In an effort to preserve the legacy of the first school offering secondary education for African American students in Virginia Beach, former students of Princess Anne County Training/Union Kempsville High School (PACT/UK) serving on an historical committee are collecting memorabilia to be used in a museum. The museum – scheduled to open in 2010 - will be housed inside the school division’s Renaissance Academy, an alternative education center being built on the site of the old Union Kempsville High.

To ensure that the new museum can provide a detailed history of the school, former PACT/UK students and teachers are asked to donate photos, yearbooks, athletic sweaters and uniforms, trophies, class rings, and other memorabilia. Items can be dropped off from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, July 22 and from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 24 at the Virginia Beach Central Academy. Central Academy, located at 273 North Witchduck Road, operates in a building that former students recall as the now-defunct GEX department store.

The Historical Committee, a group of the school’s former students and teachers, request that contributors complete and submit a Museum Exhibit Object Information form when donating an artifact. The form can be obtained from class representatives or at the VBCA during the collection days. All memorabilia will be packaged and safely stored until a museum designer decides how each piece will be used in the display.

Last year, the school division and PACT/UK representatives organized an event called the Last Walk to give the former students and teachers a final opportunity to walk before the demolition of the old school.

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