangs to three state runnerup finishes (from 2002-04) and 18 city championships. "From an education standpoint, I am very loyal to him, his ideas and what he's trying to do. I understand he's trying to raise the test scores at East and I applaud him for that.
   "But I'm looking forward to going to Melrose. There has been a tradition at Melrose in girls track. Sheila Echols (a 1988 Olympic gold medalist) came from there, and also Rochelle Stevens (a 1996 Olympic gold medalist). Even before that, (three-time Best of the Preps girls cross-country winner) Tania Wells came through there. She holds the state record in the 800-meter run. So there's a tradition to a point, and I don't know why (Bridges) just hasn't been able to get the kind of coach he needed to continue that. But I do believe things happen for a reason."
   ...

Former Tiger Gibson following Mosby at East

From The Commercial Appeal, May 12, 2007
Jason Smith
May 12, 2007
   Cheyenne Gibson calls them huge shoes to fill, those of former East High basketball coach Reginald Mosby, and he's right.
   With 500 career victories and five state-title rings, Mosby has left behind a legacy of success at East, where Gibson, the former Memphis State basketball standout and Sheffield High head coach, has been hired as the Mustangs' new head basketball coach.
   "I think it's a better situation than where I was," said Gibson, who compiled a 118-70 record in six seasons at Sheffield, but was let go by Sheffield principal Jimmy Holland following a 19-10 campaign this season.
   "I sat down with the (East) principal (Fred Curry) and Mosby (on Thursday), and we just talked about some things. I told (Curry) I was going to take (the job), and Mosby said that it couldn't have gone to a better guy."
   Mosby told The Commercial Appeal in February he was considering stepping down following his 21st year as East's head coach.
   "Those are some big shoes to step into," said Gibson, who played against Mosby's East teams during his days as a high school standout at Westwood. "He's so well respected. He's done a great job."
   ...

How we Met    Mail call: packet of love for Ensign Terrell
'When he was gone overseas this past year, he got a letter every day'
From The Commercial Appeal, May 6, 2007
Anita Houk May 6, 2007
   The officer in soon-to-be Navy Ensign Jason Terrell knew he had to do what he had to do.
   The gentleman in him knew he had to come clean about it with Kamilah Averyhart.
   The question: When?
   He chose the February night in 2005 they went to the Orpheum to see the Alvin Ailey dancers.
   "I got accepted into Officer Candidate School with the Navy," he announced to her before the show.
   "Congratulations. So you're going to be in Millington?"
   "No," he said. "I'm going to be in OCS in Florida for three months, then six months in Georgia and then overseas."
   Kamilah was distraught. She didn't want to see the dancers. She didn't want to talk about his news. She wanted to cry. "At intermission I said, 'Why didn't you tell me about it before?' He said, 'I tried to tell you but I was scared you were going to dump me.'"
   He explains: "We had a conversation once about the military, and I asked her would you ever date somebody that was in the Navy? And she says, 'No!' So I just kept it to myself."
   After all, they'd met in marketing class in fall 2003, working on master's degrees at Webster University (Millington campus). Jason was a Memphis Catholic High and University of Memphis grad (2002, management information systems) and worked in marketing at FedEx.
   "He sat across from me every week," says Kamilah, who graduated from East High and UT-Chattanooga (2001, finance and marketing). She's a community development analyst for Memphis' Division of Housing and Community Development.
   "There was some other guy who was always talking, just rambling on, and every time he would talk we would look at each other and go (roll our eyes)," she says.
   Next class: economics. "In econ, (Jason) beat me on a quiz. No one had ever beat me on a quiz before. After he didn't come to our first study session I saw him and said, 'You think you're too smart to come to the study session?' And so he showed up for the next one.
   "By the time we got to finance (class), he said he was going to ask me out, but ..."
   "I was watching her!" he interjects. "I remember the first time I saw her in marketing. I just said to myself, 'Wow! That's the woman I'm going to marry.'"
   Kamilah was watching him, too. "Then, he was always showing off his arms. Huge arms. He always had on these shirts that would hug his arms. I'd actually check 'em out and then look the other way and keep doing my work."
   Then one evening when he took his sister to Isaac Hayes' club for her birthday, Jason saw Kamilah there alone. When the Prince song "Adore" was played, they danced.
   Days later, he was gloating that he got tickets to a Prince concert -- and would she take notes for him in class that night.
   "It was probably three hours before the concert and finally I called her and said, 'Would you like to go to the Prince concert with me?' She actually goes to Oak Court Mall and buys a completely new outfit."
   "I had to get something purple!" she protests.
   "That," says Jason, 28, "is when we really officially had our first date, the Prince concert."
   "So we had known each other about seven months before our first date," says Kamilah, 27.
   By then, Jason knew that if she said she didn't want a military man, "I'm not going to tell her I'm even thinking about becoming an officer in the Navy. I didn't tell her until I thought she could be The One."
   Or rather, until she knew he was The One.
   "I guess I was a little iffy on the long-distance thing," she admits. "But as soon as you gave me your address, I mailed your first package. And every day that he was gone, I had written him a letter."
   When he came home last spring, they married April 22, 2006 at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral. Four days later he departed for Diego Garcia, a tiny atoll of a military base 7 degrees south of the equator in the heart of the Indian Ocean.
   "When he was gone overseas this past year, he got a letter every day," she says.
   "When mail call came," he says, "I was always expecting a box full of letters."
   "And Oreo cookies," she adds.
   "Because I love Oreo cookies," he says smiling.
   Tuesday, they're off together to San Diego to live, as he's been assigned to the USS Nimitz. But before they go, they want to recount how an early family tradition came to be.
   It was Jason's birthday, Jan. 5, 2006, and he was ready to propose. He asked her mom for Kamilah's hand, then went to pick up Kamilah for what she thought was his birthday dinner at Ronnie Grisanti & Sons on Poplar. When Jason arrived, Kamilah was just putting on her shoes. He dove right in.
   "Do you love me?" he asked.
   "Yes."
   "How much?"
   "Very much," she said.
   "Well, HOW much?"
   "Priceless," she responded.
   At that, he fell to his knee and asked, "Will you marry me?"
   It's a moment to hold dear.
   "Every now and then we conjure it up," he says. "We say, 'How much do you love me?'
   " 'Priceless.' "

