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KCA These Days

Another ancient behemoth awaiting the wrecking ball.

This is the entrance where the students would gather for another day of learning. This building as you can see, was a Bible college, and KCA on the upper floor.

Worked a while at the Knox County Academy assisting the teachers and doing some goal-setting discussions with the students. It was a different environment from the Mary Davis Detention Home and I saw the staff do remarkable things with almost no support either monetarily or from outside resources. Gay Johnson our leader and compass brought enthusiasm and a core caring for the kids. Matt Warnsing walked a perfect line between stern discipline and a casual relaxed classroom conducive to learning. Mayor Bob Sheehan was our never-say-die cheerleader who always keep a stiff upper lip in the face of poor behavior and anti-authority acting-out. It was an interesting experience and had we the time to further our objectives, we could have made KCA a top-notch model for alternative schools with no money and deteriorating surroundings. The place was "old-school" (hehe) and had the feel of one. too. In fact, I think there was even one room or area that was off limits due to suspected asbestos. But the fact was no one particularly cared about us or our students. The schools didn't want the students back because of their history and the students didn't want to go to regular school because we provided a fairly broad platform for their behavior. Some of the kids were like jackals: they'd zero in on the weak and attempt to cull the herd, i.e. teaching staff. But there wasn't a student there that couldn't benefit from the teaching and discipline KCA provided.
The outer wall of bricks fell down last year sometime and the owner tried to auction it off. The building should be razed; another relic of a time long lost.

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