Neely Ward School

Boyd Crooks came to teach in 1930 and soon married and the couple both taught at the school. Among his students were James, Loretta, Lottie, and Doyle Turney.

Myrtle Reed taught at Neely Ward from September 1933 to May 1937; among her students were Billy Bickett; Mary, Percy and Joe Dewbre; George "Ike" Williams; and Billie Newman. She recalled a large circulating coal heater heated the building comfortably. She lived in the west room and had classes in the east room. Her first class consisted of twelve students in eight grades. Lacking recreational equipment, the children played with sticks or made up their own games. Mrs. Young stated there was one occasion where a severe sand storm "blackened the ky as dark as night", frightening her and her students and they sang to keep their courage up until the storm blew over. Percy Dewbre recalled that some of the children could not afford shoes and money collected to buy shoes for them. He said each child was responsible for watering and caring for one of the elm trees located on the campus.

Other teachers at Neely Ward School included G. Pendleton, Reba Murray, Faye Odom Ainsworth, J. Love, W. Johnson, Roger and Ann Harvey , Myrtle Kennedy, Willie Nettles, and Ethel Shelton.

For the first several years of the school's operation, parents provided transportation and before the bus was aquired, John Crowley was hired to drive a school car, he would gather the children east of the school; leaving them at the school to gather those to the west. In 1930 a school bus was purchased and George Williams was hired to drive it. His wife, Marie, would fill in as driver when he was too busy farming.

Students that completed the eighth grade at Neely Ward attended High School in Morton. At first car were used to get the student to Morton, and eventually a bus route was added for them.

Funds became short in the late 1940's and in order to purchase some of the school's needs the three teachers: Myrtle Kennedy, Willie Nettles and Ethel Shelton, with help from parents, including: Hadley Kern, Marie Williams, Bill Martin, Slim Henry and Cecil Masten, put on a play titled "An Old Fashioned Mother" and charged admission. The play was a huge success and the teachers and parents travelled to Bledsoe and Bula for additional showings. Playground equipment was purchased with some of proceeds from the plays.

The population of the area grew and eventually three teachers were needed and the teacherage was put into use a classroom. The Neely Ward School was also served a community center, hosting box suppers, parties, church services, musicals, and plays. The main attraction, however, was the singing and singing classes.

Enrollment at Neely Ward began to drop in the 1950's and in 1953 Neely Ward consolidated with Morton Schools. The last Neely Ward School teachers were Ruth Whitecotton and Myrtle Kennedy. Both Whitecotton and Kennedy went on to teaching positions in the Morton system. The last student that was supposed to graduate from Neely Ward was Doris Dewbre, however, she was the only student in her class and therefore was allowed to attend Morton for seventh and eight grades.