The Nest Podcast
The official podcast of the Jefferson R-VII School District.
The Nest Podcast
Honoring Legacy: The R-7 Advocate Recognition and Celebrating Community Heroes
Curious to learn how one person's dedication can preserve a community's rich history? Join us as Superintendent Dr. David Haug introduces the R-7 Advocate Recognition, a new initiative celebrating those who go above and beyond for the Jefferson R-7 School District. Our first honoree, Barb Jackson, has an inspiring story that showcases her relentless passion for our community. From her early days as a devoted bus driver to her meticulous efforts in organizing historical documents, Barb's contributions have been nothing short of extraordinary. You'll discover how her work has led to identifying the 2024-25 school year as the district's 75th Jubilee, commemorating the 1949 reorganization of local schools into Jefferson R-7.
But that's not all—this episode also brings to life the experiences of one of our cherished bus drivers. With fond memories of navigating challenging routes and implementing essential safety measures, this bus driver's 24-year journey exemplifies dedication and love for the Jefferson R-7 community. Listen in as we share stories filled with gratitude, admiration, and a deep-seated passion for preserving the local history that makes our district exceptional. Don't miss this heartfelt episode that honors those who make a lasting impact on Jefferson R-7.
Hi, I'm David Haug, superintendent of the Jefferson R-7 School District. One of the things is we're looking at for this year's 75th celebration of our school district is something called an R-7 Advocate Recognition. Right now it's just our group of administrative leadership looking at trying to recognize those in our community who have had a great impact on the R-7 district, maybe outside the normal job duties or responsibilities, and quite honestly, we don't know how that award may or recognition may evolve as we move forward. But it's something we wanted to start. So it's really a pleasure for me today to talk about. Our first one is Barb Jackson. Barb has been a wonderful advocate of the Jefferson R7 school district and her sense of history and everything she has done to preserve that history for the R7 district for many years has been outstanding. Unfortunately, barb has gotten to a point where her health is an issue so we were not able to present her the award in person. We were so honored to have Jennifer Lackey accepted the other night on her behalf, but last year I was able to sit down with Barb for a few minutes and do a quick podcast with her kind of her aspect of this Jefferson R7 school district and again she and I have some commonalities. We're not from the area but we've moved in. We both love the area and we really recognize the value here, so she has such a unique perspective. So if you would take about 10 minutes here and really listen to Barb Jackson's words about the Jefferson R7 School District I'm David Howe, superintendent at Jefferson R7 School District and it's been my honor to work with the 75th Jubilee as we prepare for that celebration.
Speaker 1:I'm joined now by Barb Jackson. Barb and I probably have something a little bit in common. We're not. You know, we didn't go to R7. We've kind of moved in the area. I think both of us share a unique appreciation being other places and coming in. So thank you for joining us. I also wanted to thank you. Many of the binders and I'll call them memory books or scrapbooks every year I know the high school secretaries because I worked over there for so long would collect all the programs and everything and she brings them back and they are impressive. I know there's a couple sitting over here with so many great memories. So we have those and we will protect those and I can't imagine the amount of work that goes into those. There's also a side of you that has done the historical breakdown of the district and retyping letters and has done an amazing job. We'll get into that here in a second. But outside or into the district, what makes R7 special?
Speaker 2:Well, I married my husband, Fred Jackson. He grew up here, went to school here all of his life. His mom and dad bought the Platten School and that's where he lived. And then our kids went to school here. Well, I tried to be involved with that and everything and they did exceptional when they were schooled here. And then they went on to Crystal City and they did very good at Crystal City.
Speaker 1:They were what Valedictorian.
Speaker 2:Yes, they were both valedictorians 1986 and 1988. That's impressive, yeah and uh made me very proud of them and I I look back and I thank r7 for instilling in them what they learned. I mean, they loved science john boyd was their science teacher, he was awesome and their math and they were involved in a lot of stuff. Well, of course I was involved, you know, backing them up and everything. But you just learn to get an appreciation for that kind of stuff. And it's a family-oriented school, everybody's together and doing things together.
