Educators say a good teacher makes a good student.

Others say a good principal provides strong leadership that inspires good teachers and produces good students.

Both are correct, but there is more.

A visit to the corner of Dallas Road and Mississippi Avenue in North Chattanooga fits another piece into the foundation of good education.

It was difficult not to be moved as educators, parents, builders, volunteers and interested citizens came together to put a fresh coat of paint and more on an aging public school.

Whether the name is Northside Junior High School or Chattanooga Middle Museum Magnet School, the image was the same: a worn-out facade. The magnet designation was not enough to remove that image, and if bricks and mortar symbolize what happens inside, teachers and students were greatly challenged.

Often when a new approach is offered to improve a situation, roadblocks are erected.

For every challenge that was tossed at Jill Levine, the principal of Normal Park Museum Magnet School, an answer was found.

There are those who warn: Be careful what you ask for; you may get it.

Ms. Levine asked for the challenge of combining Chattanooga Middle with Normal Park to create a new learning experience. She was told there would be no funds to renovate the middle school, but she pushed ahead with a plan to operate the combined program when public schools open in August.

The next chapter in this school evolution/revolution was found in the heart of a community.

Calls went out for builders, painters and architects. The renovation of the middle school library spawned 39 additional teams that adopted other parts of the school for facelifts. There is some irony that the project began in the library, the center for reading and research.

A walk down the hallways of the school shows new life in a time-forgotten building. Fresh paint covers years of graffiti. The wooden auditorium chairs are scraped clean of gum that marked the seats for years on end. A new look for the auditorium floor, to match the Tivoli-inspired stage facade, will have to wait until another day, and until a few more dollars are donated.

Classrooms are fitted for the classes being taught — a small riser for a drama class, lowered ceilings and better acoustics for music, a Walnut Street Bridge replica hanging from the ceiling for a social studies room, and updated equipment and stations for science labs.

In the rest rooms, where scribbled messages once adorned the walls, a chalkboard is being installed for those who feel the urge to leave a note.

From start to finish, the remodeling took a week. More will be done in coming months.

The children who will attend the new upper school had a first glance at the refinished school on Saturday. Parents, volunteers and those merely

interested in the community remodeling effort will walk down the halls of the Normal Park upper school this afternoon.

Seven days in June 2008 should be remembered as a time when a community came together, took back a school and offered an improved learning environment to students.

There is a great principal who leads by being directly involved and inspires others to follow. She enjoys teaching young people and being a public school leader.

A team of volunteers, providing a touch-up of over $1.5 million, demonstrates what can be done.

To recognize the all-volunteer work, the Hamilton County school board should hold an off-site meeting in the auditorium at the Normal Park upper school, invite the community and the leadership team for Normal Park, and salute them for a job well done.

Hamilton County taxpayers and public school advocates should demand no less.

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