High schoolers from the Light of Chance and Kentucky YMCA Youth Association Y-Corp programs will participate in a learning-service project at the Rosenwald-Smith Multicultural Center in Madisonville that will open their eyes to the history of the former African-American school.
Eric Logan, director and founder of Light of Chance, said the students will learn the history of the school before cleaning and painting the property.
“I think it’s going to definitely be something to last them a lifetime,” he said. “I don’t think they will look at the building the same way.”
The building is currently used by a daycare and the Light of Chance arts program called Breathe, said *Logan*. He said the program offers free courses in music, art and dance to students for a creative outlet.
The visiting team of students from the Y-Corps program are traveling across Kentucky to help communities while learning about its history and unique cultures, said in a release.
“We are excited to have our team experience such an amazing city as Madisonville, while partnering with Light of Chance in a service project that uses history as a bridge for building a stronger community,” said Beth Malcolm, Y-Corps’ senior program director, in a statement. *
Logan* said at one time, Kentucky had many Rosenwald schools across the state. Today, he said, only three remain standing.
Tracy *Logan*, chairman of the Rosenwald-Smith committee, said the school opened in 1932 and closed in 1966.
He said the project should help influence a desire in high schoolers to reach out and help the community.
“We are very excited,” said *Logan*. “We could use this as a prime example of how we still have good youth in the United States.”
Shirley Davis, a ’52 graduate of the school, said she thought the experience will be the best thing that can happen to them.
“I think kids are handed so much now that they don’t understand the quality of education,” she said. “You have to want to learn.”
During her years in school, Davis said teachers had to use handed-down textbooks from nearby schools and the PTA had to raise money for their typewriters; however, teachers wanted better lives for their students than they had growing up.
“Most of our parents were working in private homes,” she said. “The teachers wanted us to have a good life. That’s the reason they really taught us because they didn’t want us to go out in the real world struggling.
*Author(s):* Megan McGregor Messenger Staff
Writer Mmcgregor [at] themessenger [dot] Com