Joy Village School founder and local educator Lora Smothers stands outside the Clarke Central High School Ceremonial Entrance in January. Smothers began Joy Village School in 2022 to provide a culturally safe environment for Black children in the Athens community and hopes to allow her students to become immersed in a variety of spaces across Athens. “I love to have community members come in and lead enrichment classes so that they’re getting to meet people they wouldn’t normally meet from the community, who have a skill or some kind of knowledge that they can offer,” Smothers said. Photo by Sasha Barkan
Joy Village School founder Lora Smothers discusses her experiences throughout her journey to create a school that focuses on the joy and thriving of Black youth.
Journalism I student Sasha Barkan: Can you tell me a little bit about how you got into education?
Joy Village School founder Lora Smothers: My journey into education was sort of haphazard. I majored in neuroscience at Emory University, and (when) I finished that degree, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do next. I had come up through gifted education programs as a child, and I was interested in the possibility of being able to support other students. That’s what brought me to Athens. While I was getting my master’s (in gifted education from the University of Georgia), I started teaching in Clarke County schools and started noticing the things that I thought should change about the system. One thing led to another, and I ended up working in an alternative microschool called Freedom To Grow Unschool right after I graduated. Working there, I was mentored by this really dynamic teacher named Teri Cole-Smith, and she kind of opened up my world to being more creative, giving students more agency over what they were learning and teaching the truth about history. After that, I caught the bug for what education could be and how it could be something that is freeing for young people and for teachers.
“It’s a lot easier for a teacher to learn all about what a particular student might need, about what’s going on with their family, what they’re interested in, and exactly where they’re stuck on a certain topic when you don’t have to also juggle 120 other kids that come through your classes. I’m a big fan of small schools.”
SB: How did your focus become creating an educational space focused on Black joy?
LS: Around 2020, and (in) the years prior, I had gone through a journey of learning more about my own culture and history. My politics were shifting, and I was becoming more of a voice and an advocate for the needs of Black people in America and then this idea for Joy Village came to me suddenly in 2020 of like, “What if I combined these interests of creating a freeing learning space and doing something that would uplift Black folks?” That’s where Joy Village came from. The mission of the school is to curate joyful learning experiences for Black youth.
SB: The term “culturally safe” popped up a lot on the Joy Village School website. Can you expand a little bit on what that means?
LS: I think we’ve all had experiences in school where you feel like you’re misunderstood and those moments just hit different when you’re a Black student. In my own experience, I was the only Black student in my grade in middle and high school. I went to (a) little private Christian school (and) I didn’t have any Black teachers. We did not learn Black history. We didn’t read (stories by) Black authors. So, that experience of feeling “I don’t belong” was just magnified because of the racial component. When I started reflecting on that experience as an adult, and then looking around and seeing other kids in my community here in Athens going through similar things, it just invoked this protective instinct in me. That’s when I talk about cultural safety. I’m talking about a space where you don’t have to explain why you talk the way you do, or why you dress the way you do and why you like a certain type of music, because the space is already built to celebrate and embrace those things.
Joy Village school’s instagram is shown above. Joy Village School founder and local educator Lora Smothers started Joy Village in 2022 as an educational environment that prioritizes the joy and thriving of Black youth. “My politics were shifting, and I was becoming more of a voice and an advocate for the needs of Black people in America and then this idea for Joy Village just kind of came to me really suddenly in 2020 of like, ‘What if I combined these interests of creating a freeing learning space and doing something that would uplift Black folks?’” Post by Joy Village School
SB: I noticed that Joy Village’s website also talks a lot about recognizing kids’ individual genius. How do you work to do that?
LS: One of the biggest things that helps me do that at Joy Village is just the size of a school. I don’t have that experience (of students) being one of thousands, when you’re one of 20, it’s just a whole different kind of relationship that you develop with your teacher, your principal (and) with your classmates. It just starts to feel way more like family. It’s a lot easier for a teacher to learn all about what a particular student might need, about what’s going on with their family, what they’re interested in, and exactly where they’re stuck on a certain topic when you don’t have to also juggle 120 other kids that come through your classes. I’m a big fan of small schools.
SB: How do you work to engage your students with the wider Athens community?
LS: One of the benefits of being a small school is it gives so much flexibility for being able to travel and be exposed to different things. We do a lot of field trips all over Athens and beyond. Also, in the afternoon, we have enrichment classes. I love to have community members come in and lead enrichment classes so that (the students are) getting to meet people they wouldn’t normally meet from the community, who have a skill or some kind of knowledge that they can offer. So, we’ve done things like chess class with leaders from Chess and Community. We’ve done drumming class with my friend, (drummer and retired educator and local drummer) Dr. Arvin Scott. We’ve had students from UGA come and teach foreign language or come and do sports with the kids and someone from the family and nutrition sciences department at UGA came to (do) a cooking class, so I try to keep the walls of the school permeable. We’re always going out into the community and people are always coming in.
SB: How do you work to affirm having a culturally safe environment at Joy Village?
LS: It happens in lots of ways. One is by staffing the school with people who love Black culture and that’s their baseline. They’re not working with any deficit thinking about Black children and their families and their neighborhoods, that’s huge. Then there’s just little cultural features about the school. We have this ceremony every morning called Harambe, and it’s a time where we do cheers and chants and affirmations celebrating who we are and where we come from. We had a huge Black History Month celebration. We did a Black History spirit week. We had a whole dance party to kick off the month, and then beyond that, we talk about our history and culture just year round. (It’s) always being woven into the curriculum, talking about things that students with that background like need to process and discuss.
An infographic explaining some of the unique features of Joy Village School is shown. Joy Village founder and local educator Lora Smothers cited Joy Village’s practices as an opportunity for local schools to understand how they can integrate Black history with their core curriculum. “One of my hopes through starting Joy Village is that it’ll be an example of how we can incorporate Black history and all ethnic history into learning year round,” Smothers said. Graphic by Sasha Barkan
SB: You’re running a business and working with this concept that is rare in Athens. How (do) you deal with burnout and reaffirm to yourself that Joy VIllage is something that you want to do?
LS: It’s weird that I’m doing this in Athens. I’m a part of this group called Black Microschools ATL, and it’s me and 16 other women who are doing the same thing that I’m doing, but the difference is they’re doing it in the metro-Atlanta area, and there’s a different level of support for that concept in Atlanta. It’s the Black metropolis of our country in a lot of ways. Doing it (in Athens) has been full of highs and lows. There’s a lot of people who understand the need and who have supported me, and then there’s a lot of people who have not. Sitting at my desk, I have just pictures of some of my Black history heroes. That’s how I keep myself encouraged. I think about people who have done these kinds of things in the past and how they were able to overcome and keep going. So, that’s a big part of it, and then also I just have a really supportive husband and family and church friends. Finding your people is really important when you’re out here doing something hard.
SB: Where do you want to see Joy Village being in 10 years?
LS: Ten years from now, it would be really cool if we were able to expand to serve all the grade levels. That would be amazing. That seems pretty far away right now because (we’re) just trying to slowly build it back up. There’s so much need in our community and I think that the solution is twofold. We have to upgrade our local public schools and make sure they have all the resources they need. But what’s cool with having Joy Village also is that I’m able to address the needs (of) Black families in Athens. I’m able to do it in a way that casts a vision for what could be possible if we could get our policies together and make public school like what we all wish school could be.
