At the J. Graham Brown School, Black History Month is one of the most important and relevant topics for our school community. We have many important Black staff at our school, as well as a diverse Black community spread throughout J Graham Brown's K-12 population. We interviewed Mrs. Cordia, our middle school counselor, and asked her a few questions. 

Who was Martha Ellison? 

She founded The Brown School in the 1970s.  The reason that the J. Graham Brown School does not offer transportation with JCPS’s bussing system due to the fact that JCPS would not supply bussing to the school since one of Martha Ellison’s main motives was to disrupt segregation. Nowadays, it sounds kind of negative since the school doesn’t supply bussing to anybody, but in reality, it was a very radical idea. Martha Ellison had an immense  passion for the arts, which is why J. Graham Brown prioritizes excellent art classes. Mrs. Cordia noted how she was a student at J. Graham Brown in the 1990s, and she remembered how effective the teaching was towards the students, and the diverse, kind learning environment.

How has Martha Ellison impacted our community?

For Mrs. Cordia, personally, the notion and idea of everybody being welcomed and included into the J. The Graham Brown school community was exceptional. Especially during those times when social justice in the United States was booming; Mrs. Cordia noted how amazing and open minded the teachers and students were. Mrs. Cordia emphasized the idea that during most of her high school years, the population of Vietnamese students was increasing drastically. She learned how to use chopsticks and speak a little Vietnamese during her high school years. She emphasized that the J. Graham Brown school has a deep awareness of the idea of working together and embracing diversity to truly unite the communities we live in.

Mrs. Cordia drew emphasis on the idea that when she was in 3rd or 4th grade, her teachers had taken her class to protest at the Waterfront Park in Downtown Louisville. They participated in this protest due to the fact that people had been planning on deforesting some areas of the Waterfront, getting rid of trees and other animal safe environments. She claimed that it was nice to be able to be an advocate for the environment, and it made her feel empowered.

Why was Brown named Brown?

Mrs. Cordia noted that The Brown Foreman people were the ones who named The J. Graham Brown School, and had also been the people who founded the Brown Hotel. J Graham Brown owned and operated the Brown Hotel. She was quite honest in noting that she did not know too much about the Brown Foreman people. After some research, we came to the conclusion that originally, the J. Graham Brown school had taken part in classes and learning spaces in historic ballrooms and meeting rooms at the Brown Hotel. This was until J. Graham Brown school relocated as one of the state’s first magnet schools.

What does Black History month mean to you? Can you provide details on how Brown is honoring it and why?

Mrs. Cordia emphasized that the celebration of joy and connection is a big part of Black History Month, and she wants everyone to feel that because we're all interconnected, even if we don't feel that way, we are.

She also wants to highlight the idea that we are all connected to the idea of representing joy. At Brown, we have a student-led BSU that has had many guest speakers and put together the Black Expo. Ms. Cordia also does weekly PSAs, and we continue to show respect to influential Black events and people all year long.

How do you feel about being a Black woman during these times?

She responded by saying how she thinks every Black child should “find their Black”. Sometimes, as a biracial person, it can make things harder to connect with yourself and others. Mrs. Cordia is the mother of biracial children, so she knows it can be difficult to embrace yourself as a biracial child; however, she always encourages them to do so. She feels strongly  that students should embrace their identity; she has a lot of pride and wants to empower all of her students to accept and better themselves. She says she wants students to find a sense of pride within themselves, but she also worries about the future. Politically, the things that are being put into place and the things that are being taken out of place worries her about what the world will look like for us (students) as we come of age. She, personally, is not afraid because she knows who she is, and she knows that she will be alright. 

What do you want our Black girls to know?

She said she wants them not to give up and for them to know ways that they can fight for what they believe in. She wants this for everybody, and everybody is worthy to be whatever they want to be no matter what race.

What is the most important lesson you think our students need to understand from Black History?

She says that finding the joy in who we are, the celebration of our culture, the understanding of who you are, being able to reflect on who we are and Black culture is important. There is a little bit of everyone in everything.

What are some of the things that you’re wanting to illustrate during our Black History Celebration?

