Paul Rogers has Homewood schools to thank for his recent Oscar, his mom says
Melissa Springer remembers her son having severe attention-deficit disorder as a student in Homewood schools.
Paul Rogers didn’t get great grades but he was smart, Springer told the Homewood City Council on April 10.
“The thing that I loved about his teachers is they saw him and they let him use the way he could learn,” she said. “The way he learned was making movies. A lot of times, they would let him do reports where he made the movies.”
Rogers has earned many awards and acknowledgements for his film-making, including the 2023 Academy Award for film editing for “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” one of seven Oscars won by the film. Rogers’ latest acknowledgement was a congratulatory resolution from the city of Homewood.
Springer was on hand to receive the document on behalf of her son.
“Homewood schools had so much to do with both my children's successes,” Springer said, acknowledging her daughter Taylor, who is two years older than her son. “I chose Homewood because of the diversity and the Blue Ribbon Schools. I felt that it was a great place to raise children. It ended up being one of the best decisions as a mother that I have ever made.”
In council action:
- Todd Minor was reappointed to the park board. The vice chair of the board will take over as board chair when the term of current chair Michael Murray expires.
- The council set 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 18 to interview the six applicants for the Board of Education.
- The council sent an indemnification agreement for work performed in the right of way at 610 Broadway back to the public works committee, which previously voted 3-2 to deny permission.
- Mayor Patrick McClusky was OK'd to sign an agreement with the Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority.
- The council also agreed for the mayor to sign the Central Avenue TAP grant project, and to agree to the transfer of ownership and maintenance of the road segment along Forest Brook Drive.
- The council agreed to accept an outdoor shading grant from Jefferson County Commissioner Steve Ammons and approved a budget amendment to install shading at the West Homewood Park tennis center during fiscal 2023.
- A police grant was also approved with a budget amendment.
- The council restored the intersection of Morris Boulevard and Sterrett Avenue to its previous alignment.
- The council approved the installation of a crosswalk on Valley Avenue at Beckham Drive.
- A sign variance was granted at 600 University Park Place for Dash Solutions to have a sign at the top of the building. The sign ordinance calls for signs to be at ground level but as that building is surrounded by trees, a ground-level sign would not be visible by motorists.