Three local educators honored by the Bahais
Times Community By Lise Hausrath Simmons02/22/2005
Three local educators, who are all African-American, were honored by the Reston Baha'i faith community at a special awards ceremony and celebration Feb. 19.
Every year during Black History Month, area Baha'is honor African-Americans who devote themselves in some special way to the betterment of the Reston community.
This year, they honored Lillie Degree, L. Brooke Johnson and Wendell Byrd at a ceremony filled with music, poetry and dance.
Degree recently retired after 31 years of service to Forest Edge Elementary School, and the school threw a party in her honor. She started there as a volunteer, then as a full-time instructional assistant. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in January recognized her for her numerous contributions to the school.
Johnson went right from college to working at Sunset Hills Montessori School in Reston, first as a child-care supervisor, then as a teacher and now as head of the school. She was especially honored for celebrating the school's multicultural heritage.
Byrd, a second-grade teacher for 30 years at Hutchison Elementary School, is coaching his 21st year of boys' varsity basketball at South Lakes High School, where he also established a “Readers are Leaders” program. His basketball players each read to a Terraset Elementary School student one hour per week.
Before the awards were given, the crowd of Baha'is who gathered at the Lake Anne Community Center heard several musical selections, showcasing the faith's roots in the Middle East.
Barbara Talley, a Baha'i who traveled from Germantown, Md., to participate, read three of her original poems. One of them, written when she was 12 years old, spoke of labels like “white” and “black” that people use to differentiate themselves from each other.
The poem was especially poignant since Baha'is believe all humanity is one race, destined to live in peace and harmony.
Geri Peake, a consultant who lives in Baltimore, also traveled a long distance to do a special dance performance for the gathering.
Reston, Virginia, USA
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