By Karim Shamsi-Basha
Alabama NewsCenter
Their voices echoed over beakers and graduated cylinders, reverberated around alcohol burners and lamps, and bounced off posters of the periodic table of elements and mathematical equations.
Students at Restoration Academy don’t let the fact they rehearse for choir in the science lab stop them from reaching for the stars. Their teacher, DeZell Plump, explains.
“I started at Restoration Academy four years ago as a science teacher, but I wanted to begin an arts program because of my love for music and the fine arts,” Plump said. “I love to sing, and I saw that students had no outlet except for athletics. So I proposed we start a fine arts venture. First there was dance, then music, and then art classes.”
Restoration Academy teacher’s passion for excellence makes him an Alabama Bright Light from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
Plump looks like he stepped out of a Broadway show. He wears hip hair and a beard, and sports a bow tie. Shirt firmly tucked in, he walks and acts like he’s on a stage.
Founded nearly three decades ago, Restoration Academy sits in quaint downtown Fairfield surrounded by shops. The private and donor-based Christian school provides over 300 students with studies in foreign language, art, U.S. and world history, science, math, literature, government, finance, physical education, and Christian studies. Businesses and private citizens donate and assist parents with their children’s tuition.
Plump said his biggest thrill is when he gets students who have never sung, danced, or painted before. He watches their faces light up, then teaches them and cares for them until their love for the arts equals his.
“I’ve had students who had never thought they could do music; they end up loving choir after being pushed to join by a friend. Last year we had 18 students in choir, this year we have 29,” Plump said. “We have a graduate now at Alabama A&M University on a choir scholarship.”
When I asked if that was what it’s all about, he said: “It’s been placed on my heart to serve the kids. Knowing some of their stories, they need someone to love them. The simplest types of love, picking them up and dropping them off, talking to them, and just being there for them. They mean so much to me.”
Plump still deals with a variety of challenges at his post, but his bottom line is the same for most teachers in Birmingham, Alabama and across the nation. He goes way above and beyond his required duties with his students.
Plump remembers his own schooling and upbringing, and how it helps him today.
“I relate to some of the struggles the students are dealing with. I’m thankful for my journey because it has better equipped me to influence these kids the best that I can,” Plump said.
Restoration Academy students sang their hearts out in the science lab, their voices reverberating, “Brace yourself world, here we come.”
Alabama Bright Lights captures the stories, through words, pictures and video, of some of our state’s brightest lights who are working to make Alabama an even better place to live, work and play. Award-winning journalist Karim Shamsi-Basha tells their inspiring stories. Email him comments, as well as suggestions on people to profile, at karimshamsibasha@gmail.com.
