Remember President Obama's first address to Congress in February? When he held up Ty'Sheoma Bethea's plea for help for her school, the 111-year-old, crumbling J.V. Martin Junior High School as part of his call for funding for building new education infrastructure across the country? Here's a refresher:
Well, some good news has come our way regarding J.V. Martin. Thanks to the gift of a businessman with a good heart, J.V. Martin has some new life.
Link to AP article
Students walked into school this morning stunned to find new desks, chairs, furniture, and a fresh coat of paint. Where there had been 70-year-old graffiti-covered desks only three days earlier, there were now clean, brand-new desks.
"I was amazed. They changed the whole thing," said J.V. Martin Junior High eighth-grader Jessica Manning, 13. "It let me know somebody cares about us."
Other students could be heard uttering the words "awesome" and "excellent" as they stared at the new furniture, custom made in black with varnished oak tops, that replaced creaky old desks coated in graffiti and chewing gum.
And who is the businessman with the big heart who made this possible?
Darryl Rosser, CEO of classroom furniture supplier Sagus International, called Principal Amanda Burnette the day after Obama read Bethea's plea. After visiting the campus four weeks ago, Rosser said he knew he had to do what he could.
Over the weekend, Sagus sent nearly 2,000 pieces of furniture on four tractor-trailer loads. Volunteers worked throughout the weekend to put the surprise together, including a final coat of paint about 8 p.m. Sunday.
The furniture, plus setup and shipping by Sagus partners, was worth an estimated $250,000, Rosser said.
On Monday, Rosser said students' reactions made it all worthwhile.
"It was heartwarming," he said, smiling widely.
At an assembly attended by state schools superintendent Jim Rex, U.S. Rep. John Spratt (D-SC), and state Reps. Jackie Hayes (D) and Kent Williams (D), Rosser received a standing ovation. At the assembly, examples of the desks were arranged in a semi-circle, tagged with their age - from the '40s to the '80s.
They were "nasty," said eighth-grader Johnarra Bethea. "All the other desks had writing on it and gum under them," said the 13-year-old.
Her math teacher, Audrey Hunt, said the new desks have transformed her classroom, which formerly had mismatched desks, including a broken one students kept moving around, so they didn't have to sit in it.
"It's inviting," she said. "It dresses the room up."
Band teacher Kevin McLellan, a former J.V. Martin student, said he's been asking for new seats for years. The new ergonomic chairs will improve students' posture and sound, he said.
After three classes using the new furniture, eighth-grader Darby Hamer said her back felt better than usual, and the new desktops offered more room for books.
"And these don't squeak," said the 14-year-old.
The cafeteria also received a new coat of paint, with quotes from great Americans written on the walls. But one quote in particular was deemed to be the favorite among the students:
"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." - President Barack Obama
And as for the student whose letter made this all possible?
"Even though our dream is not yet completed ... We now have a better school. We now feel better about our school," Ty'Sheoma Bethea said. "We are not quitters," she added, mimicking the words in her letter, "and we are not through."
UPDATE: Some people have asked for Darryl Rosser's contact information. Here is his e-mail:
drosser@sagusinternational.com
And Sagus International's phone number:
(630) 413-5540