Because Herron is so connected to the surrounding neighborhood, outdoor beautification is a big part of this initiative. At past Symposiums Herron faculty members have gone out to do yard work and plant flowers for some of the neighboring houses. Previously teachers collaborated to improve the school by building special projects and fixing things that needed fixing. And of course for each Symposium, breakfast and lunch are provided. Score! I couldn't wait to see what they had in store for us this year . . I wondered would it be bagels? Donuts?? Potato casserole??? They had all the above and Yats for lunch! Whoo-hoo!
With this being Herron High School's ten year anniversary, they decided to go with a theme of looking back. My department chair, Trevor Renwick attended Herron back when it was an art school and he's been one of the only teachers to teach at Herron the entire ten years since it has become a charter school. He is one of a small handful of people who can really speak to what this neighborhood is and what it was. He lead off this Symposium with a presentation of what Herron was like as an art school prior to leaving in 2005.
I'm a Herron grad myself, but I was part of the first crop of artists to attend the new building on the campus at IUPUI all four years. It was a gleaming new building that many people rightfully say has less character. I've heard stories that made me jealous of what the old Herron was like, but Trevor really took us back there. He began by saying that he had approval ahead of time to present the R rated version, but he didn't know our head of school, Janet McNeal would be in attendance. We all laughed and braced ourselves for what we knew would be an entertaining half hour or so . . .
Just to prep you, the once proud Herron Morton neighborhood where I now teach was down right awful for a few decades, especially during the late nineties when Trevor was an art student at Herron. There was grafitti everywhere, on all the walls inside the school and all over the place outside too. Back then it wasn't uncommon to hear somebody got mugged just getting out of their car to go to class. You had to be careful. There were many boarded up houses and vacant properties along 16th and Pennsylvania as well as Talbott Street. The neighborhood was full of drug attics and miscreants, bums and wayward vagrants, and of course art students.
Trevor shared a story of witnessing EMT's responding to a situation where a man had hung himself from a tree behind a house that is still there today, of course that house is no longer a crack den. One night he and some friends were eating pancakes at the IHOP, which is now a CVS, they were barely surprised when authorities arrived to remove a body from a dumpster out back. It was just the way things were, but that is no longer the case. The area is coming back and is currently experiencing a gentrification process. There are quaint shops, dining options and hip coffee joints, I'm sitting in one of those now. Most of the homes have been revived and property values are higher than ever, much higher than anything I can afford.
When the art school pulled out, it left a tremendous gaping hole in the community which bares it's name. That hole would soon be filled thanks in large part to Joanna Taft, our keynote speaker. Joanna and her husband had the idea to turn it into a charter high school, but had no idea how to go about it. With dogged determination, they found the necessary funds to establish Herron and thus spark a revival process in the neighborhood they live in and have loved for more than twenty years. Joanna is still on the board. She hired Janet McNeal who is still our head of school. They shared memories of the early days that inspired me and filled me with pride that I am a part of it now.
In those first few years, Herron had only about a hundred students. No one knew if this thing was going to work. There were trailor pods on the grounds outside because some of the rooms weren't quite up to code yet. Ten years later, we're now a nationally recognized, 4 star school with a 99% graduation rate. We've got more than 900 students and a long waiting list to get in. It really is remarkable to look back on what has been built. The most exciting part is they are planning to do it all over again in a new location in a similar neighborhood that is sorely in need of revival. It's still in the works so I really cannot blog about it. We visited this potential new location after lunch. It was the big finale of the 2016 Symposium. I can't wait to watch this happen all over again!
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| What would be the lunchroom of the new charter high school. Can't say where at the moment. |
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| Emmaunel Harper speaking at Symposium |
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| Head of School, Janet McNeal signing a stack of diplomas |
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| Damn thing won't let me adjust this picture. But this is me exploring the site of our potential new school. It's top secret, but if you figure it out on your own then good for you . . . |
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