Opp native donates TVs to OES

Knight: ‘I wanted to give back’

By Justin Schuver (Contact) | Andalusia Star-News

Published Monday, August 10, 2009

Opp Elementary School students were excited to see their new building, new desks and new playground Monday. And now, thanks to the generosity of an Opp High School alumnus, the students will soon get the chance to enjoy something else that’s new — a brand-new 40-inch LCD TV set in every classroom.

Andy Knight grew up in Opp and graduated from OHS in 1984, before moving to Nashville in 1994 to start a liquidation company. Knight has never forgotten his roots, however, and came up with the idea of donating more than 40 televisions to the new OES.

“I was talking with (Opp Assistant Superintendent) Emily Edgar and I said I wanted to give something back to the school,” Knight said. “We talked about computers and other things, but eventually narrowed it down to TVs.”

Edgar said the students and teachers appreciate Knight’s gesture.

“He said he didn’t want to get a lot of recognition about it, but I think it’s a wonderful thing,” she said. “We have a lot of teachers who needed to get upgrades for their TVs, and these are state-of-the-art. It’s just another asset that we can add to our classrooms here at the new school building.”

Monday, the first shipment of 21 TVs arrived at OES. Edgar said those TVs will be enough to furnish each kindergarten through second grade classroom. The rest of the new TVs will arrive over the next three months.

Knight said the teachers should find the new TVs quite useful, as they can also be used as projection screens.

“These are 40-inch LCD screens by ProScan, which is a good brand,” he said. “They’ve got hookups for projectors and computers, so you could play slide shows or connect a digital camera to view photos. Each TV is also coming with a mount, so they can be attached to the wall in each classroom.”

Knight said he still has a lot of family who lives in the Opp area, and tries to return home at least once “every three months or so.” He said he has seen the new OES building and is happy to offer another benefit for students.

“I’ve been very blessed in my business and I always feel that you have to give back when you receive,” he said. “I love Opp, and I always have, and I wanted to do something for my city. I think that if you’re capable of doing something like this, then they should. You can see the benefit that someone is getting directly from it.”

Knight is the son of Bobby Ray Knight and Nava Jo Knight of Opp. His sister, Susan Weatherford, is a first grade teacher at OES.