Peabody Hall (University of Arkansas)

Transcription

In the late 19th century as the South recovered from the Civil War, Arkansas desperately needed teachers to educate the state's youth. When the University of Arkansas was established in 1871, the founders set teacher preparation as a priority. Soon, the department of education needed more space than was available in Old Main, the university's primary facility at the time. A resolution to the problem came when London-based merchant banker George Peabody started giving away money to rebuild education in the South. He offered $40,000 to the university's board of trustees in 1911. Thus, Peabody Hall was constructed and opened for students in 1913. When the building opened, the department of education began operating a training school to give its teacher candidates real classroom experience in kindergarten through 12th grades. Peabody's senior high school was known as University High School and offered a superior education to what could be found in surrounding areas. In 1940, a local country boy got an unexpected opportunity to attend University High School. I stayed in school in Prairie Grove until I finished the ninth grade and the 10th grade. A Prairie Grove doctor offered to pay Calvin Bain's tuition to the training school because the doctor wanted to send his son there with a friend. He came to my father with a proposition of paying my tuition to University High School if I would be a companion to his son, Ronald. I thought it was good because, you know, very small town at that time, it was 1,000. I was anxious to get out a little bit, had no car, it was very difficult to get from one place to the other in our Model T Ford so I thought that was really, really good. I was excited about it. University High School students enjoyed extracurricular activities including sports, cheerleading, yearbook, student council, senior plays and honor societies. The last class graduated in 1962. Peabody Elementary School continued to operate for four more years. In the 1965-66 school year, a handful of Fayetteville children integrated the training school. We did have to walk because we didn't have a bus to ride over here. We had to walk over here every morning, and my mom walked with us and walked us home. Eric and Carol, Kim, Kandy, Lee Ann ... kids is kids, you know. We all played together after I got to know them and everything. We were just ... everything was just wonderful. The children explored campus, visiting the University Museum in Old Main, taking music lessons and seeing their art projects displayed in the Fine Arts Center, learning to speak French and fetching milk from the student union for their classmates. We traveled the campus for music and for field trips to the University Museum. It didn't bother us that the big kids were there. We liked to go to the Student Union if we forgot our lunch. We would figure out a way to go get a hamburger over there. We went there every day if you were on the milk committee. Two children of faculty members, Kandy Ryan Johnson and Kim Vaught Duell, also attended the training school in that era. They recalled university students working in their classrooms. A small classroom of maybe 18 to 20, 25 children and then nine adults as student-teachers, you could do anything because we could work in small groups with an adult. You could have two or three children working with adults so you could do all kinds of things but we just thought everybody did it that way. We didn't really realize everybody didn't get to have all those things. The elementary school differed from other public schools in another way. You didn't get report cards. You got a letter from the teacher that told about all your strengths and weaknesses for the year, what you did well. That was kind of interesting whenever we did hit junior high because there were report cards with letters, yes, and citizenship. Over the years, Peabody Hall fell into disrepair and badly needed work. People in a department like curriculum and instruction place a great deal of value in old manuscripts and old books and textbooks, and a lot of their personal treasures were being affected by mold and dampness in the building. Even though the faculty never lost their love for Peabody, they wanted it to be a better building. After the fall 2009 semester ended, the faculty moved out and construction began on an $8.8 million renovation project that would restore the campus icon to its previous splendor. One of the things that's happened in modern America is most of the new school buildings built look more like shopping malls than they do schools. Faculty and staff in the curriculum and instruction department relocated to Stone House South for the 18-month-long renovation project. Even before the restoration, everyone wanted to be in Peabody Hall, everyone in the College of Education and Health Professions because, just the feel of the building, the tall ceilings, the big windows, the comfort of the building. Jessica Fay Sliger is in her fifth year of teaching at Rogers High School after earning her Master of Arts in Teaching degree in 2007 During the summer we would have our classes every single day in this building, in Peabody, and then during the school year we would come all day on Monday and then Tuesday through Friday we would go and do our internships in the schools. That was a stressful time. You know, you're just learning how to be a teacher and you sometimes don't know what you're really doing so when we would come back here at Peabody, it became a home because it was our refuge, really. Jessica is a second-generation teacher educated in Peabody Hall. When I told my dad that I was going to be going, well, taking all of my classes for a master's program in Peabody, he got really excited cause that's where he took his classes to learn how to become a teacher. The proud history of Peabody Hall is also reflected in the quality of the renovation and reconstruction. When the university put this substantial investment in restoring this building, it provided the faculty and that students with a real shot in the arm, that this institution is solidly behind the preparation of teaching and solidly behind the faculty who dedicate their life to the preparation of teachers who will influence our next generation. And, with that, Peabody begins a new century of helping educate today's educators. As it has done so well for the past 100 years, it is expected to do even better for the next 100.