Mary Towers has been an inspiration to both; my professional and personal life…
Our story begins when I was hired by Mr. Bill Irby, principal of Alachua Elementary School, in Alachua, Florida; in the fall of nineteen seventy-three… I was hired for a paraprofessional position…
Before then, I had been a beginning teacher at Browning Pearce Elementary, in Palatka, Florida… traveling ninety miles daily… Alachua Elementary was fifteen miles from my home; so I accepted this position… I was assigned to tutor first grade students who needed extra support…Hoping that if a teaching position would become available…I would be hired…
Mary was one of the five teachers I was to assist in an open classroom; Learning Community A… LCA, as it was called; housed five classrooms, four of which were first grade and one was kindergarten; with over one hundred students separated only by partitions…I was to be placed with my small group, in the middle of this very large room divided by furniture and mobile chalkboards… Believe it or not, it it was not all that noisy…
On my very first day, I will never forget how I met Mary… I was walking through the unit, being introduced by the team leader, Chris Hirsch, to the teachers of the team in LCA… Mary being one of them, was very busy with a particular student…A little girl in her class was in the bathroom dealing with intestinal worms, and Mary was taking care of this most challenging situation…How impressed I was by how Mary was managing such a situation …
It was then, after a year, my wish came true…I did get reassigned to teach a first grade class!
And then, opening up the very next year in nineteen and seventy-five; one of the most special of my teaching opportunities opened up!
I was to team with Mary Towers, a professional relationship lasting nine years…. ending in 1984…when Mary retired…
This special opportunity arose in the summer of seventy-five, when Mr.Irby, offered me a co-teaching position with Mary, in a newly federally funded, early childhood education program called ECPC… The Early Childhood Preventative Curriculum Program...
This innovative program was designed as an intervention for diverse, young children who were screened in kindergarten, exhibiting difficulties with their learning…
This center based program was designed with no more than sixteen students, assisted by a full-time aide who would be responsible for the reinforcement associated with specific activities; that would build upon the deficits, diagnostically determined through pre and post tests through the child’s auditory, visual, kinesthetic, and tactile learning styles…
Mary and I each had our own group of children assisted by our full time aide.. Our class was housed within the large classroom in LCA…which now had mobilized walls separating each of the five classrooms; providing the children less distractions…
Our morning time was devoted to four specific centers that incorporated the curriculum:
Reading; Follow Up Reading, and Language Arts activities: Listening; and last “Willy Worm” an aide directed center with specific activities prescribed by the pre and post testing…
The reading curriculum utilized, the SullivanProgrammedReaders…a successful program of the time…. teaching children decoding skills in reading context within a linguistic progression of sound-symbol relationships...
Teaching those nine years with Mary really flew by!!…Sadly both our Team and ECPC Program ended with Mary’s retirement... Mary and I can look back and be quite proud of what our children accomplished from the Early Childhood Preventative Curriculum Program…
Many of our children went on to have successful lives; some going into local politics and a few playing collegiate and professional football…
Mary made this for me…when she retired…1984….
As I have reflect on our years together, this special relationship provided me the knowledge and experiences I learned from teaching with Mary…enabling me to evolve into a strong teacher…
Not only has Mary been such an influence on me professionally…Personally, Mary has been a guiding support even more so…
Having lost my mother when I was a senior in high school…I always felt a little lost…Mary was close in age to what my mother’s age would have been…And having such a warm connection with Mary…I always believed my mother, placed Mary in my life for a special reason…I have felt blessed to have Mary in my corner for these forty plus years…
Through the many years I have learned so much about Mary’s beautiful family; especially now that her husband’s recent passing,..Her four children never leave her side…
Mary will be one hundred this year, and she still lives in the same house that she and her husband built after World War II; on land that has been in her family for generations … There are always family gatherings with her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, other family members and close friends …
What I dearly appreciate truly about Mary is about service and sacrifice, pertaining to her husband Frank Towers ….their story; how they met and married during World War II…Frank was a true hero of the War…He was a commissioned officer in the 30th Infantry Division during the Invasion at Normandy and helped in the liberation of the Jewish Holocaust survivors on a train from the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp….