Bartlett personnel chief Hilbun praised at retirement ... again

From The Commercial Appeal, April 5, 2007
By Shannon Massey
Special to Bartlett-Cordova Appeal
April 5, 2007
   Between the plaques and gifts, Bartlett's personnel director fought back tears at his retirement party as three of the city's mayors praised Larry Hilbun's ['52] sense of duty and his integrity at City Hall on Tuesday night. Bartlett personnel director Larry Hilbun reacts to a comment from Mayor Keith McDonald during a retirement ceremony.
   "Get us legal and keep us legal," former mayor Bobby Flaherty says he told Hilbun when he was hired 12 years ago. "We looked for a good man, and we found him."
   When Hilbun was hired by Bartlett he was 60, and had already retired once as personnel director for Shelby County after serving more than 16 years. Before that, he was director of employee relations for Cook Industries Inc. for 13 years.
   Before he came to Bartlett, the city never had a personnel director. Each individual department handled its own human resources issues.
   "The best part of my job with the city of Bartlett is the quality of the people that I have had the pleasure to work with from the personnel staff to the managers and supervisors and the many fine employees," Hilbun said. "I have had the opportunity to serve three outstanding mayors, all dedicated and competent men who work hard to do what is best for the citizens of Bartlett." When Hilbun arrived in Bartlett, the city had 262 full-time employees; today there are more than 500.
   "You really have cost the city a lot of money," joked Mayor Keith McDonald, who presented Hilbun a plaque and the key to the city. Richard Stokes of the Tennessee Personnel Management Association also presented Hilbun with a plaque. In 2004, Hilbun was the first recipient of the state's Outstanding Human Resource Professional award.
   Former mayor Ken Fulmar said Hilbun made an impression on him early on. "He was so honest, we really appreciated his honesty."
   Since Hilbun also had a hand in bringing the local Bartlett-area Lifeblood to the area, Jason Sykes of Lifeblood presented Hilbun with the Community Partner Award.
   "Several years ago, Bartlett was using about 8,000 units of blood a year but only receiving about 1,800 units in donations from its residents," Sykes said. "Now, through Mr. Hilbun's vision and a strategic five-year plan, Bartlett is the only self-sufficient suburb in Shelby County."
   "It took only three years to reach that goal under Hilbun's leadership," Sykes said, adding that Hilbun will continue to serve as chairman the Bartlett-area Lifeblood facility.
   Hilbun grew up in the Binghamton neighborhood of Memphis and never lived away from there until he joined the Army. He was in the second graduating class of East High School in 1952 and a graduate of the University of Memphis, where he was named Mr. Memphis State in 1956. He earned this title on the same day his future wife, Peggy Duke, was crowned Miss May Queen.
   Hilbun officially retired from the city of Bartlett on Friday, the same day he and his wife celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
   The city's new personnel director, Peter Voss, thanked Hilbun for being a mentor. "Mayor Flaherty told me some good advice. He said, 'Get to know Larry.' And I did."

Retired educator answers call, goes back to school
'Lady Margaret' is heart, soul of East High Foundation
From The Commercial Appeal, March 27, 2007
By Dakarai I. Aarons
March 27, 2007
   Margaret Taylor retired once. Mrs. Taylor with East pupils.
   Twelve years ago, at age 77, she packed up the pictures on the desk where she sat for 24 years as principal at Grahamwood Elementary School.
   She boxed up teacher-of-the-year awards and the countless notes she'd received over her more than 40 years as an educator.
   She left the school and headed to a life where she didn't have to compete with the rising of the sun each morning.
   That lasted three months.
   She hadn't even figured out what her first retirement project would be before she found herself back in the classroom, supervising student teachers.
   And when a former student came calling, Taylor was once again in the bustling hallways of East High School, where her teaching career began in 1955.
   Her silver hair in a sleek bun, she's walking through its grand halls from 7:30 to 4:30 each day in her role as the heart and soul of the Greater East High Foundation.
   "I'm the only one who's here all day," she says with a wry laugh. "I wanted to be busy busy."
   Founded in 2004 by businessman and East alum Charles McVean, the foundation aims to help return the school that has seen many transitions in the past decade back to its former glory.
   "(He) wanted to bring academic achievement back up to a level where they could be proud of it, so he drafted me to help," she said.
   And how could Taylor say no? She's had a soft spot for McVean since he was a student in her eighth-grade math class.
   Her title is director emeritus, but Taylor's true role is den mother, providing invaluable advice, said Bill Sehnert, the foundation's director.
   "She's our methodologist," he said. "She knows more than anyone else."
   Taylor shrugs off such a notion.
   "It's just a challenge and it keeps me busy."
   Taylor has dusted off those skills, showing the adult staffers and upperclassmen tutors alike how to help young students grasp the complexities of algebraic concepts.
   The witty octogenarian known as "Lady Margaret" spends her days in East's algebra classes, observing teachers and looking for lessons that cause students the most difficulty.
   The foundation's scholars program works with students for an hour after school daily and three hours on Saturdays.
   Eighth- and ninth-grade students receive tutoring from upperclassmen in mastering their math science and writing skills. The tutors are paid $10 an hour.
   The focus is on producing quality high school graduates who can go on to successful post-secondary lives, Sehnert said.
   The foundation's work is proving effective, according to an analysis done by the University of Memphis. It found that students in the scholars program were significantly more likely to pass the state's TCAP tests than their peers.
   On a recent afternoon, Sehnert and a group of East teachers walk around helping the student tutors who are quizzing students on equation solving.
   Taylor floats from table to table, greeting students and encouraging them as they race each other to find the answers first.
   To see her energy, you'd never guess she'd turned down school district staffers when they first asked her to teach.
   Back then, Taylor was 38 and didn't have a college degree, having spent her adult life rearing two kids and working in her father's grocery store.
   But it didn't take long for her to see it was where she belonged. And more than 50 years later, she couldn't imagine being anywhere else.
   "I got caught up in it and loved it so much," she said.

Culture of Corruption
Ex-cop wore badge of evil culture of corruption 'No regard for rules'
From The Commercial Appeal, March 26, 2007
By Marc Perrusquia
March 26, 2007

