YOUNGSTOWN Scholarship to honor former schools chief

Educators described Dr. Pegues as approachable, visible and dignified.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Black educators honored Dr. Robert L. Pegues, former superintendent of Youngstown and Warren schools, for his outstanding leadership by establishing and awarding a college scholarship bearing his name.
The occasion Thursday night was the ninth annual recognition banquet of the Youngstown Area Alliance of Black School Educators, attended by about 200 people, at Tabernacle Baptist Church.
"He really was a professional to the nth degree. He was always very dignified, very articulate, and very fair. ... He knew everybody's name. He was visible, and it was very obvious that he had high standards for all students and teachers," said Wendy Webb, Youngstown schools assistant superintendent.
He was first
Webb was hired as a teacher by Pegues when he was Youngstown superintendent. Pegues was the first black superintendent in both Youngstown and Warren. He was Youngstown superintendent from 1972-78 and Warren superintendent from 1980-87.
The first recipients of the Dr. Robert L. Pegues Scholarship are high school students Sanika Barnes of Woodrow Wilson High School and Roland T. Smith of Youngstown Christian School, who plan to become teachers.
The amount they are to receive will be determined from the proceeds of the banquet and other gifts, said Marcia Haire-Ellis, president of the alliance and a guidance counselor at Hayes Middle School.
"He was an excellent listener. He was a man of vision. He always was willing to entertain any type of new ideas or strategies. He was very easy to talk to," Nancy Murray, principal at Hillman Middle School, said of Pegues. Murray was a teacher at Cleveland Elementary School when Pegues was superintendent.
Proclamations were presented in honor of Pegues from city council, Mahoning County commissioners, and state Sen. Robert Hagan, D-33rd, and state Rep. Sylvester Patton, D-60th, both of Youngstown.
Pegues was ill and unable to attend the banquet.
Youngstown Councilman Richard Atkinson, R-3rd, recalled that Pegues gave him his first job -- as a lifeguard at Chase Pool, where Pegues was manager. "He was like a big brother to me," Atkinson recalled.
"He would have been a great president. He brought character, tenacity, intelligence -- all the great attributes you could talk about -- to the superintendent's office. And he loved people and he loved children. He was committed to making a difference in people's lives," Atkinson said.
"If you had a problem, you could call Mr. Pegues. He would talk to you right there, and, if necessary, he would even visit the schools," said Ralph Goldston Jr. of Austintown, a retired Youngstown social studies teacher.
Handling a problem
When South High School faculty complained that students were cutting classes and gathering at a fast-food establishment across the street, Superintendent Pegues went to the establishment two or three times, Goldston recalled.
The superintendent stood on the corner and told students to return to school and spoke to the establishment's manager, who then asked students arriving during school hours to leave the establishment and return to school, Goldston added.
Pegues was friendly and a "motivator" of students and "always had an interest in the kids," he said.
He made time in his busy schedule as superintendent to have lunch with students in school cafeterias, Webb recalled.
"We always respected him. We felt he carried himself with dignity, and he made us very proud as African-Americans to be teachers with him as our superintendent," said Haire-Ellis, who was hired under Pegues' tenure as Youngstown superintendent.
The banquet tables were decorated with centerpieces made of paper, cardboard, plastics and other recycled materials. The centerpieces commemorated famous black Americans, including Jesse Owens, Sojourner Truth, Oprah Winfrey, Colin Powell and the Tuskegee Airmen.
They were made by gifted students taught by Claudette Richardson-Clinkscales at West Elementary School.