Alumnus Berry honored at school facing closure

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Rock 'n' roll star and Sumner High School alumnus Chuck Berry sang at the school's annual alumni event Sunday, giving the crowd hope and energy in their fight to keep the historic 135-year-old school from closing this summer.

"Go Johnny, go, go," the 700-strong crowd joined along with Berry as he sang the 1958 hit "Johnny B. Goode" that became one of the greatest rock songs of all time.

"It means there is hope," 1980 graduate Warice Blackmon-Davis said as she watched the 83-year-old jam on his guitar on the school stage. "If we can get someone of his stature to come back and support what we are trying to do ... It means everything to me."

St. Louis school district leaders came close to closing the school over winter break because of increasing violence along with dismal attendance, low graduation rates, poor student performance and a lack of parental involvement.

Superintendent Kelvin Adams, however, agreed to a list of goals developed by the staff that the school must meet this semester in order to stay open. They must get 40 more students to school every day, recruit 70 parents for a parent-teacher group, trim suspensions and sign 60 more students up for extracurricular activities. Dozens more must pass their classes and all eligible seniors must graduate.

The crisis loomed over Sunday's annual Alumni Roundup, which honored the entertainers among the long list of famous graduates from Sumner, the first public high school for black students west of the Mississippi. Tennis great Arthur Ashe, rock star Tina Turner and opera singer Grace Bumbry are just a few.

In addition to Berry, others such as tap dancer Mark Gladney, poet Shirley LeFlore and award-winning storyteller Bobby Norfolk performed. Norfolk, class of 1969, hadn't returned to Sumner in 20 years because of work, he said. But he cleared Sunday's calendar.

The drama classes and talent shows at Sumner cured him of his stutter, he said. "I reached my potential because of this school," said Norfolk, 59. "The school has to be in operation for other students' potential to be realized."

Alumni Association president Jackie Vandeford said alumni have been raising money and volunteering at the school to help reach the goals. "It's a cry of urgency," she said. "We're in a battle."

Alumna Glenda Thornton, 51, of Normandy, volunteers every day, doing everything from calling the homes of absent students to wiping lunch tables. "I'm trying to show the kids how much Sumner High School means to me," she said.

Thornton said she fears, however, that her work is in vain. She can't even get her own son, a senior who is 18, to come to class. "But I still do it," Thornton said. "This is my background, where I grew up."

After Berry's performance, district and school officials presented Berry -- who never graduated - With an honorary diploma. His son, Charles Berry Jr., said he had never seen his father so happy.

When asked why he wanted to return for the alumni event, the rock icon patted his heart. "I don't have much time left," was all he could manage before tears sent him escaping through the door.

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com