   Terrance Harris [class year undetermined] lived very well for a police officer on a $48,000-a-year salary.
   He built a large home overlooking a golf course and had a stable of expensive cars. He owned a fast-food restaurant and bragged of running another.
   If his bosses at the Memphis Police Department ever questioned how a uniformed patrolman could afford such expensive toys or how he managed bank deposits of $43,000 a month -- cash with "an odd odor," tellers said -- there's no record of it in his personnel file.
   But then, few supervisors dared to lean too hard on Harris, a large man with a menacing temper.
   Hired in 1997 despite arrests for theft and criminal trespass, Harris befriended rappers and drug dealers, and seemed untouchable as he skated through one misconduct charge after another until federal authorities arrested him last year on drug conspiracy charges.
   Harris, 32, pleaded guilty last fall to aiding a drug cartel, and with that admission joined a growing gallery of MPD rogues: He's one of 23 cops busted since 2004, lifting Memphis into unenviable company with cities such as New Orleans and Los Angeles that are wrestling with rampant police corruption.
   "We no longer have Officer Collig on the beat like in the old Hardy Boys movies, where he was the honest, caring protective cop," said Leslie Ballin, a prominent Memphis defense lawyer who deals regularly with MPD officers.
   "Now there's very little difference from the ones who are locked up and the ones who are doing the locking up."
   MPD employees have been charged with stealing huge sums of cash and drugs from the evidence room, providing protection to criminals, running drugs, even planting evidence on innocent drivers during traffic stops. Even the brass have gotten involved: Two commanders took diversion and are on probation for fixing a traffic accident.
   The story of Terrance Lashun Harris is more than one police officer's personal tragedy. It's an anatomy of the department's insidious corruption.
   Personnel files for Harris and others reveal some common threads, including a failure by the department to detect hidden character flaws during the hiring process and a lack of supervision of troubled officers once they are turned loose on the streets.
   Unlike many police agencies, MPD doesn't administer lie detector tests to recruits. And for years, the department allowed many people with arrest histories onto the force -- often a predictor of trouble.
   Until recently, MPD didn't attempt to predict problems by tracking disciplinary patterns among its 2,018 uniformed patrol officers.
   Police Director Larry Godwin, the city's sixth police director in 12 years, says he's working to correct those mistakes.
   "Godwin is exhibiting the first real leadership of the police department since I left," said former director E. Winslow "Buddy" Chapman, who ran the department from 1976 to 1983 and is now executive director of CrimeStoppers of Memphis and Shelby County.
   Nonetheless, supervision still seems lacking, Chapman said, particularly when one considers officers such as the convicted Harris, whose ill-gotten wealth included two fast-food restaurants.
   "Wouldn't it seem logical that his supervisor would have been aware that he owned two Dixie Queens?"
   It was a cold, drizzly day last winter when Harris pulled into the lot across from East Towne Shopping Center and parked.
   He was meeting a new acquaintance, a drug smuggler from Texas, he was told.
   Harris didn't know it, but the smuggler, already convicted of dealing in cocaine, was working for the FBI. He approached Harris with a proposition: Help him move shipments up from Texas, and both would profit handsomely.
   "Let's go. What you waitin' on?" the impatient cop told his new companion on a surveillance recording.
   "I'm ready to rock and roll with it, man."
   The officer vowed there would be no trouble from his colleagues in law enforcement.
   "If they were stopped, Harris would simply have to show his police credentials, and in any event the drugs would be in a hidden compartment in the vehicle," read an FBI affidavit unveiled in court.
   Harris performed as promised over the next several weeks, investing cash in the venture and riding along on a dope delivery up Interstate 40 into rural West Tennessee.
   It was clear to the FBI agents involved in the sting that Harris had done this sort of thing before.
   In fact, the investigation found he'd been doing it right under the noses of his MPD employers. Though suspicions led the department to eventually refer him to Operation Tarnished Blue -- an FBI-led sting to nab corrupt cops -- Harris had been going strong for some time.
   In retrospect, the signs were everywhere. In 2003, six years after he joined the force, Harris somehow came up with $360,000 to open a Dixie Queen franchise. Then another. He was driving a new Hummer, a Mercedes and a two-year-old Corvette and bragged of holding interests in a nightclub.
   His personnel file bulged with disciplinary complaints. Yet, the department was ill-equipped to do much about him.
   "I feel officer Harris has proven that he has no regard for the rules and regulations of the department and will continue to be an embarrassment to the Memphis Police Department," chief Mike Dodd wrote in 1999 in firing Harris -- a termination later overturned by the Civil Service Commission.
   Harris and his attorney, Dewun Settle, declined requests for an interview for this story.
   Perhaps there were no absolute signs when he was hired in 1997 that Harris would become a dirty cop.
   But there were plenty of concerns -- issues seemingly overlooked when police brass gave him his commission.
   Harris had been arrested twice before joining the force. As a 15-year-old, Harris was taken into custody for stealing a Nintendo game from a local Sears store. Juvenile Court records show he was counseled and released. As an adult in 1993, Harris was arrested on suspicion of aggravated criminal trespass, but the charge was dismissed.
   His record was minor yet it was exactly the sort of thing many police agencies want to know about their recruits.
   "In the police business, you are really looking for reasons not to hire people," said Tom Long, chief of police in Southaven. That department, like many others, subjects recruits to polygraph testing aimed at learning if they've ever stolen anything, used drugs or done other things that may affect their ability as cops.
   MPD gives recruits a battery of psychological tests, yet hasn't administered lie detector tests in years, said Insp. Matt McCann, who oversees the Training Academy. He said he got a polygraph when he was hired in 1974, but neither he nor several recent directors could tell The Commercial Appeal when the practice was discontinued.
   "The importance of that is to establish character," Long said. "You should be able to stand up to that."
   In his job application, Harris also made it clear he wasn't the long-suffering type when it came to performing a job he didn't like. In his job history, he listed employment as a $7.50-an-hour warehouse worker -- a job he quit after the first day.
   "I didn't want to waste anyone's time," Harris wrote. "I left because after one day it wasn't for me."
   As a teen, Harris stayed with an aunt in North Memphis' rough-and-tumble Howell Street Apartments, estranged from his mother and incarcerated father. One of his peers went to prison for murder and another for robbery, yet Harris stayed in school, playing football at East High. As a senior defensive lineman, Harris, already 6-2 and over 200 pounds, was called into a meeting by assistant coach Wayne Randall, who asked if he was ready to get serious.
   "I want to play, I want to contribute this year. I will do whatever it takes to get out there on that field," Randall recalled Harris telling him. "There was a commitment there his senior year that we didn't find there previously. And he did an outstanding job for us."
   After high school, Harris joined the Navy, serving two years in Jacksonville. With his military service, Harris was waived from an MPD standard requiring two years of college. At 23, Harris got a badge and a gun, and was turned loose in South Memphis.
   Harris was fired two years into his new career. The statement of charges cited a number of reasons -- sleeping on the job; harassing and flirting with a nurse; displaying obscene pictures at work.
   By then, Harris had already been written up and disciplined at least eight other times.
   He'd been admonished for defying security at a concert in Atlanta by taking a gun into an auditorium. He'd been suspended 10 days for allegedly stealing a drunken-driving suspect's cell phone.
   When complaints began to pour in about his work in the police holding area at The Med, police brass had seen enough and terminated him in November 1999.
   But four months later, the city Civil Service Commission reversed the termination and ordered a 30-day suspension instead. Ruling that Harris had been treated unfairly, the commission unanimously found that another officer with a similar record had only been suspended, ruling that discipline must be meted out equally.
   "Those are tough decisions," said City Councilman Dedrick Brittenum, who chaired the commission when it reversed Harris' termination. Police once had the power to fire officers on a case-by-case basis, but a lawsuit around that time required police brass to consider how it had treated peers, Brittenum said.
   Veteran police administrators such as Melvin Burgess, who served as MPD director until his 1994 retirement, say latitude is needed in dismissing unfit cops because of the danger they pose to the public.
   "If you believe you can salvage a person you try to do it," Burgess said.
   But when it's clear a cop is unfit, supervisors need the authority to cut him loose, he said.
   Reinstated, Harris became a holy terror.
   Over nearly nine years on the force he was written up on conduct violations 35 times -- four times a year on average -- for everything from crashing vehicles to cursing out fellow cops and citizens to mishandling evidence.
   He grew ferocious and seemingly unaccountable, yet each time he wriggled off with reprimands or minor suspensions.
   When a passing supervisor questioned why he was in a parking lot speaking with an unidentified man wearing a bandana on his head, Harris became irate.
   According to a report of the Dec. 9, 2001, incident, Harris shouted a derogatory term at the supervisor and accused her of "racial profiling and disrespecting" him. He followed her into the Southeast Precinct station and began pounding his fists on a captain's desk and yelling he "was not going to be treated this way."
   Weeks later in a written response to disciplinary charges, Harris claimed he was in the parking lot with his son and a law-abiding friend.
   Harris exhibited "outrageous behavior," wrote the supervisor, Lt. Stephanie Hanscom, who pressed an insubordination charge against him. Curiously, when the disciplinary hearing rolled around, Hanscom didn't remember it like that anymore.
   "Lt. Hanscom states now that the statement of charges was not accurate," wrote Maj. Larry R. Young, dismissing the charge.
   The following July, Harris again skated in and out of trouble, this time over the disappearance of cocaine from a crime scene.
   Responding to shots fired at the Greenbrook Apartments in East Memphis, Harris and a partner soon veered from the scene of the shooting and focused their attention on the complainant who reported it.
   Obtaining a pass key from the manager, Harris entered the apartment over the objections of the complainant's girlfriend, and began rifling through drawers, according to an official report of the July 16, 2002, incident.
   Harris and a partner tagged a gun, drug scales and other evidence -- but not a bag of cocaine said to be at the scene.
   Harris and his partner told investigators they only found drug residue. Yet the " complainant advised that he had 10 grams of cocaine." Other officers, too, said they saw "what appeared to be about an ounce of cocaine in the cellophane bag."
   A hearing officer found several problems with Harris' performance that day. For starters, he'd had no probable cause to search the apartment in the first place. And Harris made several inconsistent statements to investigators. Nonetheless, police brass let him go with a three-day suspension.
   "I feel that this will be sufficient to remind officer Harris to be more careful in the future," Maj. D.W. Cooper wrote.
   Even before the ink dried on Cooper's September 2003 written decision, Harris found even deeper trouble.
   That January, he and an associate bought a vacant piece of commercial property for $150,000 on Winchester Road in Hickory Hill. The pair sank more money into the site -- another $191,000 -- to build a restaurant and obtain a Dixie Queen franchise. The food stand opened in 2004 and is worth $360,400, property records show.
   That and other financial details led agents to conclude Harris "appears to be laundering significant amounts of illegal income," according to an FBI affidavit.
   Following a tip about suspicious cash deposits, federal agents determined Harris was depositing $15,000 a week into an account at the Bank of Bartlett.
   In all, investigators identified $835,422 deposited into the account from March 2004 through September 2005 -- $43,969 a month. "The deposits were all of small denomination bills, and some of the bills have had an odd odor," an FBI affidavit said. "Harris usually went to a particular teller for the deposits, and when he dealt with other tellers he objected if the tellers requested identification."
   Harris' partner in the venture was a medical doctor, Larry Walker, who told a reporter he never knew Harris was in the drug trade and suspects he was set up by authorities.
   "People get set up with this sort of thing all the time," Walker said. He said he met Harris through mutual friends and believed he was in the recording business -- something Harris told others.
   Harris' facade began to crack on Aug. 23, 2005, when he was pulled over while off duty and caught riding with a thug. The driver, Calvin B. Glenith, had a long rap sheet of felonies -- robbery, theft and gun possession among them.
   At first, Harris tried tried to talk his way out, then became "verbally beligerent," alleging he was a victim of oppression.
   "I hope I stop you in a traffic stop!" Harris yelled at an officer.
   Exactly how the incident affected the federal investigation is unclear, yet by January 2006, the FBI dispatched a confidential informant to sting Harris. Wired with a recording device, the informant paid Harris to escort him on a cocaine delivery to a town near Jackson, Tenn.
   Harris was just part of a long, endemic problem of poor supervision at MPD, said former director Chapman. Wayward officers seldom got the attention or discipline they needed, he said, likening management's outlook to a kind of connivance.
   "Don't ask too many questions. Don't get into it too deep."

