ANDERSON TWP. — The footprints on the banner welcoming 29 Withrow High School seniors to Turpin High School were there for a reason.

At Turpin High, Rey Myers, a Turpin student, laughs with Veronica Goodwin of Withrow. (Dick Swaim photo) | ZOOM |

        “Walk A Mile in My Shoes” was the theme of a senior homeroom project conceived last spring after the April riots and finalized in August, just days before an incident in which a group of Turpin football fans shouted racial slurs at African-American members of the Walnut Hills marching band.

        The voluntary project paired 40 Turpin seniors who last week traveled to Withrow, before the Withrow seniors returned the visit Monday.

        “April (the riots) was still on our minds. We wanted to do something to bridge the (racial) gap,” said Barry Riehle, a Turpin physics teacher who organized the project with Turpin art teacher Andrea Slone.

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        “We wanted to break the isolation. Our kids stay in the suburbs. They stay in the city. The way to promote racial harmony is one-on-one contact.”

        Withrow was approached, Mr. Riehle said, because it was the closest urban high school to Turpin and because the schools have vastly different student bodies.

        About 85 percent of Withrow's 1,400-student body is African-American (about 15 percent are white). Turpin's 1,000-member student body, meanwhile, is 98 percent white and 2 percent minority.

        “Their school is huge. It's beautiful. I didn't know it was so close,” said Turpin senior Jessica Schilling, 17, who was paired with Withrow's class president, Jeanese Kemp of Madisonville,

        Withrow senior Robert Morton said he expected to see a school full of preppies who probably wouldn't be able to relate to his African-American, middle-class, inner-city upbringing or his role as a minister at the New Mission Baptist Church.

        “It's a nice school. It's not as different as I thought. They have the same values and morals,” said Mr. Morton, 18, of Avondale.

        Before going to Withrow last week, Rick Recker, 17, said he was nervous about the trip because he had a bad experience after getting lost in Avondale one night.

        “I was a little apprehensive,” said Mr. Recker, who together with Jason Seibert, 17, was matched with Mr. Morton. “I found Withrow is more laid back about other cultures. You can't teach diversity. You have to experience it.”

        Michaela Kelley, 19, of Madisonville and Katrina Armstrong of Anderson Township are getting along so well after just one week that plans are in the works for a bowling date this weekend.

        They spent their last 30 minutes together Monday working on an 8-inch-square paper quilt piece about their experiences with the exchange.

        Ms. Kelley used a hand to represent the friendship she now shares with Ms. Armstrong. Ms. Armstrong's square took on the theme “Life on the Flip Side.”

        “It's the same kind of people at both schools — some are good, some are bad, some are preppie,” Ms. Armstrong said.

        Added Mr. Riehle:

        “Two things came through,” he said. “There were expectations that never happened. (Turpin kids) didn't get mugged. Withrow kids didn't get the racial slurs they thought they might.”

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