NEWPORT -- As a student, Jerry Rucker broke scores of windows at the W.F. Branch School in Newport.
"I'd break a window every day then," Rucker said.
Nearly half a century later, Rucker, 58, is now helping clean up the abandoned buildings and grounds there in a communitywide effort to restore the school attended by black students during segregation in the Jackson County town.
"I've lived here all my life, and I've seen the school go down," he said. "It feels good to bring it back."
Rucker and about 30 others worked at the school Thursday evening, mowing grass, pulling brush and weeds that grew on the sides of the school buildings, hauling debris, and clearing sidewalks. The project is spearheaded by Phil Brown, a former Hollywood television producer who returned home to Newport in 2013.
"This is a start," Brown said of the cleanup effort. "We want people to take ownership of their community."
He called the school project an "attention-getter" to bring focus to his organization called I'm Making a Difference. Plans also call for cleaning up the southwestern Newport neighborhood along Clay and Jones streets, where the school sits, checking on elderly residents during hot days and donating back-to-school items to children.
Over the past four weeks, dozens of volunteers have ventured into the sweltering heat on Thursdays to work at the W.F. Branch School.
On the first Thursday, Brown drove a truck and trailer to the edge of the school building so volunteers could load the brush they cleared. Only the top of the truck's cab could be seen poking above the tall grass, he said.
A week later, the grass was mowed. People pulled ivy vines, weeds and brush that grew on the brick building.
On Thursday, several volunteers tore down a broken chain-link fence and scraped away grass that had grown over the schoolyard's sidewalks.
W.F. Branch School initially opened as the Newport Colored School in 1891. That year, the Arkansas Gazette called it the "finest and best arranged school of its kind north of the Arkansas River."
In 1923, the school added a two-story building as its enrollment grew.
In 1954, the school changed its name to honor William Franklin Branch, who served as the school's principal for 23 years. Sixteen years later, in the summer of 1970, the school closed, and its students attended the Newport Special School District.
The district gave the buildings and property to Brotherhood Unity, a community group in Newport that served meals and ran a day care there until about five years ago.
Since then, the building has been abandoned and subjected to vandalism and theft.
"This is a big turnaround," former student Ricky Worsham, 57, said of the recent work. "It's looking a lot better.
"This place brings back a lot of memories," he said. "I can close my eyes and still hear the sounds of the school so long ago."
Brown, 43, grew up in Newport, and his mother was a majorette at the Branch school. He left for Los Angeles in 2004 and became a producer for family television and an entertainment promoter before returning home.
"It's where I'm from," he said of his return to Newport, where he now owns a restaurant. "This is my passion. This is all God's plan, and I'm just following his lead.
"Me being able to make a meaningful and positive impact in the lives of these children and the members of the community is the sweetest success ever.
"This is so much more than mowing a yard," he said.
Brown first sought helpers June 25, posting messages on Facebook and texting friends. About 40 people showed up with rakes, chain saws, mowers and other tools.
The next week, more returned. The third week was rained out.
But Thursday, another 30 to 40 people arrived, driving riding mowers across the grounds and raking up debris. Brown handed gloves and safety glasses to youngsters who began pulling more vegetation from the buildings.
Two paramedics and a police officer stood by, ready to help in case anyone was overcome by the heat.
Brown also provided a cooler of water and grilled hot dogs as the sun set behind the nearby White River while hundreds of dragonflies soared over the freshly cut grass.
There have been other projects in Jackson County intended to instill community pride that fell short.
In Tuckerman, an effort began in 2000 to save the Freeman Motel, one of a handful of motels between Little Rock and Poplar Bluff, Mo., that would accommodate black musicians who performed along the stretch of U.S. 67 in the 1950s. But the deteriorated condition of the motel and a lack of money resulted in its razing in 2001.
But Brown said this project was "just the beginning" for his I'm Making A Difference group
"There's no stopping us. We're sending a message that we're bringing our community together."
On Thursday, Rucker dragged a metal pipe to a debris pile, threw it atop the heap and wiped sweat from his eyes.
"This feels good," he said. "I used to run from this school every day when I was going to get whippings. But now I'm here helping bring it back.
"This is something my grandkids will see for a long time."
State Desk on 07/19/2015