The students of Paul R. Brown walking the halls of history

ELIZABETHTOWN – It’s a combination of a calling, experience in the military and a no-nonsense approach to education that has the Paul R. Brown Leadership Academy (PRBLA) pulled out of the miry clay.

The superintendent that has all the components that were needed to point a lost group of cadets to find their true north is Dr. Jason M. Wray. He is teamed with his right-hand man and Cadet Commandant Carl T. Lloyd who believes that a good leader, good father and good mentor all possess the ability to get the best out of the students through discipline and respect.

And with those components in place, you can walk on the campus and feel a word that is sometimes little-known in schools today and that is “honor.”

Wray came to work at a school that had been failing in overall grade-point average for 10 years. When the opportunity presented itself, he ran into an old friend who he knew from teaching this man’s kids.

“When I first had a chance to come to a military school, I thought that perhaps it was my calling,” Wray said. “I graduated both of Colonel Lloyd’s boys from East Bladen High school. So, I thought this was a pretty good match. It was a challenge coming to a charter school from a public school because things are different and it was a huge learning curve.”

With Lloyd taking care of the military part of it and discipline and I take care of the academics. Both men, at the top of their fields and expertise in their teaching styles have created a smooth transition and a tight team of cadets in this military charter school.

Martin Luther King first used his “I have a dream” refrain in a speech in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, on November 27, 1962. 64 years later his legend and inspiration still continues to grow as Paul R. Brown Leadership Academy students are once again walking those same halls, continuing to accomplish great things.

The excitement that the organization is feeling now is off the charts as their goal to get the former Bladen Central High School renovated and in full service.

According to Wray, “The Bladen County Training School, built in 1928 with Rosenwald Fund support as a vital African American school, later became Bladen Central High School, serving Black students until desegregation. With integration, Bladen Central became Bladen Middle, serving all races in grades 5-8 until its closure in 2002. At that time, it became a community center and is now recognized as a significant historical site for Black education in Bladen County.”

Wray further said that Bladen County Training School’s original U-shaped, red brick building, was crucial for Black education in the then segregated Bladen County, and the campus expanded with new classrooms in 1931, an agricultural building in 1936, and a gym in 1948.

In 2018, the Bladen County Training School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, honoring both the school’s legacy and the students it has served.

“In 2022, the Bladen County Commissioners approached Ms. Minnie Price, President Bladen Youth Focus Board of Directors at that time, to offer some funding to restore the building and make it serviceable to the public once again,” Wray said. “Over the years, all the windows had been broken and the building vandalized and left in ruins. After securing the funding for repairs and renovations, Ms. Price had the building dedicated as a National Historical Site.”

Even though the building had been occupied by several grade level students since 1970, the Class of 1970 was the last high school class to graduate from that building. As late as 2002, high school students had attended classes in the building, but none of them graduated from the school, instead graduating from the newly built East Bladen High School.

It has been 56 years since a group of students has walked the halls of the former Bladen Central High School, and now, Paul R Brown Leadership Academy’s Class of 2026, the first class since 1970, will spend their senior year in the newly renovated Dr. Deberry Hall, making history once again.

“Just four years ago, no one on the Paul R. Brown Leadership Academy campus even imagined getting students back into the badly damaged building,” Wray said. “Ms. Price and Bladen Youth Focus Board pushed relentlessly for improvements with former students even stepping up and donating to the cause.”

Soon Paul R. Brown Leadership Academy’s increase in student population made it obvious that a plan had to be in place to someday occupy the building and finally be able to separate the middle school students from the high school students.

“We began looking into the type of furniture needed and necessary restroom restorations,” he said. “Finally, the Paul R. Brown Leadership Academy made the decision to take the leap and assign teachers and students to the building while ensuring we kept the same standards and expectations of the military style program offered at Paul R. Brown Leadership Academy. Realizing we only had about 80% completion, we decided to embrace the ‘build the plane as we fly it’ approach. The decision was made. In January 2026, we were going to finally get high school students into that building and in January 2026, high school students did indeed walk into Dr. Deberry Hall, making history all over again. They finally had a high school building they could call their own, and the history of Bladen Central High School will live on through them.”

For the teachers and educators, it is a time to reflect upon where they were when they first came in and where they are now. Some go off after graduation and head into the military, some join the job force and some go off to college – and Lloyd said there are so many success stories that he is afraid to name one student for fear he will forget some of the other’s names.

They have alumni right now in the Air National Guard, the Air Force and the Army. They had one girl who was the very first Marine from the school. They have some alumni who have made such positive additions to their world and one in particular who graduated from PRBLA and then graduated from UNC-Pembroke and the journey was to come back to teach at PRBLA.

The school is not without its challenges and Wray tells the success story of a student that just didn’t like being in school. When they threatened to have her leave, she dug deep and found a way to stay. She found a way to get her grades up. She found a way to make her difference in this world – and now is in Marion, Alabama, in military college.

“I am just so proud of all of them,” Lloyd said. “They meant the world to me then and still do. They always will.”