Beloved educator R.D. Harris passes away

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July 2, 2009

By Steve Gillespie and Jennifer Jacob Brown The Meridian Star Thu Jul 02, 2009, 08:43 PM CDT

R.D. Harris, an educator who helped shape the lives of young people growing up in Mississippi for more than 40 years, died in Jackson on Thursday.

Details on funeral arrangements were not available Thursday.

Harris resigned as principal of Meridian High School in August 2007 because of health problems and was placed on the National Transplant Registry for a kidney.

Harris’ career spanned 32 years in Meridian and 10 years with the Mississippi Department of Education. He was instrumental in establishing the Meridian School District's JROTC program in 1983.

Robert Turnage, who served as assistant principal under Harris at MHS from 1981-1988, said his first thought upon hearing the news of Harris' death was that Mississippi has lost one of the finest people in education the state has ever had.

"He was a natural born principal. When he was born somebody should have written 'principal' on his forehead," Turnage said. "He somehow always did the right thing."

He said Harris had a unique ability to create synergy with various groups.

Turnage said that MHS was named a national school of excellence under Harris' leadership in the 1980s.

Former Meridian School District Superintendent Sylvia Autry said Harris helped fulfill the vision the school district was working toward when he returned as high school principal.

"He was very instrumental in helping us get the bond issue passed," Autry said. "R.D. was one of a select few in the educational system. He was totally committed to the children, but not just the children, it was to the whole community, too."

Autry said that she last spoke to Harris, who was living in Jackson, a few weeks ago.

"He wanted to talk school rather than focus on himself," she said.

A native of Montgomery, Ala., Harris credited his love for education to his strict grandmother, the late Fannie Davis Harris.

“She had 50 grandchildren — 45 of them boys — and played a part in each of their lives. She was a little lady, but packed a big punch," Harris said during an interview published in The Meridian Star in 2007.

“We lived way out in the country, and she made $6 a week. One day I asked her, ‘Mama, if we’re so poor, why are you paying for newspapers?’ She said, ‘I buy newspapers because I want you all to know there’s a world beyond here and I want you to read about the world — every day.”

In 1966, Harris began teaching at T.J. Harris in Meridian, where he taught freshman composition and 10th and 11th grade English for three years. He later transferred to Meridian High School and taught English and German.

After serving as assistant principal, then principal of Meridian High School for 25 years, Harris left to work for the state department of education.

In 2003, Harris returned to Meridian High School — a change eagerly anticipated by school officials, teachers and the community. During his years at MHS, Harris established a reputation for having an unwavering emphasis on academics and student achievement, but also for instilling personal and school pride.

During his return to MHS, student performance on ACT tests rose from an average of 18 to 21.1.

When asked what he would like to leave as his legacy upon retirement, Harris said he wanted young people to have a love for education — the same as his grandmother instilled in him.

“I want young people to understand that education is the key to making them better and richer — I don’t mean richer in money, but as people,” he said. “There is no reason for our young people to not do well and be educated."

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