The Crossnore
School is a 93-year-old,
private, non-profit children's home and school located in Avery County,
North Carolina. The school was founded by Mary Martin Sloop, one of
North Carolina's first
female medical doctors. She and her husband, Dr. Eustace H. Sloop,
moved from the piedmont to the mountains to carry out their mission
of improving the quality of life in the impoverished mountains. The
Crossnore School
began as a boarding school to provide educational opportunities for
disadvantaged mountain youth. It has evolved to serve approximately
300 abused, abandoned and neglected children each year from across
the state's mountain and piedmont counties abandoned and neglected
children each year from across the state's mountain and piedmont counties.
The Crossnore School's
mission is to provide a safe, stable, healing, living and learning
environment for children from families in crisis. Children served
range in age from 1 to 19 years. The Crossnore
School specializes in giving
children back their childhoods. Our special niche is keeping sibling
groups together.
For several years, Crossnore
School's Executive
Director, Dr. Phyllis Crain, dreamed of transforming the dark, wormy
chestnut walls of the campus's E. H. Sloop Chapel with a Benjamin
Long, IV fresco. She knew she had to realize her dream when she held
a child in her lap at a weekly chapel service. She listened as the
little girl told her, "I don' t have anybody who loves me. Even
my cat ran away." The generous contributions of Crossnore
School's friends
are making this dream a reality.
Currently in progress, the fresco at The Crossnore
School will render the scripture of Mark 10:14,
"Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them
not: for of such is the kingdom
of God." It
will feature children who are residents at The Crossnore School.
E.H. Sloop Chapel was built of river rock in 1956, commissioned
by Mary Martin Sloop to honor the life and work of her husband and
provide a place of worship for the children of The Crossnore School.
The fresco will measure 16' x 9' on the chapel's back wall. As the
focal point for the children as they exit the chapel, the fresco
will leave them with an image of divine love and a positive father
figure. The fresco is scheduled for completion by the end of June,
2006, and The Crossnore School welcomes visitors who want to observe
the making of a masterpiece. Not only will this extraordinary work
of art be a great source of strength and encouragement to the children
who call Crossnore home, it will also be a great resource for helping
others learn more about The Crossnore School's important work and
ministry in the healing of abused children. As visitors and vacationers
come to the mountains to see the fresco, they may be moved to support
The Crossnore School's work.
For more information about The Crossnore School, its programs and
the Benjamin Long, IV fresco, please call 828-733-4305 or visit
our website at www.crossnoreschool.org.
Groups are welcome to call and schedule a tour of campus, and E.H.
Sloop Chapel will be open to observers as Benjamin Long, IV and
his assistants create the fresco. |
