Local students added to board of historic Division Street School

Brooke McAfee, The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.
·4 min read

Oct. 22—NEW ALBANY — The board of a historic New Albany school is bringing in the perspective of local youth.

Lauren Clark and Addyson Banet began Thursday as the first high school students to serve on the board of the Friends of Division Street School.

From 1885 to 1946, the building at 1803 Conservative St. served as a segregated school for Black children, and it is one of the oldest segregated schools left standing in Indiana. The Friends of Division Street School worked with New Albany-Floyd County Schools to restore the building, which is now a museum focused on the history of the school.

Clark is a sophomore at New Albany High School, and Banet is a junior at Floyd Central High School. The two students submitted applications for the position, and they were unanimously selected by the Friends of Division Street Board. On Thursday, the students participated in their first board meeting.

Vic Megenity, director of Division Street School, said the two students are voting members of the board, whether they are voting to approve a picnic at the school or a group visit.

The students will bring new ideas, Megenity said.

"Younger people can get more involved in the school and not only learn about it, but begin to appreciate it and learn — if this building could talk, what a story it could tell," Megenity said.

Clark said she was looking for ways to become more involved in the community.

"[I wanted] to meet some of these adults and kind of get inspiration from them for how I can help others whenever I get older — just getting involved so I can meet new people and see new things," she said.

Since 2006, fourth grade classes in New Albany-Floyd County Schools spend a day in the historic school for an immersive history lesson, although those field trips have recently been put on pause due to COVID-19. Both Clark and Banet remember visiting the historic school as fourth graders.

As she learned about how segregated New Albany was in the past, her visit to the Division Street School offered Banet insight into how the community has changed over the years, she said.

Banet said she hasn't learned much about the Division Street School since the fourth grade, and she wanted to become more informed about the school's history.

She also wanted "firsthand experience" of participating in a board meeting, she said, and she looks forward to helping the community become more involved with the historic school.

"It's a really good opportunity for me as a student to see others, adults, so when I'm an adult and more capable, I can use the skills I learned here," Banet said.

Clark remembers sitting in the old desks of the Division Street School and learning about "how different it was back then" as she attended the field trip.

"I loved that experience when I was in fourth grade, so I just want that to continue to happen for other fourth graders," she said.

Megenity, a retired teacher from Scribner Middle School, worked with Kathryn Hickerson to preserve the historic building, which was in a dilapidated state when they began the project in 1995. Hickerson was one of the last students to attend the all-Black school, and she saw the building restored before her death.

"We had our first pilot classes in 2005 — we had three fourth-grade classes come in, and she got to come in and see one," Megenity said. "Just two weeks later, she passed away. She got to see her dream come true."

The building features information about what it was like for students to attend the Division Street School, as well as other examples of discrimination Black people faced in the New Albany community.

For example, the school displays seating that was once located in the historic Grand Theater in downtown New Albany — although White patrons sat in plush seating in the rest of the theater, Black patrons sat on backless benches in the balcony, Megenity said.

Friends of Division Street School board member Angela Ford said the two students will bring "new blood and fresh ideas," as well as "vitality and out-of-the-box thinking."

Board member Sharon Gordon also expressed her excitement to see young members brought to the board.

"I think it's going to be great," she said. "I don't think the youth of today really understand our history, and just because of routine and normalcy — they've gotten away from it. I think this is going to be a great learning opportunity for them, and they can share it with their friends. That will be great for all of us."