Mosby's influence surpasses wins

From The Commercial Appeal, February 23, 2007
February 23, 2007
   To the hundreds of boys he helped become men, East boys basketball coach Reginald Mosby will always be more than "Coach."
   He's been a father, a mentor and an inspirator, and they have cherished him for it.
   "Strip me of any material things that I've acquired or been awarded, and the one thing I know is that I am a man because of what Reginald Mosby taught me day-in and day-out," former East High and University of Memphis basketball standout Billy Smith said of Mosby, who after reaching the 500-win mark for his career is contemplating retirement.
   "I'm going to try to sum this up, but it's hard to condense when somebody has done as much as he has in the neighborhood and for young people. Coach is one of the people who molded me into who I am today. To see things for what they are, and if things are bad, to make them better.
   "Before he taught me basketball, it was all about being a young man and being a gentleman. He's a teacher-slash-coach-slash-father. ... He's what society is missing now as far as grooming young people to be productive citizens in the community."
   On Feb. 13, in the Mustangs' final regular-season game, Mosby picked up his 500th career victory -- a 48-41 district win over Melrose -- without much fanfare.
   There was no celebration. Just a few handshakes and pats on the back for a man who's spent nearly half of his life mentoring youths raised in the same Binghampton neighborhood he was from.
   "The thing I've always felt like was I had a calling to stay in my area here at East and in this neighborhood," said Mosby, who's been a part of five state-championship basketball teams at East going back to his days as an assistant under former Mustang coach Robert Manning. "Just like how proud the people are to come from Orange Mound, I'm just as proud to come from Binghampton.
   "If people only knew that the little money we get for coaching is nothing. When you touch these young guys and see them keep straight, and then they come back, it gives me complete reverence. I thought that some of the them would come back and get on my butt for running them so much, but they always come back and say, 'Coach, thank you.'"
   Mosby, who recently wrapped up his 21st year as East's head basketball coach, is not in the best of health, and refuses to discuss the issue in detail other than to say "I've got to step back and look at some things."
   Yet even while dealing with his own health concerns, he's still "Coach," even to former players like Andre Laird, whose older brother Eric Laird, a former standout at East and Ole Miss (1982-85), died Feb. 15 of congestive heart failure, just two days after Mosby earned his 500th victory.
   Eric Laird helped East earn the school's first basketball state title in 1979.
   "When they were playing for us here, I took them under my wing and right now, (Andre) is disoriented," Mosby said. "I'm trying to help him through this thing."
   Andre, who also starred at East and later played at Ole Miss, said Thursday he's called on Mosby often since graduating from East in 1983.
   "I wasn't able to celebrate his 500 wins with him because my mother was ill at the same time my brother was passing away," Andre said. "I was like, Coach what am I going to do?'
   "I mean, I had to be totally strong for my mother, so the first person I called was Coach, and he said to leave it in the Lord's hands. He said everything would be all right. ... Coach hasn't been there just for me. He's been there for all East High products."