She stated that she really wants to emphasize joy and love, and the world is so scary and dark right now and she wants to create a real and connective deep level of understanding and freedom. She also wants everyone to feel a part of the celebration no matter who they are or what race they are, and she wants everyone to feel like they have a part in the Black History Celebration. She wants to make sure it feels like it is all of our months. 

The J. Graham Brown School environmental fair puts a spotlight on the Earth and our responsibility to it.  The fair had many booths that showcased composting, nature photography, and Fairy House creation areas. There was also a fashion show, an environmental art contest, Earth Day mural group painting, seedling planting, and educational workshops around air quality and waste control. 

The students leading the celebration of Earth Day also hosted paintings with naturally derived paint. For example, the green color they used to paint with was matcha, a natural tea drink, used in Asian countries. People from other communities like U of L came and volunteered to teach us about renewable energy like solar panels and wind turbines. Renewable energy is energy that we can utilize to lessen the strain of human created pollution on the earth. 

The Environmental Fair is important because it informs people about  issues impacting nature and ecosystems occuring around our world, and it tells people how to prevent them.  For example littering, people throw trash on the ground, in the ocean, and out of their cars. We can prevent this by picking up any trash we see, setting up organizations to help, recycling, and making products that are safer for the environment. For example, some people have reusable paper towels in their home to lessen the amount of paper towels that go into the ocean, and some people bring their own grocery bags to the grocery store instead of using their plastic bags that usually wind up polluting the Earth’s land and water. Additionally, what I learned from the environmental fair is that the Earth shouldn't be harmed, and we need to protect it. We should care for our Earth, so future generations can enjoy it as much as we do.

Thank you to Andrew Gray for sponsoring the Environmental Group, senior Christopher Riley for leading the event, and all of the Brown students in the Environmental Group who got their hands dirty, making this event possible for the whole school.

JCPS has experienced one of the largest and most notable bussing crises over the last two years in the history of the United States. JCPS lost 47 bus drivers in the span of two years; JCPS lost 47 bus drivers either to retirement and/or resigning due to conditions. “And out of the resignations, more than half cited either their schedules, the new routes, or the work environment -- including student discipline -- as the reasons for quitting” (Isaiah Kim-Martinez, WHAS11). Without many students not having a method to be transported to school,  JCPS was forced into a near week of cancellation around the beginning of the 2023-2024 school year, until they could scramble together a plan for students to get to their schools. 

JCPS Bussing Crisis and Stipends

JCPS has been forced to reconstruct their school schedules and bus routes to accommodate for a lack of bus drivers despite an aggressive campaign to recruit more. Many schools went to varying start times from 7:40-9:40 am and times in between. They also cut bussing to several different schools throughout the district including magnets and traditional public schools, forcing parents to drive their kids to school and find ways to work around work schedules or find alternatives methods to help their kids into classes. Many parents began to voice their displeasure with the lack of options for transportation. Magnet schools, throughout the district, experienced significant decline in their enrollment due to lack of bussing for parents which many couldn't afford to bus their children . “Roughly 2,600 fewer students applied to JCPS' magnet and Academies of Louisville programs for the upcoming year, compared to the year prior” (Krista Johnson, Courier Journal). Faced with serious challenges, JCPS had to act to help keep magnet schools intact. That is where stipends come in. 

A stipend is a fixed amount of money given to someone for completing work similar to an allowance. In the JCPS case, JCPS initially proposed stipends for parents of students who now have to take their kids to school through means of carpool because of bussing cuts. Parents were offered $5 for each student per day they take them to school while parents in the free and reduced lunch program would receive $10 per day. JCPS constructed the program in a manner that parents were not paid daily but with a large payment incrementally over months of school. The first official stipends were given out in October of 2024 to parents and the program has received relatively positive feedback from parents who had to take up the responsibility of their children's transportation. With one exception.

