Harmon Learning Center set to open

By DANIELLE REID

Patriot Publishing

Much activity has been going on at the Calfee Community & Cultural Center in recent weeks leading up to the Grand Opening of the Harmon Learning Center in two weeks.  This will be the first phase for providing much needed childcare and early childhood education in Pulaski County.

The Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting of the Harmon Learning Center will take place on Saturday, September 28^th from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.   The Center is located at 1 Corbin-Harmon Drive in Pulaski.

During Phase 1, classrooms will be open for Infants (ages six weeks to 15 months), Toddlers (age 15 to 36 months) and Pre-K (ages three and four).  The curriculum will focus on Language and Literacy Development, Arts, Crafts, and Creativity, Physical Activity and Motor Skills and Social and Emotional Growth.  A central office for administration and a warming kitchen will be operative to prepare food for the children.

The Learning Center is named in honor of Lucy and Chauncey Harmon. Both were educators and Chauncey Depew Harmon served as the principal of Calfee Training School and advocate for equality in education.  He and prominent attorney and future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall successfully brought a lawsuit in Virginia, petitioning for equal school facilities and teacher pay in Pulaski.  This heroic and historic action took place five years before the landmark Supreme Court decision of Brown vs. Board of Education.

The building was abandoned since the early 2000’s but in 2018, Calfee alumni and other community leaders met to discuss the possibility of resurrecting the building with multiple purposes; the first and most urgent being childcare and early childhood education.

Through partnerships with the Town of Pulaski, a visionary 15-member Board of Directors, hundreds of volunteers and generous donations, the historic building will be repurposed as a Community Center.  A Community Development Block Grant and two very generous private donations, one by David Hagan and the Motor Mile organization and the other by Betsy Hutchens Sanford and Herry Hutchens in honor of their brother Mike Hutchens, were received.

Future plans are to provide a community kitchen, named in honor of Lena Huckstep who is remembered for her generosity and cornbread.  The community kitchen’s warming and proofing, floor mixers and high-tech equipment will be available for use by caterers, bakers, event planners, and individuals wishing to can and preserve their own food.

An African American Heritage Center museum will highlight the rich history of Calfee Training School and its many alumni.  Educator Marva Hickman is a local historian and will be able to provide engaging stories and historic information about the school and local community.

The Dorothy Deberry Venable Digital Learning Lab, named in honor of Calfee’s second grade teacher, will provide state-of-the-art technology and digital support for Pulaski County residents.

Multi-use office space will be available in the Broadneaux-Baker Hall and Office Space area for special event rentals, meetings and performances.

An Outdoor Playspaces and Sankofa Walk will provide the Community Center students as well as the public with natural outdoor spaces and African cultural themes and historic elements.

The Harmon Learning Center Grand Opening program will include comments by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development’s Dr. Tamarah Holmes, Dr. Marylen Harmon (daughter of Chauncey and Lucy Harmon), Jerry and Besty Sanford Hutchens (brother and sister of Mike Hutchens), as well as musical performances by local children.

There will also be an unveiling of a historic marker about the Calfee Training School, the ribbon cutting for the school, the first opportunity for play on the natural outdoor playspace, and tours of the Harmon Learning Center and Huckstep Kitchen.

Families interested in learning more about the childcare program can talk with the childcare director and begin the enrollment process. And everyone can learn a little bit about the history of the school and the educators who taught there.

For additional information about the Harmon Learning Center, contact the Learning Center Director, Kayla Crowder at: kayla@calfeeccc.org

For an interesting historic background, go to: https://savingplaces.org/stories/small-school-big-impact-calfee-training-school