Contents: Landscaping and Ampitheater Outdoor Classroom | Mississippi Landmark Designation

The Education Association of East Oktibbeha County School’s (EAEOCS) initial objectives came after a suspected arson attack on EOCHS in 2002. These efforts included beautifying the school by improving the landscape and surrounding area. As EAEOCS continued to expand, they began promoting and hosting biennial school reunions, participating in school activities, and aiding students with scholarships. In 2015, the began a laborious journey to establish a communal venue that would provide health education, student resources, historical preservation, etc. for the Oktibbeha county community, but various hinderances stunted their efforts. Despite their unsuccessful attempt to attain such a venue for the community, EAEOCS has still made an everlasting impact on their community, which this section details.

Landscaping and Ampitheater Outdoor Classroom

After tragic news that arson had damaged B.L. Moor on April 6, 2002, EAEOCS and alumni readily responded by volunteering to help fix the damages. Furthermore, EAEOCS put on their first fundraiser by having alumni, former staff and faculty, companies and organizations, churches, and others sponsor bricks in the courtyard, a display that remains there despite the loss of the section 16 land.

Once the Oktibbeha County School Board approved EAEOCS’s request to making landscape improvements around the school, EAEOCS organized another fundraiser by hosting a banquet on June 11th, 2004, where alumni of ‘81 and NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice attended guest speaker, recalling the educational “foundation” B.L. Moor gave him. At the completion of EAEOCS’s fundraising efforts, Rice donated $30,000 to help kickstart the project, saying it was just his way of repaying gratitude.

On June 12th, 2004, a day after the banquet, EAEOCS, with financial assistance from local churches and the local governement, hosted a picnic named “A Village of Fun” at East Oktibbeha County High School (formerly named B.L. Moor). The event brought together 75 B.L. Moor alumni dating back to 1950, as well as contemporary students and administrators to promote community involvement with education. As such, Sharqular Hart was awarded with EAEOCS’s first scholarship of $300, and former superintendent Dr. Walter Conley and former principal Albert Williams commended EAEOCS’s efforts and outlook. The event also provided food, playground activities, contests, and other forms of entertainement that both alumni and students could enjoy.

With the approval of the Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisors, district supervisor George Curry Jr. assisted EAEOCS with the landscaping project, which began on Novemeber 3rd, 2007. Citizens of the community and students alike helped with the project over a series of workdays that were scheduled through the proceeding months.

The project consisted of laying sod, planting shrubbery, and trees, but additional efforts included removing the area where mobile classrooms once stood and clearing the wooded area along the driveway. With the help of teachers like English teacher Ms. Wright, such projects were intertwined with service learning requirements, allowing students to either receive credit or community service hours for assisting with the project.

An ampitheater, or “outdoor classroom,” was another project EAEOCS advocated for proceding the arson in 2002. After nearly 6 years of collaboration with school alumni, community partners, the Carl Small Town Center, and Mississippi State College of Architecture, the $110,000 project was completed April 18th, 2008, where EOCHS students, teachers, alumni, county school officials, and community supporters gathered for the ribbon cutting ceremony.

EAEOCS’s ampitheater project provided students with unique learning opportunities, helped bridge the gap between merged school entities, and gave EOCHS and the surrounding community a sense of pride and ownership in their school and the education received there. Addiitonally, the project brought together various organizations, programs, and people together “who would not necessarily have come together,” said Jim West, the dean of Mississippi State School of Architecture in 2008.

Mississippi Landmark Designation

Despite being unable to reclaim a portion of section 16 land, EAEOCS successfully advocated for a Mississippi Landmark to be placed on the property. Mississippi Department of Archives & History (MDAH), who approves and designates these markers across the state, affirms the level of preservation and commemoration such a landmark signifies, saying, “Mississippi Landmark designation is the highest form of recognition bestowed on properties by the state of Mississippi. It offers the fullest protection against changes that might alter a property’s historic character.”

On Juneteenth 2023, the marker’s unveiling (see below) accumulated roughly 30 to 40 individuals.Ms. Jacqueline “Jackie” Ellis, Dr. Walter Conley, Reverend Willie E. Thomas, Reverend Tyrone Stallings, and MDAH Director of Programs and Communication W. Brother Rogers all made comments on the marker’s historical relevance and meaning.