Author: Legacy Synthesis

On September 30, 2019, Winchester Public Schools dedicated the Melvin Rhodes Center to an advocate for children needing a different way to learn. Mel Rhodes worked with alternative education students at Handley from 1976 to 2004. 

An article published in The Winchester Star in 1997 stated that Melvin Rhodes knew all about feeling like an outsider. He was from Winchester and did not set foot in Handley as a student because of racial segregation. He graduated from New York University and started his teaching career in New York’s Spanish Harlem in 1970.

His first job at Handley was teaching in the In School Suspension Program in 1976. The program was for students who were tough disciplinary cases or had become apathetic toward education. Many students did not take ownership for their education. Mel stated in the 1997 article, “I believe getting an education is the best thing you can do for yourself. As a black man, I know it opened doors that otherwise would not open.”

The Virginia legislature offered funding for alternative education programs in 1986 when the state’s dropout rate hit 10%. Mel Rhodes worked with Tri-County Virginia OIC to build a Career Internship Program that would combine General Equivalency Diploma curriculum with job training. The first twenty CIP students were dropouts or potential dropouts. At the end of the first year, ten received their GED and ten returned for the second year.

From 1996-99, he served as a School Within A School teacher at Handley and assisted in the development of curriculum guides and programs for at-risk students. From 1999-2004, he was a Winchester Alternative Learning Center teacher and taught every academic subject to at-risk students.

Mel believed that if you create the image of teachers as people, barriers will break down, students will talk, and students will listen.

Mel felt that teachers were “slaves to curriculum” and not allowed to work with a student who was slow or who needed extra help. The Alternative Education programs allowed him that flexibility.

Flexibility and relaxed rules in the classroom did not equate to a lack of discipline. However, his was discipline with compassion. He taught self-discipline and tried to catch a student doing something good such as making it to school 4 days in a week. “We take a student with little success and give them some.”

Handley Principal Douglas Joyner said that Mel would never give up on a student. Mel Rhodes influenced hundreds of students at Handley before he retired in June 2004. He died of cancer two months later at the age of 56.

A Washington Post article published in January 2020 stated that the future looked dim for a young student at Daniel Morgan Middle School in 2011. He had a difficult home situation, was hanging out with a rough crowd, and making bad personal decisions. Then Todd Miller, his 7^th grade gym teacher, asked the student if he was interested in wrestling.

Lio Quezada was a natural wrestler. “I became obsessed with wrestling. It changed my circle of friends, it changed my drive and it changed my demeanor.”

Lio met Coach David Scott at Handley. Coach Scott worked with him, encouraged him, and took him to offseason tournaments. It was not part of his job but he kept the young man accountable and focused.

Working with Coach Scott improved Lio’s wrestling skills and work ethic as well as his grades. Lio won four district titles, three regional titles and two state championships wrestling for Handley.

“If it wasn’t for other people volunteering in my life, I would have gone on a completely different path.”

Lio was accepted at George Mason University and joined the wrestling team as a walk-on in 2016, earning a starting spot over two wrestlers on scholarship. He was able to balance his academic schedule with his intercollegiate athletic schedule while working 30 hours per week to cover expenses until his senior year when he chose to give up wrestling.

Lio participated in George Mason’s study abroad program and worked six weeks in Davao City, Philippines. He learned there that others may face even tougher challenges but he also learned that his values, and his story, resonate with young people everywhere.

Lio volunteered with youth wrestling programs in Fairfax County and at Fairfax High School. He earned his Bachelors and Masters degrees in secondary education at George Mason University and joined the faculty at Fairfax High School. He was named New Teacher of the Year his first year and was named head coach for the wrestling program.

“The reason I’m so happy is because I started living my life for others and not for myself,” he says. “You do a disservice to yourself and the world if you’re not sharing what you were taught. You never know who you might impact.”

Garland Quarles graduated from Randolph-Macon College in June 1923 with a degree in English and a Phi Beta Kappa key. He accepted his first full time position teaching English at the Handley High School that was scheduled to open in September of that year.

Mr. Quarles walked with the boys in his homeroom from the temporary classroom buildings at the corner of Braddock Street and Gerrard Street to Room 24 in the nearly empty Handley building. He left Handley 42 years later as Winchester’s longest serving principal and school superintendent.

Mr. Quarles earned his Master’s degree in English at the University of Virginia in 1927. He was appointed Principal at Handley in 1928 and Superintendent of Winchester Public Schools in 1930. He retired from both positions in 1965.

Michael Foreman described him as a master teacher, historian, author, orator, model citizen and leader of the community. He became an active member of the Kiwanis Club in 1928. He helped to organize Winchester’s Bi-Centennial Committee in 1949. He was a member of the War Memorial Association and the Winchester Civil War Roundtable.

He was a charter member of the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society and edited the Society’s first publication in 1931. He served on the Board of Directors of the Society until 1965 when he became Director Emeritus.

Garland Quarles published nine books and two articles on local history.  Most of the books were published with assistance from the Farmers and Merchants National Bank and were reprinted by the Historical Society.

The largest body of his written works was the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival pageants. He authored and often narrated the pageants that were performed by students on the steps at Handley from 1930 until 1959. He considered his best to be “The Harvest of the Years” written for Winchester’s Bi-Centennial in 1952.

His Alma Mater, Randolph-Macon College, presented him with an honorary Doctorate of Laws in 1952 in recognition of his mastery of correct English, serving as Superintendent of schools, and authoring the pageants of the “famed Winchester Apple Blossom Festivals”.