Poag's retail taste shaped shopping revolution
Creator of Saddle Creek lifestyle center was 'way ahead of curve'
From The Commercial Appeal, February 21, 2007
By Amos Maki
February 21, 2007
   Editor's note:
   This is the first in a series of four profiles of this year's Society of Entrepreneurs inductees, who will be officially inducted into the organization April 21 at the University of Memphis.
   G. Dan Poag Jr. ['59]
   Chief executive officer, Poag &McEwen Lifestyle Centers
   Age: 65
   Hometown: Memphis
   Education: Princeton University, Class of 1963.
   Hobbies: Memphis Grizzlies games, travel and his four grandchildren.
   Community involvement: Poag is chair-elect of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra's board of directors. He also serves on the executive committee of the Urban Land Institute's Memphis District Council.
   On the Internet: pm-lifestyle.com.
   G. Dan Poag Jr. didn't set out to start a retail revolution, he simply wanted to design and develop a high-end retail center that appealed to him and the way he liked to shop.
   That meant no mall crowds or long walks to the stores he wanted to frequent. Poag also wanted great landscaping and architectural touches to set his centers apart and to keep the customers in the shopping center.
   The result was the Shops at Saddle Creek, the Germantown lifestyle center that opened in 1987 and is still considered one of the area's premier shopping destinations.
   "We were just building a center that appealed to us," said Poag, chief executive officer of Poag & McEwen Lifestyle Centers. "There were really just a few tenants in the malls we were interested in, so we thought, 'what if we took those few tenants and put them in a format we liked?'"
   That format, so new in the mall-dominated 1980s, is now the nation's fastest-growing retail format.
   In 2002, there were only 30 lifestyle centers in existence. The International Council of Shopping Centers says more than 50 lifestyle centers will open this year, joining 150 existing centers.
   Industry observers credit Poag, and longtime partner Terry McEwen, with starting the trend.
   "Most people in the industry credit them with creating the lifestyle center concept," said Malachy Kavanagh, spokesman for the ICSC. "They were way ahead of the curve."
   For his vision and determination to build a better mousetrap, or in this case, retail concept, Poag, 65, will be inducted this April into the Society of Entrepreneurs.
   Although lifestyles centers are all the rage in the retail world today, the story was quite different 20 years ago.
   For one thing, massive suburban malls, complete with department store anchors, had dominated the retail scene for decades.
   Movies and pop songs -- and the social lives of millions of American teenagers -- revolved around the monolithic, windowless malls.
   Lenders weren't accustomed to financing large, uncovered shopping centers with no department store anchors. When lenders asked Poag which department store he had lined up as an anchor tenant, he said there wasn't one. When they asked who his main anchor would be, Poag told them the individual stores and retailers would be the anchors.
   A few people told Poag he was crazy.
   "When we tried to arrange financing, I heard it many, many times," he said.
   But overcoming adversity in the business world was nothing new for Poag, who graduated from East High School before attending Princeton.
   In fact, his first foray into retail could have ended in disaster, but Poag's ingenuity and determination, hallmarks of his career, turned it into a winner.
   After beginning his real estate career in the apartment business, Poag had the opportunity in the early 1980s to buy the Knickerbocker building on Poplar, just east of Perkins.
   The retail and office portions were leased by Casual Corner, and Poag signed a contract to purchase the building. However, Casual Corner decided to leave the property while Poag was under contract.
   It could have been a crushing blow, but Poag renegotiated the purchase price and was able to re-lease the building at four times the rate of the previous tenant.
   "Dan is very bright," McEwen said. "He's able to look at things with a clear head and not let emotion cloud the issue."
   Poag's son, Josh Poag, said the company's one major defeat, a rejection by Germantown for an early Saddle Creek expansion, may have been his dad's finest moment.
   The first phase of Saddle Creek was wildly successful and Poag & McEwen wanted to expand on the site that is now home to Memphis Pizza Cafe.
   Neighbors who had caught wind of the possible expansion contacted Poag and told him they would support the project if Poag built them a new pool and made a $50,000 donation to the neighborhood association.
   "My dad just said no because he has always taught us you never do anything like that that crosses ethical lines," Josh Poag said. "Once you cross those lines, people own you. And not only do they own you, you ruin your reputation, and that's all you've got in this business."
   The neighborhood showed up en masse to a city meeting and the project was defeated.
   "It was the only time in our 25-year history as a company that we got a negative vote on anything we were working on," Josh Poag said. "We don't have a perfect record, but that's because my dad stood by his morals and ethics."

Mid-South Memories
On January 11, 2007, The Commercial Appeal, published a photo of East High School during a snow day in 1962.
See the image.

Ex-anchor admits sexual abuse
Meroney to serve 18 months at home
From The Commercial Appeal, November 17, 2006
By Bartholomew Sullivan
November 17, 2006
   Former Fox 13 anchorman Ron Meroney ['54] pleaded guilty to child sexual abuse in Maryland Thursday and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but the judge suspended all but 18 months. Ron Meroney promotional picture. Source: WHBQ-TV
   Those months will be served with electronic monitoring when he returns to his Shelby County home in Arlington.
   Meroney, 70, a minister and former host of Fox's "Good Morning, Memphis" show, had been indicted on a charge of statutory rape last December stemming from an incident in 1974.
   In court in Salisbury, Md., on Thursday, he was ordered to register as a child sex offender and was told to have no unsupervised contact with minor children and to enroll in a state-approved sex offender program.
   Meroney came to Fox 13 in December 1995 after running a radio station near St. Petersburg, Fla., that played pop-style Christian music. In the late 1950s, he replaced well-known TV personality Wink Martindale on Channel 13's "Top Ten Dance Party."
   In a dramatic courtroom statement, one of his victims, abused at age 4 and now an adult, described Meroney as an alligator in a swamp who snatches "unsuspecting children."
   "He takes us to the murky bottom where there is no light and no hope. He stole the natural sparkle from our eyes and left them dull," said the woman. The newspaper is not identifying her because she is a victim of sexual abuse. "He took our spontaneous bursts of giggles and laughter and replaced them with silence..."
   "He has left a wide path of destruction, of broken spirits," she continued. "Spiritual murder is what I call it. And to compound it, he portrayed and continues to portray himself as a righteous Christian."
   Wicomico County Circuit Judge W. Newton Jackson III sentenced Meroney to 15 years but suspended all but 18 months, which will be served inside his home in Shelby County and coordinated with local law enforcement.
   In his own statement in court, Meroney addressed both the victim and her brother. "I want to apologize to you for sexually abusing you when you were little. It was wrong of me and I know it has caused pain in your life. I ask you to forgive me."
   The woman's nearly four-page, single-spaced typewritten statement was faxed to The Commercial Appeal by Asst. State Atty. Elizabeth Ireland, who prosecuted the case. In it, the woman said that she and her other siblings, both boys and girls, had been fondled by Meroney when they were pre-pubescent.
   The Wicomico County charges relate to events that occurred in 1974, but Meroney faced similar charges, also in Maryland, 10 years later.
   According to court records in Towson, Md., near Baltimore, seven criminal charges were filed against Meroney in July 1984 that included child sexual abuse, assault and rape.
   All were dismissed a month later with the exception of a charge of third-degree sexual offense in which he was given probation before judgment, a resolution in which a defendant is found guilty or pleads guilty but with the final judgment technically suspended.

