LOVEALL, AR
Announcement (1991)
"Alright, class it's time to settle down... SETTLE DOWN!" He lifted his voice to gain our attention.
We were far too excited; we forgot the class was still in session. Everyone was stoked, which of course meant we had checked out a long time before he decided to focus the collective attention of the group. The only thing on our minds was 'The City'.
"I have some good news and some bad news." When the class heard those words leave the teacher's lips, the silence in the room was as heavy as if he said someone had instantly dropped dead. If anyone had taken it upon themselves to do so, you could honestly hear a pin drop.
"Mr. Portland, what's going on?" Gretchen Rochester raced to get a question in before anyone else had the chance to let his words register in their minds.
"Thanks to the efforts of multiple organizations and the hard work all of you have put into raising the necessary funds, we are closer than ever to meeting our goal. So that you know, we have already raised seventy-five percent of what is required to take the art class field trip." He spoke as everyone hung on every syllable.
"Is that the good news or the bad news?" Rory Grey yelled from the back of the classroom.
Patiently waiting for our teacher to relay the rest of his message, we watched as Mr. Portland rubbed his hand from the top of his forehead back to an area of some pretty significant balding. The situation with his hairline had become the subject of conversation for far too many teens. Not only had we questioned his choice to leave the swath of hair that barely covered the top of his dome, but we also noticed long ago that he rubbed his head either in frustration with a student or when he didn't care to be the bearer of bad news.
The teacher cast a nervous grin in the direction of no one in particular as he continued to share the information with the teens.
"I'm fully aware of the work and effort many of you have invested into making this trip a reality. It pains me to inform you that the art class is responsible for 75% of the money required for the trip. The school started our fundraising campaign by appropriating $3000 to the Art Department. Currently, the class is well on its way to reaching our goal with the help of the numerous fundraisers responsible for generating another $6000. When you add together the school's contribution plus the money y'all have raised, the Art Department field trip has raised a total of $9000. For us to take care of transportation, lodging, meals, and entertainment, we must come up with another $3000 to meet our goal. But unfortunately for us, we have reached the end of our fundraising capabilities. This means every student must contribute $120 and then we will be fully funded."
The information was received once again with a deafening lack of sound. Not one word was spoken by the students, and that was indeed a miracle considering we had previously been so loud; that we could barely hear ourselves think.
͋ ͋ ͋ ͋
MY THOUGHTS
My parents always did their best, but we lived during hard financial times. Although there was always enough for us to live comfortably and get by, anything extra required a bit more financial maneuvering. With that in mind, my life has always been a series of Yeses and Nos.
I can't question or challenge the status quo. Either I can do something, or I can't. Whenever I try to convince my parents to let me go somewhere or participate in a school event, their decision has always been often influenced by the amount of money available at the time. There was no such thing as a temper tantrum. I did what I was told and that was that.
It never occurred to me that my constant attempts to venture out and enjoy my senior high school experience might have such a profound impact on my life in the long run.
Well, I'm sure you know there's a story in all of this.
The truth of the matter is simple. I figured out a way to change my fortune. And with that decision, I learned a lot more than I bargained for.
͋ ͋͋ ͋ ͋͋ ͋ ͋͋ ͋
MY SLEEPY LITTLE TOWN
My high school became the lucky recipient of a laundry list of accolades after three of their students won first place for three different artistic mediums in a national art competition.
Loveall Independent School District decided to reward the individual winners as well as sponsor an eleventh-grade field trip for the art teachers and the students under their tutelage. It wasn't something that was required but the school district felt it was the least they could do to show their appreciation.
Creations in charcoal drawings, paintings, and sculptures were selected as the grand prize winners. Because the junior class was responsible for those projects, the school was particularly proud after national reporters came to learn more about the school and town perceived to have fostered so much talent.
The insane amount of attention shining on the school because of the students' wins opened the door for the superintendent to reward the art department hoping to keep the honors coming their way. The more light shining on the school, the more state and federal funding would follow.
Arkansas leaders were head over heels in love with the national spotlight that had been placed on a school within its state borders. Not only did the attention give politicians a reason to lobby for more funds needed to support art programs, but it also gave them a talking point about how Arkansas supported the growth of all students no matter their background.
Of course, I was too young to understand all that was going on with the school district, local, county, or state politicians; I just wanted to go anywhere but where I was from.
Oh, yeah. I'm one of those talented artists. I worked my fingers to the bone for six long months to give birth to my babies. No... I don't mean actual living, crying, flesh-n-blood crumb snatchers.
No, sir...
I'm talking about the pieces I created with my bare hands.
The classes selected for the trip were brought to the school's auditorium. Before we were given the chance to get too excited, school administrators informed us that should we choose to visit Little Rock, the school would pick up the tab in full. On the other hand, if we elected to venture farther away from home and visit the more expensive city of Dallas, only twenty-five percent of the costs would be covered by the school district.
You see, traveling within the state wasn't such a big burden because it was less expensive and could be reimbursed in part through different state programs. Of course, I had to dig around a bit to find out why we were expected to come up with so much money, and ta-da, that was the answer. In all fairness, where I live it's a rather remote country town. Due to its small size and the school district's lack of additional miscellaneous funding for such an expensive journey, we were lucky for them to pick up any portion of an out-of-state trip.
Because our work brought so much positive attention to the school, we were actually given a choice and we were lucky since nothing like this ever happened to the art department or an art student.
Since much of the class had never traveled farther than maybe forty or fifty miles from our small town in Loveall, Arkansas, it was a unanimous decision. We all decided that it was the best opportunity for us to get as far away from our small back-of-the-woods town as we possibly could. Everyone was eager to make their way to the big city. Just the thought of traveling all the way to Dallas was like asking us if we wanted to fly to the moon.
Let me explain it to those of you who don't understand what that meant to us. We did everything in our power to raise that money so we could get the heck outta dodge.
Since we were headed to the Dallas Texas Art Museum as well as the Aquarium, the plan included a two-day and two-night stay. Our trip required us to make sure we had enough money for twenty-five students who would enjoy a hotel stay, food, and sightseeing, as well as being chaperoned at several paid but mostly free exhibits.
To make everything come together successfully, on Fridays and Saturdays, we washed cars and put on weenie roasts to chip away at some of the costs. The local churches helped us out by hosting bake-offs as well as raising funds during youth services. School-sponsored fundraisers helped us accomplish a portion of our goals, but let's keep something in mind. Loveall is a sports community.
Most fundraisers were focused on making sure the sports department at Loveall High School was fully funded. Considering we had a triple-A record-breaking football team; you know most of the money raised in our town was focused on the football players and the cheer squad.
The Art department had never sparked as much attention for the school district as the sports department. Art was funded for your typical art classes by the state, but anything special came out of the pockets of the students or should I say... the students' parents. Since we were given the opportunity of a lifetime, we were prepared to make the money ourselves if it would present us with a real shot at breaking free from the ducked-off rural place we called home.
If more than one art student hadn't won in their selected categories, no attention would have ever been placed on us. So imagine how difficult it was for us to slowly but surely pinch away at our financial obstacle only to receive some not-so-great news. As hard as we worked, the closer we got to the day when our dreams would become a reality, our awkward yet somewhat listless art teacher gave us a pretty cruel wake-up call.
͋ ͋͋ ͋ ͋͋ ͋ ͋͋ ͋