| By Dianne Weaver
Thomas Ramey, a well-know social justice activist and member of Challenge WV, has taken the coordinator reigns of the statewide organization.
Long-time leader Linda Martin retired in 2007.
Ramey, the youngest person ever elected to a board of education in West Virginia, developed a passion about community-based education when he was only 14, a student at Harts High School in Lincoln County.
"My local school was chosen for closure by the Lincoln Board of Education, and I went to a board meeting to see what it was about," he said.
Ramey helped organize his fellow students against the closure, a battle which was eventually lost with Harts area children placed on long bus rides with an option to attend Chapmanville High School in adjacent Logan County.
Ramey establish an appropriate argument to give at the board meetings, organized protests and lobbied the legislature through letters and phone calls.
"I learned how to mobilize," he said, a skill he later used as an organizer for Challenge WV.
RAISED WITH GRASS-ROOTS PASSION
Ramey had been raised in a home that heavily supported and understood the union movement in our country.
"My father worked as a coal miner, and he was a member of the UMWA. At different times, my father and his fellow workers had to exercise the right of striking."
"During those strikes I learned the importance of standing up for what you believe ... few will stand up for you."
"I knew at the time that the consolidation of my school would result in my friends and I being bussed up to two hours one-way," Ramey said, "I could not fathom the idea of losing our sense of place."
Ramey said the initial efforts to save his community school went well, but when the State Board of Education took over the Lincoln system, the state reversed the decision over the will of Lincoln residents."
While a high school senior, Ramey joined Challenge WV.
FEW REWARDS WITH CONSOLIDATION
"Challenge WV brought together West Virginians from every corner of the state that understood the school closure issue was a powerful movement with local school boards being held hostage to the state's School Building Authority," he said.
Ramey was a member of the CEFP planning process in Lincoln,
treasurer of (EEO) Equal Educational Opportunities, the primary group that sued the state BOE to save Lincoln County schools. He was elected to the school board in 2006.
Ramey said with his involvement in Challenge WV he quickly learned the issue of school consolidation was big, a purposeful disenfranchisement of a whole segment of our society, including elected school board members.
"It was a ruthless practice of bulldozing down the wishes of communities all across our state," he said.
Ramey said consolidation has reaped little or no benefits for WV education, we still have lower test scores, high drop-out rates and skyrocketing expenses.
"They used to say it would save taxpayers money, a hollow promise," he said, "and all those extra classes rarely materialized."
After several years, my passion for people of place and community life and education has increased, in a world where we're told bigger is better."
"Linda Martin, [retired Challenge WV coordinator] has always said the basis of life begins where we're planted on the earth, a strange concept when the world is being driven by corporate movements like centralization, merging, consolidating and globalization," Ramey said.
Ramey's social justice work was recently recognized by the Southern Partner's Fund and the Bert and Mary Meyer Foundation.
Ramey concluded that Challenge WV is always looking for people of place around the state who would like to "stand up for communities," and help with the grassroots movement.
RAMEY RECOGNIZED FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE WORK
Challenge's Thomas Ramey was honored last year in Atlanta by the Bert and Mary Meyer Foundation for his dedication and commitment to social justice. Ramey was among a group of activists recognized from twelve southern states, stretching from Mississippi to West Virginia.
"The generosity of your sacrifices and leadership has made a difference in the quality of life in your community and throughout the rural areas of the south," said philanthropist Barbara Meyer.
Ramey was lauded as one of the outstanding young people in the south by the Bert and Mary Meyer Foundation executive director Hubert Sapp, recognizing him for his passionate work and for his ability as an organizer.
"I have learned that the poorest communities in WV and the US have the least amount of resources to create opportunity and improve the quality of life," Ramey said, upon receiving the recognition.
"Life begins and ends in ones community," he said, "Communities are worth fighting for in a world that is merging, centralizing, consolidating and globalizing."
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