“CORRIDOR OF SHAME: the neglect of South Carolina's rural schools" is a 58 minute documentary that tells the story of the challenges faced in funding an adequate education in South Carolina's rural school districts. The film illustrates the hardships of life in South Carolina for many of its children and has become a rallying-cry for Methodist churches all over the State. www.corridorofshame.com
Aldersgate United Methodist Men in Greenville, SC recently committed “troops” to the cause of Allendale Elementary School, one of the schools in the Corridor of Shame, to paint classrooms. The United Methodist Women at Aldersgate contributed $2375.00 to the Allendale Elementary Library to bring much-needed reading materials to the school. Scott Bach-Hansen, the President of Aldersgate United Methodist Men, assembled a group of members for the mission. We asked Scott some questions about how all of this came together and Aldersgate’s plans for future projects to impact this rural school district.
Q: How did the Aldersgate UMM discover Allendale E.S. and this project?
A: Our United Methodist Women have an action series once a quarter in response to their annual conference meetings. In one of these meetings, it was decided that the state of public education as exhibited in the "Corridor of Shame" film must be addressed. Much of their work was on the legislative side and included petitions and letters to politicians. Once the "Corridor of Shame" video was shown to the UMM of Aldersgate, it was determined that we needed to do more than just help with signing petitions.
Q: Why this particular school?
A: There are two reasons. First of all, Aldersgate UMC does a lot of mission work abroad in other states and countries. One suggestion was that, due to the changing economy, we needed to look in our own back yard. The reason that this particular school was chosen was due to a visit by Dr.Tom Truitt, former Superintendent of Florence County Public Schools. He informed us that Allendale schools had not received the same amount of attention as some of the other school districts.
Q: What challenges did you find?
A: Participation was difficult for a number of reasons. We did agree to send a smaller group down the first time to gather more information and provide a report to generate interest for a follow up trip. Another challenge was gaining acceptance from the school. The principal, Sheila Leath, was wonderful to work with and helped us tremendously. It is a challenge to allow "outsiders" into your school without fully understanding their motives. After explaining our intentions to Sheila, we had a strong supporter. She met us there and stayed there on her day off as well.
Q: What did you find when you arrived?
A: We found great people trying to make the best out of a bad situation. The conditions are poor and the school receives little support from the State. Only 4 of the rooms are equipped with hot water. There is mold on the walls and ceilings, deteriorating walls, broken tile floors in the gym, doors without handles as well as various snakes and other rodents. Since the school was once a high school, the urinals are too high for small children which results in accidents on the floor. The lack of central air means that they have to use individual air conditioning units and space heaters (fire hazard) to make the students comfortable. We also noted that the outside playground equipment was in good shape, but the company that installed the wood chips did not install the anti-weed tarp and the playground is infested with tall grass and weeds that could house snakes from the corn field. The outdoor basketball court is cement and has cracks and has been uprooted in many areas making it unsafe. Lastly, there is one principal and one administrator for 500 children.
Q: How do the conditions affect the kids and staff?
A: The teachers are trying their best, but there are many challenges. The carpets are old and need replacing. The two school vacuum cleaners are broken and need to be replaced. The staff tries to help by bringing in their personal devices, but they are not strong enough to get out all the dust mites, mold dirt, etc... They have an enormous amount of kids that are out of school or go home for various allergies that these elements provide. Also, the classrooms have a conduit that is hot to the touch in the winter time and is hazardous. All of the classrooms are in need of a fresh paint job. Having only completed two rooms, we have a long way to go.
Q: How are the teacher’s spirits in such dismal surroundings?
A: They are doing the best they can under the circumstances, but the new teachers build up a year or two of experience and then get hired in neighboring districts for more money. The teachers are constantly turning over making it difficult to establish continuity which would result in higher test scores. They have asked for more community involvement and have new ideas like door prizes to help attract parents during the PTA bingo games prior to the meeting.
Q: What is the next step for this project?
A: There are so many more things needed at this school. We can't tackle it all and we need more hands and support. We have scheduled a return trip to Allendale for the February-March time frame and will be involving the youth program at Aldersgate. We would like to tackle the playground, the vacuum cleaners, the rooms that need painting and the basketball court to start. Also, we would like to help the teachers with a field trip for the 4th and 5th graders. Their field trips consist of going to Orangeburg to visit a college, or going to the pumpkin patch. There are no trips outside the area. Some of these kids never leave Allendale County. Our goal is to create a trip for the 5th graders to ride on a chartered bus, something they have not experienced, to Carowinds. This Eligibility would be based on accomplishments in the academic and behavior areas. This would give them a clear goal to work towards. The qualifications would be determined by the faculty of Allendale Elementary.
Q: What would be the end goal for this project?
A: Long term? These children need to have a level playing field with regards to education. They deserve an education that is not "minimally adequate" but one that provides these children a way out into the world. Their futures depend on it. There is not a lot of industry in Allendale. In the short term we would like to challenge other churches to step up and help in their own back yard, too. We are not asking for the elimination of other programs, but we are requesting the opportunity to help kids in South Carolina. If we could get each church to sponsor a school or a class it could go a long way. If we continue to wait for the legislators in Columbia the work may never bet done!
Spreading the word through articles like this one or visiting churches to discuss this project and the Corridor of Shame as a whole are part of our plan as well. We have so much to do with this project and we are not ready to give up on these kids. They deserve better than they are getting. If it were my kids or your kids, what would you do? What if you didn't have the choice or ability to leave? It's heartbreaking to us and we are getting involved. A return trip to Allendale is in the planning for early February. Please help us..
If anyone would like a copy of this video or would like Scott Bach-Hansen to present a program, a request can be made to:
Aldersgate United Methodist Church
7 Shannon Dr.
Greenville, SC 29615
(864) 244-1820
Pastor Mike Bruce
Submitted by Betsy Tetsch
Church and Society
Aldersgate United Methodist Church
11/11/08
