Southside Elementary School

Our history.... celebrating and honoring BLACK HISTORY MONTH in the Wildcat Nation! Alonzo Marion Story (1882-1966) was born in New Orleans to parents John and Mary Story. He attended public schools and graduated from Louisiana's Leland College before doing post-graduate work in Texas and Colorado. Story came to Texas at the age of 21 and taught mathematics in Midway. He also served as a mail clerk before moving in 1912 to Palestine, where he taught math at Lincoln High School, the school for African American students. He taught there until 1917, when he moved to Austin to be principal of the state's Deaf, Dumb and Blind Institute for African Americans. In 1924, Story was offered a job as principal in Dallas. Instead, he returned to Palestine's Lincoln High School, where he taught math and served as principal. Beloved and respected, Story stayed until retiring in 1949, teaching his last years with no eyesight. After retirement, he tutored from his home. In 1953, the school district opened a new facility and named it Alonzo Marion Story High School in honor of the revered educator. After desegregation, the school became a junior high and then an elementary school before being destroyed by a tornado in 1987. In 1990, the district built a new school named for him. Story dedicated his life to education. In addition to his roles as teacher and principal, he was director of religious education at West Union Baptist Church and served on the executive committee of the Texas State Teachers Association and as vice president of the East Texas Teachers Association. His immeasurable contributions to Palestine are reflected in the community's commemoration of his life.

about 1 year ago, Palestine ISD

Ruth Simmons (born Ruth Jean Stubblefield,July 3, 1945) is an American professor and academic administrator. Simmons served as the eighth president of Prairie View A&M University, a historically Black university (HBCU), from 2017 until 2023.From 2001 to 2012, she served as the 18th president of Brown University, where she was the first African-American president of an Ivy League institution. During her time at Brown, Simmons was named the best college president by Time magazine. Prior to Brown University, she headed Smith College, one of the Seven Sisters and the largest women's college in the United States, beginning in 1995. During her tenure, Smith College launched the first accredited engineering program at an all-women's college. Simmons was born in Grapeland, Texas. She is the last of 12 children of Fanny and Isaac Stubblefield.Her father was a sharecropper until the family moved to Houston during her school years. Her paternal grandfather descends partly from the Benza and Kota people, enslaved people from Gabon,while her maternal line is traced back to the indigenous peoples of America. While in school, one of her teachers, Vernell Lillie, talked to her about attending college, something she had never considered before.She earned her bachelor's degree, on scholarship, from Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1967. She earned her master's and a doctorate in Romance literature from Harvard University in 1970 and 1973.

about 1 year ago, Palestine ISD

100 Days Brighter with Mrs. Foote's and Mrs. Jerkins' classes. #palestinetx #palestine_isd #wildcatnation

about 1 year ago, Palestine ISD

Spring YMCA soccer sign ups!

about 1 year ago, Palestine ISD