Bloom & board: black school helps students blossom away from home - Piney Woods Country Life School

Black Issues in Higher Education, August 7, 1997 by B. Denise Hawkins

"She never had the opportunity, so it was her dream for me to come to Piney Woods," says Journigan, recalling how his mother cried in the car all the way to school on his first day.

Journigan never thought that he'd find himself on the other side of Mississippi, "in the middle of nowhere." But since enrolling here in the eighth grade, he has come full circle.

"Living on campus has been fun," he says.

The school has also served as a supportive refuge for Journigan, who recently lost his twenty-two-year-old brother to a drive-by shooting.

"He was the only strong male figure in my life," Journigan says. In the fall, his younger brother will join him at Piney Woods.

College Bound

College entrance exam scores for Piney Woods seniors have been getting closer to the national average. The median score for the school's seniors on the ACT - one of the nation's two major college entrance exams - is 18.3. The national average is 20.9.

"Not bad," says a critical Beady. "It's not where we want to be, but it's decent."

An informal survey conducted by school officials revealed that upwards of 90 percent of Piney Woods students go on to college, and approximately two-thirds of them earn degrees. One-third of those graduates pursue advanced degrees.

Michigan State and Case Western Reserve Universities are conducting a more comprehensive and scientific study that tracks Piney Woods students after they leave the school.

Laverne Hill's parents enrolled her and her younger sister in Piney Woods after seeing the school featured on the CBS television show "60 Minutes." Hill, who lives in Anchorage, Alaska, graduated third in this year's class. After being accepted at a half dozen prestigious institutions, she decided to attend Smith College in Massachusetts.

For some students, the school's traditional curriculum I which offers the basic disciplines of English, mathematics, science and social studies - provides enough instruction to land them in Ivy League schools. For others, however, that is not the case.

Five years ago, school officials began encouraging some graduates to spend a fifth year of high school at Northfield Mount Herman. While Beady makes no apology for Piney Wood's no frills core curriculum he admits that some students need more. "Up [North] boarding schools, with their megamillion dollar budgets, just have more to offer," he says.

Makini Aminika of Pasadena, California, is one of the two 1997 graduates who will attend Northfield Mount Herman. Although she is glad she was accepted, she worries about how her mother, a postal worker and a single parent, will be able to afford the $24,000 tuition.

"I wanted to do a postgraduate year because I wanted a stronger academic foundation.... I want to take more courses in the arts and be in a better position to compete for college scholarships," Aminika said.

Institutions in Decline

Some educators and parents are counting on the ability of Piney Woods, which is not affiliated with any church or religious denomination, to provide a Christian-based haven for learning that's free of racial tension.