Fayetteville State University was founded during Reconstruction in 1867 to educate African Americans. Years later, it became a teachers college and was one of the first teacher-training schools for Blacks in the South. That legacy lives on today through alumni and current students such as Shawn McNeill.
McNeil spends many days at E.E. Smith High School with students in the wind ensemble class. While he is teaching, the students aren’t the only ones learning in the classroom.
“I’m actually doing my student teaching clinical education experience at none other than E. E. Smith High School,” he said.
McNeil is a senior majoring in music education at
. He’s on track to become part of a long legacy of educators.
I just remember our professors really caring about us by answering our questions and challenging us but nurturing us as well.
Nicholle Young works in the Historically Black College and University’s archives. She showed ABC11 pieces of the university’s history through documents such as a letter from a former student in the 1940s.