During my campaign for Corvallis School Board, I have said ad infinitum that I owe my life's success to the start I got in the Wirt County Schools. It is true. I don't know if everyone was the beneficiary of the same opportunities I enjoyed (I hope they were), but I know that I always had a teacher or several who looked out for me.
One made sure I had a new dress when I went to the State Capitol to receive my Golden Horseshoe (an award for 8th-grade excellence in West Virginia history). One made sure my best friend and I got the part-time jobs when the local bank needed skilled hands to transcribe endless tax forms for employees and customers in that pre-computer era. One made sure I had a home and a stand-in family during my senior year in high school when my father was hospitalized for a month and a half and my mother went away to be with him. One made sure I had a new dress and shoes for graduation. The same one kept the secret that my parents would be home just in time to watch me graduate at the top of my class.
Teachers were my role models for middle class living. They dressed well and lived in nice houses. In my small West Virginia town, they were the only professionals I experienced on a regular basis. They opened my eyes to opportunities I could never have dreamed of, and they helped me grasp them. I owe my life’s success to those teachers and all the others who came later.
The ones who came later encouraged me. One encouraged me not to drop out of college (I did anyway, but I returned). Others encouraged me to apply to the Maxwell School’s graduate program at Syracuse University, when I didn’t believe I could possibly get in. Another mentored me through my graduate program, taught me to be an ethical researcher, and gave me the extra push I needed whenever I needed it. And, finally, one became my role model for retirement.
You may notice that little of this focuses on instruction in the classroom. Well, they did that too. From Mrs. Swearingen’s 1st-grade phonics drills to Dr. Mueller’s endless patience with my endless questions in graduate school statistics, they all made my academic achievements possible. I can no longer name them all, but they all played a major role. While growing up in Wirt County, where the curriculum was basic and the budget tiny, nearly all were inspiring and challenging, including every one of my elementary school teachers. How can this be? It seems impossible by today's standards. But it is not. IT IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE.
This past week was devoted to teacher appreciation. For all my teachers past and present, I say, Thank You! for everything you did.
