Open house set for May 13 at teaching laboratory school
MURFREESBORO — Noting
its special role in educating students and preparing future teachers for the
classroom, MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee made a special presentation Thursday
to the students, faculty and staff of Homer Pittard Campus School in
recognition of its 85th anniversary at its Lytle Street location.
McPhee presented Campus School Principal Sherry King a
special framed certificate from the university to honor the K-5 school “for its
legacy in teaching and learning.” The celebration continues next week when the
Friends of Campus School sponsors a public open house from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday,
May 13, on the school grounds located on the western edge of the MTSU campus.
With Blue Raider mascot Lightning on hand to delight the
youngsters gathered Thursday morning inside the school’s gymnasium, McPhee
reminded the students of the benefits of attending a special school. The
longtime teaching laboratory school is owned by Middle Tennessee State
University and jointly operated by MTSU and Rutherford County Schools.
Watch a video of the presentation at http://youtu.be/62UUK1CxFTw.
“We are here today to celebrate 85 years of providing outstanding
education to the students of this city, of this county and this region,” McPhee
said. “Campus School is part of a long, strong tradition of producing
outstanding citizens. … And this school will continue to produce graduates that
make a difference in this community.”
Accepting the certificate with King were Rutherford County
Schools Director Don Odom and Dr. Rita Schaerer King, a former teacher and
principal at the school and now president of the Friends of Campus School
organization.
“We are uniquely blessed and truly benefit from our
partnership with MTSU, with the Friends of Campus School, with our parents and
the Rutherford County school system,” said Sherry King, an MTSU alumnus in her
first year as the school’s principal.
MTSU College of Education Dean Lana Seivers offered her
congratulations and excitement about MTSU’s increasing involvement at the
school in the coming year. All hands rose when Seivers asked which students had
been helped by an MTSU teaching student in their classroom this year, and
several hands raised when she asked how many teachers were MTSU alumni or took
any courses on campus.
Addressing the attentive young faces in a storytelling tone
only found in an experienced educator, Seivers drew knowing giggles from her
impressionable audience when she noted: “You don’t look like you’re 85!”
“MTSU is so lucky to be a partner with you,” she said. After
the ceremony, Seivers noted that the College of Education would be donating
books to the school’s library collection in recognition of the anniversary.
Dr. Rita Schaerer King encouraged the public to attend the
May 13 open house, which will include tours of the building, a reception in the
school’s lobby as well as memorabilia on display in the school gym from each
decade the school has been open as well as historic photos of the city from
Shacklett’s Photography.
King noted that while Campus School opened the Lytle Street
building in 1929, the school actually got its start in 1911 when Middle
Tennessee Normal College opened an elementary school inside Kirksey Old Main,
the administration building at the time.
Campus School is located at 923 E. Lytle St. in
Murfreesboro. For more information about Campus School, visit http://www.hpc.rcs.k12.tn.us.
No comments:
Post a Comment