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DocuSign Envelope ID:6FBOD2B6-B8D3-4136-A376-20FDC2DO4FC7 <br /> Beasley described the foundational education he received at Sartin and Ridge <br /> Road Schools. He won the third-grade Spelling Bee (beating out four first <br /> cousins), and can still recite a slew of poems from memory. <br /> Lucille Leonard, who attended the one-room Morris Grove first through fifth <br /> grade, emphasized the school's close-knit feel. <br /> "It was fun in a way, because everyone was in the same classroom." <br /> The speakers explained that the schools did prepare them to lead in their <br /> communities. Beasley was the first and still only African-American to chair <br /> Orange County's Board of Elections. Hattie Vanhook marched for school <br /> integration and led the Orange County 4-H Club for over 40 years. <br /> `I'm better than this' <br /> Questions from the audience launched the storytelling forward to integration in <br /> Orange County. After two years of optional integration, Orange County's dual <br /> school system ended in 1968. <br /> Sheila McDonald, Hattie Vanhook's daughter, attended the formerly all-white <br /> Aycock Elementary School for second and third grade, during the years of <br /> optional integration. <br /> "Every time I left the arms of my parents to go to school (on the bus), I was told, <br /> `back seat,' with another name with it," McDonald said. <br /> "(At school,) you walked into an environment that made you feel you were not <br /> wanted, and you were actually told you were not able to learn," McDonald said. <br /> "Psychologically that was difficult, for a child of seven years old." <br /> Yet, McDonald said, the experience helped prepare her for the challenges <br /> ahead. <br /> "At age seven, age eight, I realized that I'm better than this. ... It was nothing <br /> new for me to be called a name, and know I was not that name." <br />