07 / RECONFIGURATION
Beyond the Schoolyard
Format
Documentary film
Status
Trailer complete — production and post-production underway
Synopsis
Beyond the Schoolyard follows Calvert Colored School (W.D. Spigner School) and the people who refused to let Black educational memory—and Black educational possibility—be erased.
This film is not only about a building. It is about how Black communities build schools, build teachers, build protection, and build futures—even when institutions do not. It asks what education becomes when a community treats learning as stewardship: something you maintain, defend, and pass on.
What it reveals
Memory functions as infrastructure when institutions fail to hold it.
Trailer
Key Elements
- Oral history interviews — alumni including Mrs. Curnell (valedictorian-turned-teacher) and Mrs. Ghee (counselor)
- 2024 Texas Historical Marker dedication ceremony footage
- Archival documents and historic imagery
Timeline
- 1929 School opens
- 1969 Last graduating high school class
- 2009 Building closes as school; Alumni Association activity continues
- 2010s–2020s Alumni organize, raise funds, push for recognition
- 2021 Marker approved
- 2024 Marker dedication
Screening + Engagement
Available for screenings and community dialogue with schools, museums, cultural organizations, and community groups.
- Screening + talkback (Black education, memory, and futures)
- Educator / community dialogue
- Oral history and community archiving (add-on)
Seeking
- Post-production funding
- Screening partners — museums, cultural organizations, schools
- Educational distribution partners
RECONFIGURATION IS HOW COMMUNITIES SURVIVE INSTITUTIONS.
Writings