Barbara McCord Special to The Oak Ridger
John Spratling, a social studies teacher and coach, and an active member of the Oak Ridge-Anderson County branch of the NAACP, was recently awarded the Civil Rights/Liberties: Excellence in Teaching award is sponsored by Social Studies School Service by Nystrom Education, a subsidiary of Social Studies School Service.
The Tennessee Council for the Social Studies President Josh Kenna made the presentation. Spratling received a plaque and a check for $250. The sponsoring publisher, Social Studies School Service, develops both core and supplemental curriculums that aim to advance students’ abilities to think critically and ask good questions. The company is a national leader in social studies education and sponsors civil rights awards for teachers in many states.
Oakridger
Sixty-six years after 85 Black students became the first in the Southeast to be integrated into a government school after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, Oak Ridge Schools is asking the state to include this information in the state curriculum.
Oak Ridge Schools Superintendent Bruce Borchers said Kelly Williams, the city schools executive director of teaching and learning, is working on having the historical information adopted into the state curriculum for public schools instruction. However, he told a virtual audience at an Altrusa International of Oak Ridge meeting that adding it to the state curriculum is “not easy.”
Oakridger
Oak Ridge Schools Preschool is now Oak Ridge Schools Scarboro Preschool, and various areas inside will honor people in the history of the Scarboro Community and the city school system.
“Scarboro, your legacy is being known,” Oak Ridge historian Rose Weaver said of the changes in an email. The Scarboro neighborhood was historically African-American. The community witnessed and participated in the integration of Oak Ridge Schools, the first such integration of government run schools in Tennessee, in 1955.
The recommendations for naming came from a committee and was approved by the Oak Ridge Board of Education Monday with two separate votes one for the school name and one for the areas honoring people.