North/East Shopper-News 060315

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NORTH / EAST VOL. 3 NO. 22

BUZZ Langlois to head A-E Magnet Nathan Langlois, principal at Powell High School for two years, will move to Austin-East Magnet Academy as principal, replacing Benny Perry who retired. Langlois is African-AmerLanglois ican, meeting a criteria expressed at a community meeting. At Powell, Langlois was engaged with students and staff. He reached out to the community with a special evening showcasing school organizations and nontraditional classes. He was previously an assistant principal at Hardin Valley Academy and a fellow in the 2013 cohort of the Principal Leadership Academy. Langlois began his career in education in 1994 as a social studies teacher in Cobb County, Ga. He entered school administration in 2004 and served as an administrative assistant and assistant principal in Georgia. He joined the Knox County Schools in 2010. Langlois holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Western Michigan University and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Jacksonville State University.

Site of historic church gets marker First AfricanAmerican Church On this site stood Warner Tabernacle African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the first African-American church in Knoxville, Tenn., and the site of the first school for AfricanAmericans in East Knoxville. Founded in 1845, it was reported to be a stop on the Underground Railroad to freedom. The site of the church moved a number of times. In 1987 the congregation moved to a church building at 3800 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave.

City Council member and former mayor Dan Brown stands just behind the newly unveiled marker commemorating the original site of Warner Tabernacle AME Zion Church. Joining him are Alan Solomon; Darryl Starnes Sr. and Michael Frencher, bishops of the AME Zion Church; Renee Kesler, minister and head of the Beck Cultural Exchange Center; John Butler, presiding elder of the AME Zion Knoxville District; Becky Massey, state senator; Madeline Rogero, mayor of Knoxville; Charles Darden Jr., pastor of Greater Warner Tabernacle AME Zion Church; and Joe Armstrong, state representative. Photos by Bill Dockery

By Bill Dockery Bishops, church members, city officials and history buffs gathered last Tuesday on an East Knoxville hillside to unveil a marker locating the site of the first AfricanAmerican church in Knoxville. Warner Tabernacle African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was built in 1845 on a site now at 1021 Fuller St. in East Knoxville near McConnell Street.

Cold Springs codes sweep Neighborhood Codes inspectors will walk the streets and alleys in the Cold Springs community starting at 9 a.m. Friday, June 5. Cold Springs is bounded by Cherry Street to Milligan Street, and from Magnolia Avenue to Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. When potential codes violations are spotted, inspectors will distribute information brochures to property owners. Within 10 days, inspectors will return and follow through on whether potential codes violations have been cleaned up. More traditional enforcement would come during the follow-up visits. No citations will be issued on June 5.

Budget hearing Knox County Commission has set a budget hearing for 6 p.m. Monday, June 8, at the City County Building. Residents are invited to attend and speak. Mayor Tim Burchett has submitted a balanced budget that does not require a tax increase yet offers a three percent pay increase to general government employees and deputies.

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It was the location of the first school for African-Americans in East Knoxville and was reportedly a stopover on the Underground Railroad that helped blacks flee slavery before the Civil War. The church, now known as Greater Warner Tabernacle AME Zion Church, is in Burlington on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. Dan Brown, Knoxville’s first black mayor, who now serves on

City Council, welcomed the audience to the ceremonies. Brown was a part of the group that first proposed the monument in 2007, and he expressed gratitude that the Tennessee Historical Commission had authorized the placement of the marker. The Tennessee Civil War Heritage Partnership Project gave an early grant to the group for a project titled “Building Knoxville Anew: African-American

Churches and Reconstruction Legacies.” The site is slated to become part of a larger project known as the Freedom Garden, which will link the Beck Cultural Exchange Center and Haley Heritage Square to the Warner site. The Beck Center is working with area black churches, the Knoxville Botanical Garden and Arboretum and the East Tennessee Historical Society, as well as various departments at the University of Tennessee. Habitat for Humanity, which had purchased the property, deeded it and an adjacent lot to the AME Zion denomination. Darryl Starnes Sr., presiding bishop of the AME Zion’s Tennessee To page 3

McIntyre looks east for leadership By Sandra Clark This year’s administrative changes have come quicker than in previous years. (That’s assuming we won’t see a dozen more this Friday.) Allowing transferring principals a chance to say goodbye is both kind and wise.

Analysis

Thompson

Jim McIntyre has brought several people into Knox County Schools from the outside, putting them into positions of leadership with grand titles and good pay. But last week, this old writer

Hickman

detected a shift in strategy. McIntyre looked to the Carter community for two educators to lead his principals. Both are KCS veterans and both are “from around here.” Cheryl Hickman, an admin-

istrator at Carter High School since 1999, was named executive director of secondary education. In this post she will oversee all middle and high schools. Hickman joined the Knox County Schools in 1983 as an English teacher at Doyle High School after teaching for several years at Seymour High School in Sevier County. She was principal at Carter High School for 10 years before joining the central office as supervisor of secondary education. She holds a bachelor’s degree in secondary education, a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction, and an education specialist

degree in administration and supervision, all from the University of Tennessee. Julie Thompson was principal at Carter Elementary School for 10 years before joining the central office in 2012 as an elementary supervisor. She was previously announced as executive director of elementary education. She joined KCS in 1993 as a teacher at Corryton Elementary, and she continues to live in Corryton. Couple these promotions with the transfer of Clifford Davis To page 3

Outspoken teacher gets walking papers; supporters charge retaliation

By Betty Bean Delivering the news to nontenured teachers that they’re not coming back in the fall is one of the last tasks on a principal’s endof-year to-do list. June 15 is the deadline to inform teachers whose contracts will not be renewed. By the end of last week, 33 nontenured teachers had gotten the ax. Fifty-five such contracts were not renewed last year. This number doesn’t include outright firings, retirements, resignations or those who lose their jobs due to funding cuts, nor does it reflect administrative transfers. Nontenured teachers have no appeal rights. The nonrenewal of Christina Graham, a third-year, nontenured kindergarten teacher at Copper

Ridge Elementary School, has not only roiled the rural community where she teaches but is drawing statewide attention because Graham is an outspoken critic of overreliance on high-stakes testing, especially the SAT-10, an achievement test recommended, but not required, by the state for kindergartners through third grade, which Knox County has now discontinued. Allegations of retaliation do not come from Graham herself but from parents, colleagues and supporters who are upset by principal Kathy Castenir’s decision not to renew Graham’s contract and by her method of informing Graham – out of the blue, and on the last day teachers were required to report to school.

Christina Graham Graham’s supporters object to Castenir’s ordering Graham to clear out her room and turn in her keys by the end of the day. Graham’s colleagues pitched in

to help her pack up the contents of her classroom, much of which she’d bought last year with the proceeds from a summer job at Hobby Lobby. Teachers across Knox County and the state are using Graham’s picture on their Facebook pages to show solidarity, and they are angry because Graham’s evaluation scores were no lower than the “rock solid” three that indicates adequate performance on the state’s five-point scale. Copper Ridge lies in District 7, which is represented by Patti Bounds, who was a career kindergarten teacher before winning election to the school board. She To page 3

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