Speaker 2:And then in 1986, I decided to become a bus driver. So I started driving for R7. And I don't remember what happened, but for some reason I was in the library here at the Danby building and I noticed that they had some old books, scrapbooks, in the library and they were not in too good a shape. So I decided I want to redo those and they were very nice. They let me take them home and I started working on them and I started redoing them. I redid all the scrap down, the scrapbooks down at Platten, and the next thing I knew I got a telephone call from one of the girls in the office I think it was Barb Burnside and she said we're cleaning out the closet and we have found a lot of stuff. She said would you be interested in organizing it? I said, sure, I'd love it. So that's how it all started. I took all those boxes home, started going through them, organizing them, putting them in binders, and there's still a lot of memories that you know it'd be nice to have out there. Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 1:So let me ask you this I know part of your research has brought you to a point where you've kind of nailed down so 2000, I'm sorry, 2024-25 is our 75th Jubilee. So kind of explain where you went back to. I know you provided some documents this morning that initial decision and you had found some document related to a county board of education which is kind of unique. Can you kind of explain that process? And you had found some document related to a county board of education which is kind of unique. Can you kind of explain that process and what you found?
Speaker 2:I'm not sure what you so like when I looked at that document this morning. It actually outlined oh, about the county.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Yes, I found. I went into the library in Festus and went through the old archives of the newspapers and I come across an article where in April of 1949, the county school district took all the schools in Jefferson County and they broke it down into, they consolidated them, they reorganized them, and so that was interesting to me to see that they had done that. And in our Jefferson R-7, it was Platten School, danby School, rush, tire, telegraph School and they became reorganized Jefferson R-7.
Speaker 1:I think that's the fascinating part for me, you know you can still see some of the school buildings here in the district and when you talk to individuals who went to those, but then to see it kind of in writing like it wasn't just an r7 decision, it was actually a county-wide decision. There's no more county school boards, it's kind of fascinating. And then the term kind of r7 came from that moment. And uh, was it 1949?
Speaker 2:you said yes, April of 49.
Speaker 1:April of 49. I know there's been some stuff leading up to that, but just tremendous work on that. Anything else about those early years you want to share?
Speaker 2:Oh, there was so many interesting articles. Of course, whenever we were reorganized, the big thing was where are we going to build our new school? And they could not come to any kind of an agreement. They was. Everybody had an opinion and everybody had a place they wanted to go, and I can't remember exactly how it finally narrowed down. They decided to buy the land where the lower building is Platten School is that and they bought 10 acres from a lady in St Louis and it was next door to Judge Becker's place, but there's articles that tells about that. And then, of course, they had to have their first school board. So there's an article that tells about who run for the first school board, and then it told who made it. There was two that did not get on and the rest of them were on the school board. Who made it? There was two that did not get on and the rest of them were on the school board. And I found articles for every year after that where, you know, when they had the election, two more got reelected.
Speaker 1:So I had found quite a bit on the school board members from back then. So did they elect all seven at once, the original board, did they?
Speaker 2:elect all seven at once the original board.
Speaker 1:Yes, wow, yeah, that's another. I would be fascinated to look at that.
Speaker 2:That might be a little bit boring for some, but I think that's kind of fascinating stuff they had several people that run, and then they narrowed it down and there was two of them that didn't make it. In fact, clyde Jackson was one of them that had run that year.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:And then my husband's mom. She was one of the head cooks down at the school when it opened, so there was always a connection in our family to the school. It made me want to learn more.
Speaker 1:I'm going to have you finish one last story about your bus driving. Sometime the creeks went up.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I was a substitute driver for 16 years and one of the routes we went on there was a creek down on T Highway and we always turned around in that creek. I mean, if there was water in it, we had to go all the way out to Charter Church and turn around down there and then come back, or we couldn't go that way because you couldn't get through there to go to the church. But finally there was some people that came into the district and they said you're not turning that bus around in a creek, no more. So that ended and after that we had to go all the way to Charter to turn around, except when the water was up, and we had a lot of experiences on the bus. But it was good.
Speaker 1:I ended up going full-time and I worked a total of 24 years as a bus driver Incredible. We appreciate you doing that too, and not only that, all the hard work you're doing now to kind of bring this history to life.
Speaker 2:So thank you so much. I enjoy it.
Speaker 1:Oh, I can tell. It's hard to tell on the camera, but there's such a sparkle in her eye and I just love listening to her talk about Jefferson on Seven. So thank you, you're welcome.
Speaker 2:I look forward to some future conversations.
Speaker 1:Thank you,