Reynolds Rangers pledge to foster a positive culture using consistent collaboration to promote lifelong learners and leaders.

 

 

James R. Reynolds, an outstanding citizen of our community, distinguished himself as an educator.  His career began in 1900 with an assignment as an instructor in mathematics at Wiley College.  There he remained for 12 years.  Mr. Reynolds was a resourceful and scholarly individual who independently studied electrical engineering.  He implemented his talents by constructing an electrical plant which lighted the Wiley campus.  The people of Boley, Oklahoma heard of this plant, and he accepted their offer to establish such a facility for the citizens of that community.

 

Another outstanding contribution at Wiley was the development of a manual to accompany the Wentworth College Text. Mr. Reynolds and a group of his students, who were organized as the Euclid Club, received wide acclaim for their success in this endeavor.

 

In 1912, Mr. Reynolds left Wiley to accept the principalship of Gilbert Academy in Baldwin, Louisiana.  Shortly after the close of World War I, he accepted the position as Dean of Prairie View Normal and Industrial Institute.  Some years later, he went to Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi.  There he was by the superintendent of all the Mississippi Schools to travel over the state of Mississippi as a teacher-trainer.  He held this position for 12 years.

 

As a man of many talents, Mr. Reynolds also won recognition in botany and electrical engineering, for his work with the Boy Scouts in Houston, and as the author of Wolf Brother, a collection of poems and essays dedicated to his many students.  In 1959, James R. Reynolds Elementary School was named in his honor.