Brown School Stipends

J. Graham Brown School opened in 1972 as the first magnet school in JCPS and was different from many traditional schools in several ways. One major difference was the lack of bussing provided to the school’s nearly 800 students. Brown was entirely unaffected by the bussing crisis in JCPS; however, parents in Brown are still able to apply for the stipend program in JCPS and receive the money for student transportation despite the lack of any kind of transportation loss to be compensated for. “Families at J. Graham Brown School in Louisville [have] received almost $160,000 in stipends to transport their children to school, despite the school never having provided transportation”(Krista Johnson). So why are Brown school students receiving said stipends and should the program still be provided to the school?

Brown is one of many schools in JCPS with a large body of students who fall either into the poverty line or into the free or reduced lunch program. “Brown serves about 800 students, 30% of whom qualify for free and reduced lunch and are considered economically disadvantaged”(Krista Johnson). This large body of students at a disadvantage gives a reason for JCPS to provide the stipend to families- especially in these times of economic inflation and uncertainty.

Along with the economic disadvantage the school faces, JCPS aimed to provide the stipend program for any and all students in the district who lacked significant transportation. Brown parents have had to find ways to transport their children from the very start, meaning the parents have always had the issue of transportation, even before the bussing crisis and cuts to other magnets that put those magnets on the level of Brown in terms of disadvantage. 

Ultimately, Brown school students are deserving of stipends just the same as all students who lost transportation in the district and the continued support for these parents and students sets up a system in better faith and fairness for all of JCPS. The stipend program is set to continue throughout the 2024-2025 school year; it will support those parents and students who lost bussing while JCPS works to establish bussing to many other schools in the district. The stipend program’s future beyond 2025 is uncertain, but could continue to parents who will continue to lack transportation moving forward. Brown has always been at a disadvantage with transportation as students from every corner of Louisville attend the school, now it’s on equal footing with other magnets; let’s hope this fairness continues for Brown families and students.

Works Cited 

Johnson, Krista. “After Transportation Cuts, Thousands Fewer JCPS Students Apply to 

Magnets. See the Data.” The Courier-Journal, https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/education/2025/01/27/jcps-magnet-applications-drop-after-losing-buses-see-data-by-school/77929500007/. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.

Brightwell, Derek, and WAVE Staff. “JCPS Sends out First Round of Bus Stipend Payments.” 

Https://Www.Wave3.Com, 23 Oct. 2024, https://www.wave3.com/2024/10/23/jcps-sends-out-first-round-bus-stipend-payments/.

Gardner, Drew. “Roughly 16,000 JCPS Students Could Lose Bus Service under next Year’s 

Transportation Plan.” WLKY, 14 Feb. 2024, https://www.wlky.com/article/jcps-bus-transportation-services-2024/46777428.

“At Least 31 JCPS Bus Drivers Have Quit since Last Summer; Here Are Their Reasons.” 

Whas11.Com, 30 Apr. 2024, https://www.whas11.com/article/news/education/jcps-bus-driver-reasons-quit-left-district-transportation/417-5fc1ab7f-771f-4098-8872-e7f4438dfc84.

Johnson, Krista. “The Brown School Never Had Bus Transportation. Why Is It Getting Magnet 

Stipends?” The Courier-Journal, https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/education/2025/02/19/why-the-brown-school-is-getting-transportation-stipends-from-jcps/78528916007/. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.

At the J. Graham Brown School, we have a culture fair where the Asian Student Association (ASA) planned and welcomed the whole school to a celebration of all types of different cultures. Each culture that is recognized gets its own table which someone who is a part of it sits by and educates others. The day started with everyone going down to the auditorium, Asha Valentine from ASA, Carah Zamora from the Hispanic Student Advocates, and Jordan Dungee from the Black Student Union all spoke. We then watched a Mexican student, Sherice, and her mother, who together performed a traditional dance followed by a Japanese woman, named Mrs. Lee San, telling a story. Throughout the day, different grades were welcomed through the assortment of 30 tables showing off different countries and cultures. Most tables showed a presentation with information about their country, but there was also a photo booth with decorations, a robot arena, and a VR headset which gave the illusion that you were flying through the world. One of the most popular tables was the Henna table, run by Mrs. Thabrez Pathuru (although it was for High School girls only). 

Thank you to everyone who spoke, organized, and decorated for this event. The culture fair was a great way to bring everyone together, and I hope it continues for years to come.