Feb. 2—TAFT — Memories surrounded Juanelda Lee as she led University of Oklahoma students through the former Moton School on Thursday.

“We had so much pride in our learning, in our little school, in our community,” said Lee, who graduated from the school. “I cannot stress enough that we were taught to be our very best selves. We were taught to have pride, and that’s something I carry with me to this day.”

The students, from OU Institute for Quality Communities, are to spend the semester working to keep that pride going. About 50 students toured the school as well as a walking trail through Taft to study ways to improve them.

Taft Mayor Elsie Ceasar said the students will work with Taft on how to revitalize the school, which houses Taft town offices. They also will work on landscaping the one-mile walking trail, noting various historic landmarks.

She said the city got a hold of the Institute through the Oklahoma Municipal League and other programs.

“We expect them to give us vital information on how to revitalize the building and upgrade our trail, help us make markers along our trail,” Ceasar said.

OU environmental design professor Vanessa Morrison, the institute’s interim director, said students had studied Taft history over the past few weeks. She said students will study ways to improve the trail and school buildings “to improve health and quality of life.”

“It’s always such a privilege to get our students to work on real world projects,” she said. “To be in a community, to work on a project, to be in service is truly such a gift.”

Students divided into groups, one touring the school, the other walking the trail. Taft residents shared stories and memories as they led the tours.

The school buildings, which date to the 1960s, were closed in 1991 when Moton consolidated with Boynton,” Lee said. “We had good times, and that’s why would like that to come back, in a grander fashion, so people would want to come here to see what was.”

Lee talked about what school was like when she was a student.

“We had typewriters, IBM’s with that little ball on it,” she said.

She showed students a crank pencil sharpener attached to a green chalkboard.

“Every room had to have one,” she said. “If you didn’t sharpen your pencil before class started, guess what, you had to bite the lead off.”

In one classroom OU graduate student Emelia Ughamadu studied a mural with a comical bee, the falling ceiling tile, even some stored Christmas decorations.

“I think I am more-so immersing myself in who was impacted when this building was up and running,” Ughamadu said. “I’m trying to incorporate the past with the present and not take away too much of what this building represents.”

Mia Kile, associate professor of interior design, said the students will spend spring semester generating ideas. They will give their ideas and designs to town officials, who are to get permits and do the renovations.

The Institute for Quality Communities is a community engagement program that works with Oklahoma communities to address local challenges.