Later that same day, we took the drive up to the upper part of Bland County to visit the Mountain Home Center. A building connected to the county’s high school, Mountain Home Center was something unique that I have never encountered in the schools in my home area. To summarize it in my words, it was a place where anyone that wanted to come by could explore the oral history of Bland County, of which the students at Bland County High School made. When we first came in, we were all introduced to the founder of the Center, John Dodson. Unfortunately, he seemed as if he was in a rush, as he only asked for our names and shortly after left. Later, the teacher for the Mountain Home Center gave a presentation on what the meaning behind the Mountain Home Center was. From what I could gather, the actual class offered to the students at the high school was multidisciplinary, where the students would not just learn about the history of Bland County, but also would be given the necessary tools to venture out of the classroom and interview long-time members of the county and record their stories. Karen, a member in our group, noted that many of the technologies and final products these students were asked to do, were comparable to the work she does back at UMD, something I’d never expected from her. Luckily, three of the students were there with us, and they, along with the teachers, could answer our questions that many of us had later.
The students and teachers all gave informative answers to my questions. One particular student caught my attention though. When she gave her perspective to this course, she spoke with such enthusiasm I’ve rarely seen in many other high school students her age. It had me relieve to know that, in a rural and economically poorer community such as Bland, this school is able to guide people such as this student to find their true passions. One of the teachers for the course told us that it wasn’t until one of the students interviewed her grandma that she could really learn about her grandma’s past before she passed away. The emphasis on oral history is something, as we all move into a society that relies on technology, we all must keep in order to remember how we all got to where we are today. Not only is the practices of oral history something necessary to fully understand our own stories, but it is also something that all people, especially those in primary education, need to develop an awareness of. The initiative Bland County has taken with the recording of their history is something that has inspired me to start learning more about how I got to where I am today. The time at the Mountain Home Center was time well spent, and it really has changed the perspective I have towards the education system here in the U.S.
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