I ended last week with our successful implementation of Pond Gap UACS. I shared, too, about some of the visitors we had.

Pond Gap was an anomaly for successful afterschool programs. We attracted visitors from all over the country as well as internationally. Among the many were visitors from Scotland and the Netter Center from the University of Pennsylvania came twice. One visitor from Alabama was so impressed they brought Karen Holst and Dareen Basma to come to Montgomery, Alabama, and present our program for implementation there. Unfortunately, the program was implemented without a plan for sustainability, and the program disappeared within two years.

Our success here, however, ignited the idea of Pond Gap being a regional training center, but unfortunately too, that had never materialized.

In 2021, Randy Boyd asked me if I could start a UACS in a rural area. Of course, I agreed. I picked Morgan County because I knew something of the folks there from some positive experiences I had at Brushy Mountain State Prison.

There are several schools in Morgan County, but Dr. Jim McIntyre, who was working with UT Rural Schools Network, helped me select Sunbright School, serving students from PreK through 12th grade.

Principal Julia Smith was a joy to work with on the project. Again, Gloria Johnson did an excellent job of assisting the program in its implementation. Johnson even brought a country music performance to Sunbright.

I secured a grant from the East Tennessee Foundation which focused a film class at Sunbright, taught by a filmmaker from Nashville.

In closing my recounting on the history of University Assisted Community Schools, I want to close with a tip of the hat to Dr. Elisa Luna, a founding spirit in the UACS movement. Her scholarly work including her dissertation, which I was privileged to direct, is an academic tour de force. She defended this dissertation in a wheel chair.

I thank all the folks who walked tirelessly to make Knoxville and Sunbright proud of its UACS programs. I want to single out Blaine Sample who has been a loyal and true warrior on behalf of challenged children and families.

Community readers, please try to imagine every school offering a UACS to students and families who would benefit the most from the opportunity.

Bob Kronick is professor emeritus University of Tennessee. Bob welcomes your comments or questions to rkronick@utk.edu.