So they renamed the school after Mary McLeod Bethune ~ an insignificant person undeserving of having a school named after when compared to the great Judah P. Benjamin ~ she was just a poor black woman, who never fought in the Civil War ~ she deserves no honor.
>>Mary McLeod Bethune
Mary McLeod Bethune, a black educator, devoted her life to the improvement of educational opportunities for blacks in the United States. In 1904, she opened a school for black girls in Daytona Beach, Florida. The determination that Mary McLeod Bethune had for the education of black youths was truly awesome! She started her first school with packing crates she found at the dump ground, meat wrapping paper from the butcher store for paper, a run down old house with no furniture and only two young girls as her first students. Mary had big dreams. She never let go of her dreams; she worked very hard to make those dreams come alive. From this meager start she lived on faith and determination, and become one of the most respected educators in America. This girls school merged with a boys school in 1923 to form a college, now called Bethune-Cookman College. Mrs. Bethune served as its president until 1942.
Presidents Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman appointed her to various government posts. From 1935 to 1944, she served as Roosevelt's Special Adviser on Minority Affairs. She also served, from 1936 to 1944, as director of the Division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration. When she took this office, she became the first black woman to head a federal agency.
Bethune was born in Mayesville, South Carolina. She attended a mission school, a seminary, and the Moody Bible Institute. In 1935, she received the Spingarn Medal. That same year, she founded the National Council of Negro Women.
We are proud, indeed, to learn and work at Bethune MEGA Elementary, a school named for an outstanding educator and fine Christian woman. It is our hope that we keep the flame burning strongly that was lighted many years ago by Mary McLeod Bethune. We strive to continue her high standards of excellence in learning for all students and live up to the rich heritage she began.<<
magnet.temple.k12.tx.us |