The Jaycees recognized him as “Man of the Year” in 1951 and the Chamber of Commerce named him “Outstanding Citizen of the Community” in 1958. The newly organized Judges Athletic Association also gave him an award for his service in 1958. The Winchester School Board named the city’s fifth elementary school for him in 1955.

One of his last projects was the narration of a video tour of Mount Hebron Cemetery done in the early 1980’s. The video not only allowed him to tell the stories of local people but also allowed his unique story telling abilities to be recorded.

Reed Prosser was an excellent student athlete at Handley. He was a member of the National Honor Society, Senior Class Vice President, Boys State representative and had a Hall of Fame career as a starter in football, basketball and baseball.

He earned his B.A. in English at the College of William & Mary where he was a two-year starter and three-year letterman on the football team. Reed returned to Winchester and taught English at Daniel Morgan Middle School while he served as an assistant football and baseball coach at Handley for three years.

Reed left Handley to help Coach Walter Barr build the Shenandoah University football program from the ground up. During his four years there, he was Defensive Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach. He earned his Masters of Science degree in Education Administration while at Shenandoah University.

Reed left Shenandoah University to teach English and to serve as head football coach at Broadway, Millbrook and Heritage-Leesburg High Schools. He led all three schools to playoff berths and playoff wins, earning several Coach of the Year honors. He gave up coaching football and accepted the position as the Director of Student Activities at John Handley High School in 2018.

The Director of Student Activities position allows Reed the opportunity to work with students not only in athletics and activities but also in the arts. He believes that when one uses athletics and arts to supplement academics, one creates a positive culture of success and that the success will permeate the entire school.

He has said he remembers the way he was treated in a positive way by his coaches and teachers; always being challenged to be a better person. “At the end of the day, you want your kids to be better people. If you are focusing on that culture, winning is a byproduct of that success.  It is our job to mold young people into positive community members, servant leaders and productive citizens…thus continuing the Long Maroon Line.”

David Powers, Valedictorian of the Class of 1975, was a Star Leadership Award winner and voted “Most Likely to Succeed” by his class. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa at Randolph-Macon College and Alpha Omega Alpha Medical School Honor Society at the Medical College of Virginia.

David completed his internship and residency in Emergency Medicine at the Hershey Medical Center in 1986. He returned to Winchester and became the first residency trained and board certified Emergency Medicine physician at the Winchester Memorial Hospital. When he became Medical Director of the Emergency Room, he set the hiring standard that all ER physicians would be board certified. He was dedicated to providing quality healthcare in a compassionate manner in Winchester for 35 years.

He was one of the first physician volunteers at the Free Medical Clinic and served on their endowment committee. He staffed the Winchester Medical Center’s Mobile Care Unit for events such as the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival and the Battle of Cedar Creek Reenactment. He was the Advisor for the Medical Explorers at Winchester Medical Center where high school students were introduced to possible medical careers.

David provided free physicals for scouts attending camps and high adventure activities. The Shenandoah Area Council Boy Scouts of America awarded him the Silver Beaver Award and the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award for his volunteerism.

David was able to share his love of local history with everyone, especially young people. He served on the first Tourism Board for the Winchester and Frederick County area and on the Board of the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society. He was a founding member of the Stone House Foundation at the Newtown History Center and of the Shenandoah Valley Battlefield Foundation. He was the vice-president of the Kernstown Battlefield Association from its founding until 2019.

David co-chaired the renovation of George Washington’s Office Museum in 1999. He helped organize exhibits for the Historical Society and Kurtz Cultural Center of Preservation of Historic Winchester.

Dr. David Powers will be remembered not only for his life long commitment to the health of the people in the community but also for his support of youth and his love of local history.

The caption beneath his yearbook picture reads: “When there is mischief in the air, he’s the one who put it there.” Russ Potts will be remembered for much more than the mischief he was alleged to have created as a student at Handley.

Russ received his degree in Journalism at the University of Maryland with a minor in Government and Politics. He started his career as a sports journalist for the Loudoun Times Mirror and the Winchester Evening Star.

He was the Executive Director of the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival in 1969-70. Along with his friend Dick Kern, he was a co-founder of the festival’s Sports Breakfast.

Russ returned to the University of Maryland as the Director of Sports Promotions becoming the first person in history of college athletics to hold the position. He left Maryland to become the Athletic Director at Southern Methodist University and later became the Vice President of the Chicago White Sox. Russ was inducted into 6 Halls of Fame.

He returned to Winchester and founded Russ Potts Productions, Inc. One of the first broadcasts produced by the company was “The Game of the Century” with Patrick Ewing’s Georgetown vs. Ralph Sampson’s University of Virginia in 1982.

Russ was elected as a Republican to the Virginia State Senate four times. He was proud to serve as Chair of the Senate Health and Education Committee as it allowed him to provide support to Virginia public schools. In the Senate, he would always talk about his love of Handley and the teachers who helped him along the way. He was named Senator of the Year by 13 different state associations.

Russ ran for Governor of Virginia as an Independent in 2005. He retired from the Senate in 2007.

Following his retirement from the Senate of Virginia, Russ was recruited to lead the Handley High School Capital Campaign to raise funds for the renovation. Once the renovation was completed, he served as the Executive Director of the Winchester Education Foundation.

In total, Russ was involved in raising approximately $20,000,000 to support the school renovation, facility upgrades, and educational programs. Of his many accomplishments, the work he did on behalf of Handley High School and the school children of Winchester brought him the most satisfaction. He wanted the best for all students and staff with the absolute best facilities in the country. He was especially proud of the over $4,000,000 he helped to raise for the Emil and Grace Shihadeh Innovation Center just prior to his passing in December 2021.