Job Corps students visit the Long's Chapel site the day before preservation work begins.

Two students from each of the HYS-operated Job Corps centers spent two weeks in Virginia recently to help preserve a bit of history.

Students, along with staff members at Camp Horizons, worked Aug. 24-Sept. 4 to preserve Long’s Chapel, a small wooden church that served as a spiritual and education center for the community of Zenda. Zenda was a settlement of mainly former slaves in Rockingham County, Va., located near the corporate headquarters of HYS. Zenda was formed after the Civil War by newly freed slaves. The property was reclaimed by Rockingham County from a former plantation owner in a postwar legal action and then sold to the freedmen. Zenda was also known as Little Africa. In 1869 the United Brethren Church helped the Zenda community purchase an additional half-acre lot to establish their own church. The small chapel, built around 1871, also served as a school for the community since at that time Rockingham County did not provide for the education of black residents.

The preservation efforts are coordinated by The Longs Chapel Preservation Society, which was established to restore and preserve the chapel so descendents of slaves and of slave owners, as well as the general public, can visit the site to honor the legacy of faith and freedom memorialized by the simple wooden structure.

Job Corps students, along with other volunteers worked throughout the two weeks to insulate, re-side and paint the structure, repair windows and reinforce the chapel’s foundation. Students stayed at nearby Camp Horizons and traveled to the job site each day. During the evenings, students enjoyed activities like the high ropes course, a horseback trail ride, swimming and campfires. During the weekend, students and camp staff traveled to Washington, D.C., to enjoy a NFL game between the Washington Redskins and the New England Patriots. The following day, they toured the monuments of Washington, D.C.

Participating students were Brandon Brown and Ian Zuczuski from Muhlenberg Career Development Center; Bryon McQueen and Glenn Robinson from North Texas Job Corps Center; David Jally and Jonathan Myers from Sacramento Job Corps Center; and Gregory Akers and Michael Hamilton from Whitney M. Young Job Corps Center.
 
In addition to getting valuable hands-on experience with this preservation project, students also received work-based learning credit toward the completion of their career technical training programs.

Residing the chapel nears completiton.

Students and staff volunteers pose for a picture after two hard but reward weeks of preservation work.