I applaud you for some excellent suggestions in your posting above, not to mention your positive attitude about the HG school closing, which has saddened the entire community. Holly Grove NEEDS some proactive energy and grassroots efforts to turn things around. I know many of the people who live there are beaten down and worn out by the uphill battles (socio-economic, political, etc.) that they wage daily. I hope the town leaders will adopt your can-do spirit, see the possibilities and capitalize on all the great things that we all know HG has to offer. Like you, I believe it CAN HAPPEN!
I agree with everything you said. I'm hoping that Holly Grove (and other small Arkansas Delta towns like Holly Grove) will find a way to improve their situations. I feel there is so much important history in the area...so much for people to learn about that it seems a shame for it not to be documented somehow. I'd love to see something really constructive done with the empty school. I like your idea of using the gym to get kids off the streets....maybe some kind of community sports league will eventually be created.
Seems there my be "no child left behind" but there certainly are many schools that will be left behind. I was visitinh HG from Oklahoma during the 4th of July weekend and was upset to know that HG students would have to travel to Clarendon to get an education. the least the state could have done was to build a new county school located between the cities. Making travel distant fair and a fresh start to each city to include renaming the school, mascot and school colors. As I am sure you know the Clarendon school isn't the most morder structure in the county. With many of our county personnel going in to the military after HS hoefully, the schools will start an ROTC course not only to help future military members but try and better the leadership of our young people. Maybe this merger will help in the betterment of our two communities.l HG should try and court trucking companies to move into the closed HS and bring more busines into the community. The HS gym hopefully will be given to the city and get some of the kids off the streets. In many ways the city can help prepare our children for a better life and outlook on their future with what is left behind by this sad day of school closings.
I wanted to share this article - I've only put the half of the article that mentions Holly Grove on here. Does anyone know what will happen to all of the HGHS memorabelia?
For some schools, Class of ’05 is the last 1 year after mergers, districts looking to cut costs by closing campuses, buildings BY CYNTHIA HOWELL ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE AND KIMBERLY DISHONGH FOR THE DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Arkansas will be home to fewer Panthers, Hornets and Dragons when the 2004-05 school year ends in the next few days and high schools in some of the state’s rural communities shut down forever. Students who are now taking year-end exams in towns such as Lake View, Mount Holly, Holly Grove and Winslow will attend classes next fall in bigger towns and on larger campuses with more course offerings and more extracurricular activities. And, over time, their allegiances will likely shift to the Barton Bears, the Smackover Battling Bucks, the Clarendon Lions and the Greenland Pirates. One year ago, 57 of the state’s smallest school districts — those that had 350 or fewer students in kindergarten through 12th grades — merged with larger districts as required by Act 60 of the second extraordinary legislative session of 2003. The mergers were billed as administrative. Each newly expanded district was limited to one superintendent. But, at least in the first year, no campuses could be forced by the state to close. Now, 12 months down the road, that legal restriction on closing schools no longer applies for many of the districts. This month, high schools in Holly Grove, Lake View, Mount Holly, Winslow, McRae and Gould are among those that have graduated their last senior classes. Additionally, district staff members have lost their jobs or have been transferred to the bigger campuses, and the school buildings are being shuttered, put up for sale or used for other school district purposes. "It’s like a nightmare," Holly Grove Mayor Lula Tyler said of the closing of that town’s high school and the transfer of students in the fall to Clarendon. "It’s like taking your heart out. The school was our hub. It was the biggest employer." Tyler, a retired Lee County teacher who was on the Holly Grove School Board for three decades and is now on the Clarendon School Board, said the larger system is insensitive to Holly Grove. That’s evidenced, she said, by the treatment of former Holly Grove Superintendent Harry Mayo, who was suspended this month from his assistant superintendent duties because he refused to drive a school bus. Even before that, the 34-year Holly Grove employee was told that his position was being absorbed and that he needed to turn in all of his district equipment by June 3....
