Community Reflects On Life Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Jennifer [email protected]
The 27th annual Committee to Commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ceremony was attended by 400 people at the Ronald and Barbara Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center at Grace College. The theme was “Inspiring Through Education.”
The program was organized by The Committee to Commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in cooperation with Grace College and Seminary and Warsaw Community Schools.
Pastor John B. Lowe III, committee president, served as master of ceremonies.
Current and future educators were recognized.
Three students received an Academic Excellence and Community Service Award. The award was presented to minority and first-generation college students. Each recipient received a $500 check. Dr. David Hoffert, Warsaw Community Schools superintendent, presented the awards.
Award recipients were Tennie Worrell, Sherry Wong and Kathy Eberly, who Hoffert said are great role models who will lead the next generation.
Worrell, Warsaw, daughter of Curtis and Brenda Worrell, is a Warsaw Community High School student who will graduate in June. She plans to attend Indiana University-Bloomington and Kelley School of Business and major in marketing.
Wong, Warsaw, is the daughter of Shing and Wen Wong, and will graduate in June. She plans to attend Manchester University and study pharmacy.
Eberly, Silver Lake, daughter of Luther and Rosa Eberly, will graduate from Whitko High School this year. She will attend Anderson or Manchester University or Grace College and is undecided on her major.
Marsha Cook, who was the first black teacher for Warsaw schools, was the featured speaker.
She taught for 45 years – 44 of them at Leesburg Elementary – before retiring in 2011. She discussed education, the impact King and his legacy had on her life, and how she was able to tolerate some of the injustices that came with being the first black teacher in the Warsaw school system.
Hoffert asked her a variety of questions, one being how she ended up in Warsaw as a teacher.
She said she moved from Mount Pleasant, Tenn., to Fort Wayne and taught there in 1963 then moved to Warsaw in 1964 and got married and taught at Leesburg Elementary School from 1968 to 2011.
Cook said she could not go to school in Tennessee with her white friends because her school was segregated.
“In restaurants there was no such thing as going into sit down as a black family because the restaurants were not integrated,” Cook said.
She said black people were only allowed to get food at the restaurant’s back door.
The schools were not integrated and there were signs that read “Colored” over restrooms and drinking fountains.
“I had to learn how to turn the other cheek. My mother was a staunch person who said, ‘You are not going to fight because of their injustices, you pray for those people,’” Cook said.
Hoffert asked her about her first teaching job offer with Warsaw Community Schools.
She said she moved from Fort Wayne to Warsaw and married Jack Cook and worked at Murphy Medical Center in the billing department.
She applied for a teaching job at Warsaw Community Schools and the superintendent at the time told her he did not know what Warsaw would think if he agreed to hire a black teacher.
She said she remembered back to her mother’s early training, who told her to pray for her persecutors.
“I told him I was qualified and I knew there was an opening and I would like to have the job,” Cook said.
She went to Lincoln Elementary School for an interview and passed the interview and got a reading and teaching position at Warsaw Community Schools.
She was asked what were some hurdles she had to overcome with students, parents and the community.
She said when she was teaching she came upon a group of students playing a game they called the “N-pile.”
“The pile was dismantled and we talked about that word and how it was offensive to not only me but others,” Cook said.
A student also asked her why she had different colored hands and told her she had the same blood as white people.
She said she is a Christian and that God was there beside her in times of injustice.
She provided advice to the community about what can be done to promote diversity.
“I think the community would be wise to do some investigating to discover the needs. Are there some injustices still in this community still occurring and what is our community doing to encourage family time?” Cook said.
She said Dr. King encouraged others to look at character.
“I was judged based on my color, but eventually Warsaw learned when you look at other people beyond the color, look at the character and values,” Cook said.
Dr. Bill Katip, Grace College president, said it is important to remember King’s legacy. He introduced Keira Crouse, Grace College student, who read a poem she created inspired by the movie “Limitation Of Life.”
