WOOSTER Virginia Blackwell wanted to be a teacher and she wanted to be a teacher in her hometown.
The opportunity finally arrived in 1963, almost 20 years after Blackwell earned her degree from West Virginia State College, an all-Black school at that time. Wooster City Schools hired her as a special education teacher, making her the first Black teacher in the district’s history.
“She was just glad she got to teach… She didn’t look at it as a fight but her right,” said Carolyn Huff of her mother, who died on March 3. She was 98.
Virginia Blackwell s early years
Blackwell was born on March 29, 1922, in Wooster. She graduated from Wooster High School in 1940 and earned a degree in music education with a minor in history from West Virginia State College in 1944.
Putnam School Board Votes To Keep Open Melrose Elementary School But Close Others wuft.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wuft.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Home/Education/Parents Fight To Save Melrose Elementary School From Closure, Await Feb. 16 Vote
Parents Fight To Save Melrose Elementary School From Closure, Await Feb. 16 Vote
By Kala Parkinson
February 12, 2021
Melrose Elementary School parents have been on edge over the past month, as their school district flirted with a plan to close the building as part of a plan to revitalize facilities across Putnam County.
But the community responded to the plan with a coordinated fight to save the school, and the Putnam County School Board heard a revised bid to keep it open in a workshop Wednesday.
“It’s become very evident that that school is tied directly into the very life of the community of Melrose,” Putnam County Associate Superintendent Thomas Bolling said.
Putnam County school district unveils plan that would close schools, build new ones
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School officials propose closing down five schools two of them more than 75 years old in Putnam County at the end of the current school year and build nine new schools over the next 10 years. There are 18 total schools in the district.
“By rightsizing the district and eliminating excessive buildings, PCSD would qualify for special facilities funding from the state to construct new state-of-the-art facilities,” the district said in a press release.
The proposal would require a bond referendum that would have to be approved by the school board.
Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration receives 45 complaints against Douglas County schools, including 22 against Winston-Dillard schools nrtoday.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nrtoday.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.