Roy Exum: The Knobfather & Me

  • Thursday, September 29, 2016
  • Roy Exum
Roy Exum
Roy Exum

I’ve seen some beautiful things in my life. I’ve eaten dinner inside the Eiffel Tower with the city of Paris all aglitter below. I’ve been sprayed by champagne in the Dallas Cowboys’ dressing room after they won the Super Bowl. I’ve stood both at the top and at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I’ve snorkeled in the Great Exuma islands, learned to snow ski in the Austrian Alps, and tried to hit an underhanded pitch by Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller. I’ve seen the “stolen art” at the Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and been in the room when both of my children were born. Trust me, I’ve been around.

So right now I am still glowing after I spent the better part of Thursday morning at the most wretched of all the iZone schools in our equally-wretched school district. Now I can tell you, using my well-practiced eyes, that Orchard Knob Elementary School is a very beautiful place. I was staggered by what I saw, of what I sensed, and what leads me to believe that all 561 students who were present have a chance of success.

LaFrederick Thirkill, who is in his sixth year as such a wonder of a principal everybody in the neighborhood calls him the “Knobfather,” gave me a carte blanche tour of the school because we share a lot of the same thoughts about every child being our most precious commodity. I watched as gleeful second graders interrupted their recess just to hug him and how he could call each and every name of each and every child. Lordy, those bright-eyed and happy children even hugged me.

So let’s set the bar quickly: of every educator in the Hamilton County Department of Education who I have met Mr. Thirkill – a product of the HCDE – is the most dynamic, most truthful realist I have yet to find. Suffice that to me this is an introduction because now I have a go-to guy who doesn’t sugarcoat answers, worry about what he says, and can back up every word with solid facts. So let’s talk about how terrible things really are at Orchard Knob:

BEHAVIOR IS TERRIBLE – “We have had, I think, two fights this year … As we walk, you’ll see our children are role models. They are wonderful because they know we don’t put up with foolishness.” (An anti-bullying vow is part of the daily creed the students recite.)

TRUANCY IS RAMPANT – “Actually we are down to three students who we’ve sent warnings to parents. (This out of 561 kindergarten through fifth grade.) This time last year it was 12.”)

HOW MANY “UNACCEPTABLE” TEACHERS ARE ON THE FACULTY? – “That one is too easy. Zero. Every teacher here is wonderful. I back them up – to the max – because I personally believe in every one of them. But let me tell you the truth about what you don’t know …

“Our teachers are judged by the state by what is known as the T-PASS system. It makes absolutely no sense. The state takes the test scores from our fourth- and fifth-graders and judges every teacher in the entire school on a ridiculous metric invented by some horticulture teacher who refused to publicly reveal his methodology. We have some kindergarten and first grade teachers who don’t even know the names of the children by whose results they are judged.”

THE CHATTANOOGA 2.0 PROJECT WAS HARSH ON ORCHARD KNOB – “How do they know? To my knowledge we’ve never had anyone from these foundations come here. I can show them solid results and let them see exactly what I am showing you. They assume this, and they are told that, and they are full of wisdom but they know nothing at all about Orchard Knob or what we do.”

60 PERCENT OF THIRD GRADERS CANNOT READ AT GRADE LEVEL – “I asked one of our ass’t superintendents what was his ‘reading level’ and he just looked at me. The man has no idea! Yes, our reading evaluations, which we track three times a year, are low but our social studies levels, our math scores and our science numbers are much higher. Excuse me! You have to read in social studies, math and science, the last time I checked. So how is it our kids can read in other areas but struggle with actual reading? We feel a big culprit is the material they are asked to read but, trust me, reading is a huge priority for us.”

WHAT ABOUT LACK OF SUPPLIES AND COMPUTERS? – “We have some community partners that make sure we have what we need. Walmart just sent a truckload of school supplies out here because they really care about these children. We have other partners all over town and, I promise, we have enough iPads, Chrome Books, to meet every need. Let me repeat that – we have everything we need.”

SO WHAT WOULD BE ON YOUR WISH LIST? – “Community alignment – we need our churches, our next-door neighbors … our entire community to get involved. If the people of Orchard Knob would get more involved our children would be the first to notice. We need teacher training – the district does a good job with this but every teacher we have wants to know how to get better. Did you know an entry-level teacher in Hamilton County who has just one child is not paid enough where that child isn’t eligible for free lunch. Teachers must be paid fairly to do what they do. But teacher morale really takes a beating when they do not feel appreciated for the miracles they produce. We’ve got to find a way to appreciate those who teach with their hearts.”

WHAT ABOUT STATE SUPPORT? – “It is going to be October next week and no school has the results of last year’s tests. But when we get the results, the tests will still be ‘closed’ so we have no idea where our teachers succeeded and failed. What good is a ‘closed’ test to the very ones who are most responsible for the results? That makes no sense. And then our teachers’ abilities are judged by that? The state needs to be much more transparent with every school district in Tennessee.

YOU SAID, ‘THAT MAKES NO SENSE’ – WHAT’S WITH THE SIGNS ON THE WALLS – “When I was growing up anytime I did something dumb my mother would say, ‘Does that make sense?’ So we use that to remind our students to think … (laughing) We had a child who was running down the hall and almost ran into a teacher coming around a corner. The child immediately stopped and said, “I’m so sorry Miss (name) … I just didn’t make very good sense, did I? I’m sorry ….’”

* * *

COLD HARD FACTS: If you will check with the Hamilton County Board of Education, the iZone school Orchard Knob Elementary School, said to be among the worst five percent in Tennessee and labeled as a Priority School, has – in just the last three years – had a 17.3 increase in science scores, a 19 percent gain in math scores, student attendance of an average of 94 percent every day, and a 97 percent average of faculty attendance. Further, the ‘Knobfather,’ Mr. LaFrederick Thirkill, has not missed one school day while in the employ of the HCDE in the last nine years, works every Saturday and most Sunday afternoons. He lives within easy walking distance of the school and – every school day – greets every child by name as they arrive.

Orchard Knob Elementary School is anything but failing. And I’ll swear to it.

royexum@aol.com

LaFrederick Thirkill
LaFrederick Thirkill
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