The program ended with attendees holding hands and singing “We Shall Overcome.”[[In-content Ad]]
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The 27th annual Committee to Commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ceremony was attended by 400 people at the Ronald and Barbara Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center at Grace College. The theme was “Inspiring Through Education.”
The program was organized by The Committee to Commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in cooperation with Grace College and Seminary and Warsaw Community Schools.
Pastor John B. Lowe III, committee president, served as master of ceremonies.
Current and future educators were recognized.
Three students received an Academic Excellence and Community Service Award. The award was presented to minority and first-generation college students. Each recipient received a $500 check. Dr. David Hoffert, Warsaw Community Schools superintendent, presented the awards.
Award recipients were Tennie Worrell, Sherry Wong and Kathy Eberly, who Hoffert said are great role models who will lead the next generation.
Worrell, Warsaw, daughter of Curtis and Brenda Worrell, is a Warsaw Community High School student who will graduate in June. She plans to attend Indiana University-Bloomington and Kelley School of Business and major in marketing.
Wong, Warsaw, is the daughter of Shing and Wen Wong, and will graduate in June. She plans to attend Manchester University and study pharmacy.
Eberly, Silver Lake, daughter of Luther and Rosa Eberly, will graduate from Whitko High School this year. She will attend Anderson or Manchester University or Grace College and is undecided on her major.
Marsha Cook, who was the first black teacher for Warsaw schools, was the featured speaker.
She taught for 45 years – 44 of them at Leesburg Elementary – before retiring in 2011. She discussed education, the impact King and his legacy had on her life, and how she was able to tolerate some of the injustices that came with being the first black teacher in the Warsaw school system.
Hoffert asked her a variety of questions, one being how she ended up in Warsaw as a teacher.
She said she moved from Mount Pleasant, Tenn., to Fort Wayne and taught there in 1963 then moved to Warsaw in 1964 and got married and taught at Leesburg Elementary School from 1968 to 2011.
Cook said she could not go to school in Tennessee with her white friends because her school was segregated.
“In restaurants there was no such thing as going into sit down as a black family because the restaurants were not integrated,” Cook said.
She said black people were only allowed to get food at the restaurant’s back door.
The schools were not integrated and there were signs that read “Colored” over restrooms and drinking fountains.
“I had to learn how to turn the other cheek. My mother was a staunch person who said, ‘You are not going to fight because of their injustices, you pray for those people,’” Cook said.
Hoffert asked her about her first teaching job offer with Warsaw Community Schools.
She said she moved from Fort Wayne to Warsaw and married Jack Cook and worked at Murphy Medical Center in the billing department.
She applied for a teaching job at Warsaw Community Schools and the superintendent at the time told her he did not know what Warsaw would think if he agreed to hire a black teacher.
She said she remembered back to her mother’s early training, who told her to pray for her persecutors.
“I told him I was qualified and I knew there was an opening and I would like to have the job,” Cook said.
She went to Lincoln Elementary School for an interview and passed the interview and got a reading and teaching position at Warsaw Community Schools.
She was asked what were some hurdles she had to overcome with students, parents and the community.
She said when she was teaching she came upon a group of students playing a game they called the “N-pile.”
“The pile was dismantled and we talked about that word and how it was offensive to not only me but others,” Cook said.
A student also asked her why she had different colored hands and told her she had the same blood as white people.
She said she is a Christian and that God was there beside her in times of injustice.
She provided advice to the community about what can be done to promote diversity.
“I think the community would be wise to do some investigating to discover the needs. Are there some injustices still in this community still occurring and what is our community doing to encourage family time?” Cook said.
She said Dr. King encouraged others to look at character.
“I was judged based on my color, but eventually Warsaw learned when you look at other people beyond the color, look at the character and values,” Cook said.
Dr. Bill Katip, Grace College president, said it is important to remember King’s legacy. He introduced Keira Crouse, Grace College student, who read a poem she created inspired by the movie “Limitation Of Life.”
The program ended with attendees holding hands and singing “We Shall Overcome.”[[In-content Ad]]
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