Rivalry's real, so let's manage it
From The Commercial Appeal, November 12, 2006
By Anthony 'Tony' Valentine
Special to Viewpoints
November 12, 2006
Photo Photos by Karen Pulfer Focht
The Commercial Appeal

   Anthony Valentine: "The rules are simple. When you go to someone else's neighborhood, you should respect their neighborhood as much as you would respect your own. . . . But, if you come looking for trouble or trying to start something, you will find what you are looking for."
   I don't know how it all started, but the point is, it's real.
   A rival is defined as a person or thing that can equal or surpass another in some way. Rivalry, then, is the condition of being a rival.
   As a student at East High School, one of the very first things I became acclimated to was the "Rival Feud" between Binghamton and Orange Mound. It was not until we played Melrose in 2001, my seventh-grade year, that I was even aware of a problem with the neighborhoods.
   I have been able to discern that the perpetuation of the rivalry is deeply based in beliefs and opinions about the opposing neighborhoods. The rivalry seems to center on the sports teams that represent local high schools in the areas.
   Problems arise due to a lack of healthy sportsmanship and competition, particularly from the fans and some other students. Unfortunately, the school gets the negative attention from the media and other communities when actually it is only an innocent bystander.
   I am now a graduating senior and I have watched the feud grow more violent over the last few years.
   As far as the day to day, there really is no direct effect that can be seen. The rules are simple. When you go to someone else's neighborhood, you should respect their neighborhood as much as you would respect your own. For example, if you come to Binghamton and just chill, then there is not a problem.
   But, if you come looking for trouble or trying to start something, you will find what you are looking for. Also, each neighborhood seems to have an "all for one, one for all" philosophy.
   People in the neighborhoods are very closely knit and many believe that sticking together is the best chance at survival for all. Many Binghamton residents think that if a person, especially one from Orange Mound, has a problem with them, then it is a problem for the entire neighborhood.
   In today's society, this attitude is somewhat out of place and has been the cause of many avoidable deaths and brutal beatings because of things being so out of hand. Just this summer, an eighth-grade student, Melissa Robinson, was senselessly killed stemming from an argument between young ladies from Binghamton and Orange Mound.
   Concern primarily centers on the sporting events held at the respective schools. There is definitely a lack of, or low participation in, nighttime social events (games, dances, etc.) in these areas because of fears about violence.
   Do I see a resolution? Some may think this is a bit extreme, but you could compare the feud between Binghamton and Orange Mound to the generations-long feud between the Capulets and the Montagues (in Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet").
   Like crime or racism, this feud will never be completely eradicated. It is going to take strong leadership from people very closely connected to each neighborhood before any type of agreement can be reached.
   How the neighbors perceive a person is critical and is definitely something to consider if you have already made a name for yourself in the neighborhood. You certainly would not want to appear to be an outcast or viewed as a "traitor."
   As a proud product of Binghamton, I only hope that each individual person involved will step up and take responsibility for their choice of actions.
   Rivalry has its place, so it is up to the communities to end the violence now.
Anthony 'Tony' Valentine, who lives in Binghamton, is a senior at East High School.

Freshman tackles the odds
Rebels' Vaughn makes strides for playing time
From The Commercial Appeal, November 10, 2006
By Scott Cacciola
November 10, 2006
   OXFORD, Miss. -- Cassius Vaughn ['06] realized he would have to make the most of his brief moments on the field. After all, most true freshmen in the Southeastern Conference are limited to honing their play in practice, staying patient as they try to climb the depth chart.
   Vaughn, a freshman cornerback who starred at East High, knew that when he first stepped foot on campus last summer. But he also understood that the Rebels were young, that he would have opportunities to make an impact.
   "I wanted to come in and make a statement," Vaughn said. "And I feel like I kind of made a statement on special teams."
   Vaughn blocked a punt against Georgia on Sept. 30. The next week against Vanderbilt, he topped himself by actually tackling the punter for a 13-yard loss, and the Rebels went on to score a touchdown. Coach Ed Orgeron said he could sense Vaughn's track background when he made those plays.
   "He has a tremendous start," Orgeron said. "The thing we like about him is his speed."
   For many of the Rebels (3-7, 1-5 SEC), the season has, in fact, been a blur. They are enjoying their lone open week of the season before they play at No. 12 LSU (7-2, 3-2) on Nov. 18, and defensive backs coach Chris Rippon said the break would be invaluable for his young players.
   For 10 straight weeks, Rippon said, they have been subjected to a constant stream of information. Every week, there are new schemes and new personnel to study, and there has been little time to focus on technique. But having a mini-vacation to rest and recharge, Rippon said, should benefit the team's young players, who have been on overload since the preseason. That group includes Vaughn.
   "There are glimpses of his skills that reaffirm that he is going to be a good player," Rippon said. "There's also evidence that the speed of the game, the technique issues that you have to have to be successful against these people aren't developed enough.
   "He has those physical skills, he has great speed, he has real good hips, he accelerates out of cuts, he has excellent hands. So all of those things are good. It's just working on different techniques and consistency. It's a mark of a freshman."
   Vaughn, a standout running back and sprinter in high school, said he chose Ole Miss over schools such as LSU and Alabama because of his relationship with his position coach. Rippon, he said, convinced him he could grow to be a good cornerback -- and, considering Ole Miss' overall youth, there was the added benefit of potentially playing early at an SEC school.
   "If it weren't for Coach Rip, I don't think I would have wound up here," Vaughn said. "But I am here, and it's a blessing."
   Like the rest of his teammates, Vaughn said he feels disappointed in the Rebels' record. A break here or there, he said, and things would be different.
   "If it all came down to almost winning, we'd be up there with them," he said. "But we know with the young talent we have this year and the experience we're going to have next year, it's going to be like, man, you better watch out for Ole Miss. We're coming together as a unit."
   After playing special teams almost exclusively, Vaughn got several snaps at cornerback in Ole Miss' 23-17 loss to Auburn on Oct. 28. He looked a step behind at times, Rippon said, and that was no surprise.
   "He's going to make some young mistakes," Rippon said, "and primarily the hardest thing these kids have to do is have the ability to focus on each play, one at a time. Cornerbacks need a short memory. Things happen quickly. As soon as one play breaks, he's gotta get rid of that. And I think he understands that."
   Vaughn said he expects there to be plenty of competition for a starting role on next year's team.
   "You'll always have to beat someone out for a spot," he said "I'll be a sophomore next year, I'll have a little more confidence, and I really want to be considered a lockdown corner for us. I just have to continue to work hard."

