Photos by Erin Nelson.
Barbara Grant, one of the 2021 Vestavia Hills City Schools Hall of Fame inductees, at her home.
Following last year’s inaugural class, Vestavia Hills City Schools has unveiled this year’s Hall of Fame class, a group of five educators that includes a legendary baseball coach and the first African-American teacher in the school system.
This year’s class includes:
► Barbara Grant, the first African-American teacher in the system, who served as a science teacher at Vestavia Hills Junior High/Pizitz Middle School from 1968 to 1998
► Michael Gross, principal of Vestavia Hills High School from 1985 to 1999
► John Rush, physical education teacher and coach at Louis Pizitz Middle School from 1981 to 2019
► Sammy Dunn, coach of the Vestavia Hills High School baseball team from 1978 to 2004, who will be inducted posthumously
► Rick McKay, teacher at Vestavia Hills Elementary East and Vestavia Hills Elementary Central from 1980 to 2002
The Vestavia Voice spoke with Grant, Rush and Gross about their time at Vestavia Hills, as well as Casey Dunn, who’s now the head baseball coach at UAB, about the life and legacy of his father. While the Voice was unable to get in touch with McKay, his colleagues Mark Richardson and Kim Hauser have shared their thoughts on his impact.
Barbara Grant
When Grant was hired to teach in the Vestavia Hills area in 1968, the school system had not been founded. Students in the area were still part of Jefferson County schools for another two years.
When the school system was created in 1970, Grant had the distinction of being the system’s first African-American teacher. School leadership asked Grant to recommend other Black teachers, which she did. The school system had come under fire, accused in court of being created as a way to resist desegregation and placed under an order to bus in Black students from nearby Oxmoor Valley. That order stayed in place until 2007, when the school system was granted unitary status, an affirmation by a judge that the system has done its best to remove the “vestiges” of segregation.
“I felt really good about that situation,” Grant said of the busing.
Grant said she enjoyed her 30 years teaching seventh-grade science at what is now Pizitz Middle School.
“I loved what I did,” Grant said.
During her time at the school, Grant created and led the middle school dance team. Some girls had been crying after being told they didn’t make the cheerleading squad and they didn’t know what they could do. Grant created the dance team to give them a chance to perform and represent the school. She also went on trips to Washington, D.C. with the students for about 12 or 13 years, she said.
Most of her students were excellent, Grant said, and they came in ready to learn. While most of her students were white, her skin color did not make a difference in how she was seen, she said.
“I don’t think they looked at me as a Black person,” Grant said. “They honored me as their teacher.”
Grant said she feels “honored” to be part of this year’s Hall of Fame class.
“It means a lot,” Grant said.
Photos by Erin Nelson.
Michael Gross, one of the 2021 Vestavia Hills City Schools Hall of Fame inductees, at his home.
Michael Gross
Gross has lived in Vestavia Hills since 1965 and has left his mark on over-the-mountain schools, including Vestavia Hills.
Gross helped integrate Homewood City Schools in the late 1960s and was the first principal of Homewood High School from 1970 to 1978 before becoming superintendent for seven years.
While serving as Homewood’s superintendent, Gross realized he wanted to get back to a more hands-on role with students and really enjoyed high school kids. So, it was a natural fit for him to become the principal at Vestavia Hills High School in 1985, a role he stayed in until 1999.
“I really enjoyed it,” Gross said. “It was like a team and a family. Everyone wanted to achieve for the right reasons.”
Parents in Vestavia Hills are concerned about their child’s education, Gross said, and the team he worked with was strong.
There were fun times during his tenure, he said. Driving to school back in his days was an issue because of parking, and a temporary gas shortage didn’t help things. So, once a month, no one would drive to school. Some would bike, some would drive golf carts, and one student even rode a horse, he said.
Decades after he left the school system, Gross still keeps up with his former students. Each year on Halloween, they’ll come and trick or treat at his home with their own kids, Gross said. It’s the same house he’s been in since he led VHHS all those years ago.
Gross said he was honored to be included in this year’s class.
“When they notified me, I was shocked and I was very honored,” Gross said.
Photo by Erin Nelson
John Rush, one of the 2021 Vestavia Hills City Schools Hall of Fame inductees, at his home.