A sky king
In Air Guard, business aviation, Bob Wilson ['62] has hit heights
From The Commercial Appeal, November 8, 2006
By Jane Roberts
November 8, 2006
   For years and years, Bob Wilson lived a double life, managing the affairs of the Kemmons Wilson Cos. while the sun was out, then stealing away to fly nighttime missions for the Tennessee Air National Guard.
   Saturday, he will join the state's heroes of flight -- including astronaut Margaret Rhea Seddon, FedEx Corp. founder Frederick W. Smith and Walter Beech, the brilliant tinkerer from Pulaski who ultimately founded the Beech Aircraft Corp. -- as members of the Tennessee Aviation Hall of Fame.
   Wilson, 62, got there by dint of his ambition, serving 28 years -- the maximum allowed -- for a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard.
   "The difference was, I could work all day, leave my office and fly a local training mission. I'd be in a whole other world. I always loved it and came away really refreshed," Wilson said.
   Wilson signed on with the Air National Guard in 1966. By 1969, he was carrying cargo to war zones in Vietnam, fending off shots that downed many U.S. planes.
   While the TV ads say National Guard duty takes two days month, Wilson often flew once a week, delivering outsize equipment, paratroopers or cargo needed in war and peacetime operations on four or five continents.
   "Many months, I would end up being gone 10 to 14 days. Often on very secret stuff," Wilson said, chuckling that he flew Delta Force missions "before I even knew what the Delta Force was." (Formed shortly after Vietnam, the unit's primary task revolved around counterterrorism, although it is capable of many mission profiles.)
   In the 1980s, Wilson, son of Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson, went to work to get safety equipment installed on the C-130 that ultimately made it much safer for low-visibility landings.
   The trouble was, the military had few C-130s at the time and didn't feel like investing more in them.
   "Bob talked to a lot of folks in Washington. He is a very respected businessman. When Bob speaks, a lot of folks listen," said Maj. Gen. Russ Cotney, commander of the nearly 3,700 Air Guardsman in the Tennessee Air National Guard.
   When the hall of fame nominations came around this year, Cotney made his first, choosing to honor Wilson.
   "Bob Wilson taught me a lot. I picked up a lot of good flying habits from him. He's the kind of person you want to follow just to see what he does in difficult situations."
   Wilson got his first taste of the great blue yonder as a kid, sitting in his father's lap in the cockpit.
   At 15, he had his student pilot's license.
   "On my 16th birthday, I got my pilot's license, then I went and got my driver's license."
   The Air Guard gave him a chance to fly with the country's great pilots, he said, "from airline people down to the farmers that flew with us."
   He would trade nothing for it, saying simply that he'd hate to think he spent his life without it.
   "Bob is an easy guy to fly with, and a great guy to be around," said Col. Harry Montgomery, head of the 164th Airlift Wing. "He didn't need to spend any time in the Guard, let alone 28 years. He's a great patriot for doing it."
   Wilson's own theory is that that the country would be a better place if military service were not voluntary.
   "I'm one that thinks the draft was a good deal; it would change a lot of attitudes if everyone would serve a year or two," he said.
   When Wilson retired from the Guard in 1996, he was operations group commander for the Memphis-based 164th Airlift Wing, and he was also starting up Wilson Air Center, the fixed-base operator with its signature canopy at 2930 Winchester.
   For seven years since, the readers of Aviation International News have ranked it the best FBO in the country, heaping praise on the staff for efficiency and service that mean a pilot 10 minutes away can have pizza, barbecue, even caviar waiting when the plane lands.
   Everyone on the staff calls it the Wilson way.
   "We do not say 'no' to customers," said Dave Ivey, manager.
   "That was the creed in the hospitality industry. You exceed customer expectations."
--------------------
Hall of Fame Induction
When: 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the Tennessee Museum of Aviation, Sevierville
Other inductees: James W. Campbell, posthumously, created the FAA's Flight Instructor Refresher courses, still used today.
John Ellington, longtime commercial airline pilot and executive from Murfreesboro.
Dr. Charles Smith was both a physician and pilot for American Airlines. simultaneously. Today, he practices medicine as an FAA medical examiner in Nashville.

Alumnus promotes products on morning talk shows
October 17, 2006 Class of '68 alumnus Eric "Ricky" Witherspoon was on television morning shows in Memphis on October 17 promoting his Wacky's products. You can watch the 10 minute clip at YouTube.com.

East drops 7th grade, 8th grade goes next year
September 2, 2006
   East High School took another step with the beginning of this school year to becoming a high school only institution. The school no longer has a 7th grade. Most pupils who would have attended 7th grade at East were assigned to the grade at Lester, which has been an elementary school but is transitioning to a middle school.
   For the 2007-2008 school year, East will give up the 8th grade to Lester, making East the 9-12 grade school recommended in the proposed Master Plan for city schools.
   This is the first adjustment in grades at East since the elementary was removed in 1972. At that time, many East elementary pupils were assigned to Lester, while Lester's junior high pupils were assigned to East in a grade swap called pairing.
   East began as a 10 grade school when it opened in September, 1948. It added the 11th grade the next year and the 12 grade in 1950. The first class was graduated in the spring of 1951.
   Source: The East High Alumni Page

East gets failing grade in No Child Left Behind assessment
August 16, 2006
   East High has again failed to meet the Annual Yearly Progress requirement of the No Child Left Behind act.¹ According to the Tennessee Department of Education, East High is assigned the 2006-2007 status of "State/LEA Reconstitution Plan.²" (LEA = Local Education Agency).
   Tennessee lists the following actions as its response to a school being put on the status of "State/LEA Reconstitution Plan³"

Prompt Notification of Affected Teachers & Parents

Technical Assistance

Implement Alternative Governance

Reopen as public charter school

Replace all or most of relevant school staff

Contract with a private management company

State takeover

Any other major restructuring

Notes:
1. High Priority Schools, 2006-2007, Tennessee Department of Education, http://www.tennessee.gov/education/nclb/ayp/doc/2006%20High%20Priority%20Schools.pdf.

2. U.S. Department of Education, Facts and Terms Every Parent Should Know About NCLB, http://www.ed.gov/nclb/overview/intro/parents/parentfacts.html.