John Rush
There isn’t much Rush didn’t do during his time at Pizitz Middle School.
For 32 years, Rush coached football, while also spending time coaching boys basketball, girls basketball, and he was also an assistant baseball coach at Vestavia Hills High School with fellow 2021 Hall of Fame inductee, Sammy Dunn.
“I was very fortunate to be around so many great people,” Rush said.
Rush named longtime coaches Buddy Anderson and Thompson Reynolds as examples in his life and career. During his career, Rush said he tried to follow in their footsteps.
Rush was always into athletics and played college baseball. It felt natural for him to pursue coaching, he said, and he followed in the footsteps of his older brother who also coached. He taught at a private school before joining Vestavia Hills City Schools.
While he doesn’t take credit for them, Rush said he was able to experience big wins while at Pizitz, and he also said he had some great kids.
Rush said being able to be at Vestavia was a “great” opportunity.
Being inducted into the Hall of Fame is “very humbling” and a “tremendous honor,” Rush said.
“There are probably people that deserve it more than me,” Rush said.
Photo courtesy of the Dunn family.
Sammy Dunn, one of the 2021 Vestavia Hills City Schools Hall of Fame inductees, will be honored posthumously.
Sammy Dunn
Sammy Dunn is synonymous with Vestavia Hills baseball. In 27 years leading the Rebels, he won 11 state championships, including seven in a row from 1994-2000, along with one national championship. In March 2004, he was inducted into the Alabama High School Sports Hall of Fame.
Dunn died later in 2004, leaving a legacy both on and off the field, said his son, Casey.
“I’m not sure anyone meant more to that community,” Dunn said.
Citing the handful of coaches still on staff at the school that played for his father, Dunn said it is “truly a lasting impact.”
Growing up in the legendary coach’s house, the impact his father had on him both on the diamond and in life was “immeasurable,” Dunn said. His love for baseball was passed down to Casey, who played for his dad before launching an All-American career at Auburn University. He then played two years in the Kansas City Royals organization before coming back home to begin the baseball program at Spain Park High School. Dunn, who was recently named the new head coach at UAB, is the all-time winningest coach in Samford baseball history.
Dunn said he benefited from seeing how much his father loved the game of baseball and made the best of his chances to impact people.
“He truly impacted guys moving forward in life,” Dunn said.
Dunn also said his father had a great work ethic and showed love and compassion for all of his players.
As a father, Sammy Dunn was extremely demanding, Casey said, but he also took pride in his son when he did something well. It’s something Casey now tries to carry over as a father himself.
Dunn said he’ll always remember his senior year, going on one last state championship run with his dad. After the Rebels clinched yet another title, Dunn said he remembers hugging his father during the festivities, celebrating a win in the final game of his high school career.
Years later, his father was also there at the end of Dunn’s professional playing career. In his last at-bat, Dunn recorded a hit, and while other fans may not have realized the significance of the hit, Sammy did.
“I remember looking up and seeing him standing there clapping,” Dunn said.
Rick McKay
For more than 20 years, McKay brought a “family atmosphere” to Vestavia Hills Elementary East and Central schools, Kim Hauser said.
Hauser, now the principal at Vestavia Hills Elementary West, worked with McKay at Central, and said he had a “passion for teaching.”
“Students seemed to thrive,” Hauser said. “He did some cool stuff.”
McKay was known for giving each of his students nicknames and allowed them to keep them all year long. While he worked his students hard, he was passionate about making sure they learned what they needed to know, especially how to write, Hauser said.
He also took students on field trips and kept good relationships with parents, Hauser said.
Mark Richardson worked with McKay at Central as well, before Richardson became the principal at Vestavia Hills Elementary East, a position he still holds.
“He’s very comfortable in his skin,” Richardson said. “He was just very creative.”
While he did not vie for attention, McKay was one of the most popular teachers at the school, he said.
“He did things to make learning engaging,” Richardson said. “He was always somebody’s favorite.”
Nothing ever seemed to bother McKay, Richardson said, and he always took time not just with students, but with teachers as well. He would encourage his colleagues and check up on them, he said.
“He wanted me to be more successful than him,” Richardson said.
Richardson said McKay retired too soon, and said he was “so, so good.”
“He is a legendary figure,” Richardson said.