3 Source: Tennessee Department of Education, Consolidated State Application, Accountability Workbook, Revised June 27, 2006 (http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/account/stateplans03/tncsa.pdf)
   Sources: Tennessee Department of Education, Memphis City Schools, United States Department of Education

East High Teachers Canvass Neighborhood for Students
From WREG
Posted by Stephanie Scurlock
East High Teachers Canvass Neighborhood for Students
8/12/2006
   MEMPHIS,TN-Class starts Monday for students in Memphis city and DeSoto county schools. This weekend teachers at East High hit the streets to talk to parents about their expectations.
   Step by step the faculty at East High hopes to make a difference in the lives of their students. They started this weekend meeting with potential parents. Teachers split up into 5 teams. They visited almost every section of the neighborhood. "We're a family friendly school and the only way we can educate the students of binghamton is that we work together,"said Fred Curry, East High School Principal.
   The teachers are walking the Binghamton neighborhood in order to bridge the gap between the school and the community. They believe in order to have a successful school year the two have to go hand in hand. Building that line of communication starts with everyday conversations. What follows is a recipe for success.
   East High teachers want the focus fixed on education. They believe in it so much they're willing to walk these streets on a hot summer day. "Our motto is failure is not an option. We're going to get in those kids faces and let them know you're going to set a plan. You're going to follow that plan and you are going to be successful,"Curry said. He says if the school is successful then so is the community.

Some attorneys back off black mold lawsuit
From WMC-TV, July 25, 2006
By Kontji Anthony [The video of this story may still be available from WMC-TV]
   Almost five years after the discovery and cleanup of black mold at East High School, attorneys behind a class action lawsuit want off the case.
    This week, 15 Memphis City School parents and students got a letter from attorneys asking the courts to be cut from the case. Parents claim they're being dropped cold with just three months to regroup.
   Zorina Bowen says she doesn't know where to turn after attorneys mailed her this letter saying they want off the case.
   "It's been a mess ever since we started this thing back in 2001," she said.
   The former PTA president says black mold discovered at East High School gave her daughter, Jessica, asthma.
   "When I'd walk up the stairs to class, I would notice I'd get short of breath and I stayed out a lot during my seventh and eighth grade year," said the former East High School student.
   Jessica says she never had asthma before then and gave up ice skating because of it. She's one of several students at East High who say mold made them sick.
   "I think they're gonna have a very, very difficult time showing that any of the mold that was in east high school had anything to do with the problems that some of these folks complained about," said Memphis City Schools Attorney, Mike Marshall. He says plaintiffs have until October to make their case. "The court has set a deadline that if they can't prove their case or at least bring forth evidence to show that there's reason to go forward, then those cases are gonna be dismissed," he said.
   The attorneys dropping the lawsuit say the parents have a good case against Memphis City Schools and their former cleanup company Aramark-ServiceMaster, but they don't have the money to prove the case.
   "I believe they actually took the case under false pretenses because they led us to believe that they had the resources to fight it and we find out later that they don't," Bowen said.
   Attorneys say they did everything they could to move the case forward. Now plaintiffs say they're back to square-one. Parents and students are now looking for new legal counsel.

Helping kids Golden's goal
Former standout player relies on knowledge
From The Commercial Appeal, June 29, 2006
By Jason Smith
June 29, 2006

    LaMarcus Golden (class year undetermined) has yet to take a seat on the bench behind him, even with his 8-and-under Amateur Athletic Union basketball team now trailing by 20 points late in the first quarter.
   No, Golden, the former Treadwell High and University of Tennessee basketball standout, is smiling and dishing out praise, content that his Memphis Mustangs, playing in this week's AAU 8-and-under national tournament in Memphis, are giving it their all.
   "To me, it's just like raising my own kids or kids around me in my neighborhood," said Golden, now a 32-year-old father of three and current point guard for the World Basketball Association's North Mississippi Tornadoes.
   "It's not who wins or who loses. I mean, that's what you want to do in the long run -- is win.
   "But we're trying to teach them how to work hard, and that they'll be rewarded for working hard ... We want them to experience something different, and if I can inspire three of these kids, or just one, to do better than what I've done, to me that's an accomplishment."
   On Wednesday at Sheffield High, Golden's Mustangs, based out of Lester Community Center in Binghamton, were overwhelmed on the court by a North Carolina squad that led, 22-2, after a quarter and, 31-6, by halftime.
   Yet there were Golden and his assistant coach, Desmond Merriweather, still teaching and encouraging their overmatched team in an eventual 51-14 blowout loss.
   "(Golden) took me out for no reason," complained star player Jalen Winston upon being pulled in the first quarter.
   "Calm down," explained Merriweather. "You've got two fouls already. You'll foul out!"
   Just two days earlier on Monday, Golden and Merriweather had been driving the Mustangs back to Binghamton from their tourney opener at Sheffield when they learned of the shooting of 13-year-old Melissa Robinson, who died Tuesday after being shot in the head Monday in a Binghamton park.
   Like the kids they're coaching this week, Golden and Merriweather grew up in Binghamton and North Memphis.
   "We want to send our condolences out to Melissa Robertson's family," said Merriweather, a 32-year-old East High graduate. "That's why we're getting these kids out here, because tragic things like that happen in our neighborhood.
   "We want to give them an opportunity to see something besides all that. Where we're from, you've got to give kids opportunities to see better things."
   Added Golden, whose team was supplied its white, away jerseys Wednesday by current Treadwell basketball coach Richard Cummings: "Desmond and I have both been in North Memphis and Binghamton all of our lives, and we're just trying to help the kids who haven't been able to do anything like this."
   The AAU's 8-and-under national tournament continues today through Sunday at Sheffield High and Hickory Ridge Middle School. The championship game is set for Sunday at 1:45 p.m. at Sheffield.
   The AAU's 13-and-under Division 1 and 2 national tournaments also continue in Memphis through Sunday, with the Division 1 championship game set for Sunday at 3:10 p.m. at Wooddale High.
   The 13-and-under Division 2 championship game will be played Sunday at 1:45 p.m. at Ridgeway High.

East student fatally shot in Binghampton park - Obituary

   Thirteen year old Melissa Robinson, who would have been an 8th grader at East High School this autumn, was shot during a gang related confrontation at Howze Park near Mimosa and Tillman Streets in Memphis June 26. Police Lt. Toney Armstrong said the girl was involved in the argument but it was uncertain whether she was a gang member. A 19 year old woman and others in the car from where the shots came were arrested within minutes.
Source: The Commercial Appeal

   MELISSA NICOLE ROBINSON, 13 year old daughter of Carol Robinson and Milton Ellis, Sr. of Memphis, died June 27, 2006 at the Regional Medical Center. Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. Friday, June 30 at N.H. Owens Funeral Home. Service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 1 at Greater Pleasant Hill Baptist Church with burial in Galilee Memorial Gardens. She was a student at East High School. She also leaves three sisters, Michelle Robinson, Nathalie Ellis and Marquita Ellis; two brothers, Milton Ellis, Jr. and Milton Ellis.

The king's prerogative
The crown came off, but the Crown & Sceptre Ball went on in celebration of Carnival Memphis' 75th year
From The Commercial Appeal, June 6, 2006
Donahue/Party Line
Michael Donahue
June 6, 2006
   Shortly after being introduced as 2006 King of Carnival Memphis at the Crown & Sceptre Ball, Giles Coors (associated with the class of '74) said he was going to remove his crown: ". . . if my royal subjects will allow me. 'Cause it's hurting my head."
   Giles and Carnival M