Mary was still actively involved in my life even in her early nineties…The years passing we have kept our special lunches just to keep in touch…
Then when I began teaching at Idylwild in 20O7…She and her husband offered to assist me in my move to be closer to Idylwild…Utilizing their large van and Frank’s technological skills….with my computer…
Mary would even volunteer in my classroom…I so loved and appreciated her help…
She did so much: she would help any child that needed assistance with their math or reading; at home she would make all the children flash cards for reading practice; bring in much needed school supplies; make our individual math packets… Our children and Idywild loved her…And in 2011 Idywild nominated Mary for “Volunteer of the Year…
With my retirement in 2015…I have moved to Palm Coast, to be closer to the ocean…
I am still loving and appreciating Mary…
And… so looking forward to coming back to Gainesville; spring and fall…celebrating our friendship with our special lunch dates…
Graduating with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida, on March 18th, 1972, just three days after my twenty-third birthday… I was so ready to influence; moreover make a difference for our children… Being a mother of a two year old, I was so excited to make that impact!
I was so willing to travel ninety miles a day to teach at an elementary school in a diverse community…So, on April 1, 1972, I began this journey, to Browning Pearce Elementary in Palatka, Florida… At the time, we had just gone through integration, and that particular school had two campuses… One originally being the school for African American students, was now the school’s intermediate grades…And I was to finish the year in a fourth grade…
Boy, how unready I was… Yet so very excited…It was the last ten weeks of school, and I was assigned to take over a for a seasoned teacher, who was relocating to Tallahassee to be with her husband …
I might have cried most days feeling overwhelmed, however with the wonderful assistant principal, and a caring colleague…I made it through!! Learning so very much ; This challenging opportunity was just my beginning!!!
The next year I was then assigned to teach kindergarten …Not being certified, I was required to get early childhood classes from my alma mater, University of Florida, to be certified in early childhood … This wonderful placement was an opportunity for such growth… My love for young children, and an appreciation of diversity thrived…Many of whom had been migrants…
My next opportunity in my teaching career lead me a little closer to home, now I was only traveling about 30 miles a day to a newly integrated community elementary school… Alachua Elementary…Another diverse population of young children…first working as a paraprofessional, then teaching first graders….
This placement was for sixteen years, from seventy four to ninty; These were exciting times for public education and children coming from diversity… I felt my passion for teaching flourish …The federal government was providing programs and resources for our children… At Alachua…I have some of my fondest memories in my years of teaching…I had the wonderful opportunity of team teaching with Mary Towers, a seasoned teacher…We taught together for nine wonderful years…teaching high risk first graders…in one such federally funded program…“Early Childhood Preventative Curriculum”,ECPC…
I learned so much about the developmental ablities of young children with the challenges they may face… However, with a smaller class size, and the extra assistance of an aide… And curriculum developmentally appropriate….I was to learn later, that many of our children grew into successful adults…
Upon Mary’s retirement in 1984, which tremendously impacted my growth …
I had another strong influence on my career, team teaching with Wetona Johnson…We taught together for five years…teaching first grade in Chapter I; Another federally funded program giving young children extra reinforcement in reading and math skills…
I must also thank the the two principals I worked under at Alachua Elementary School, who guided this growth…
First of whom was Mr. Bill Irby…A man of tremendous integrity… When Mr. Irby retired…this wonderful community even built an elementary school in his honor… The second was another strong leader, Mrs. Pansy Post…who became principal of Alachua when Mr. Irby retired…Mrs. Post brought such a creative flair to Alachua…
I must again acknowledge and appreciate these opportunities that instilled such values making me the strong teacher I was to became; sixteen glorious years at Alachua Elementary …
I was now forty years old…a seasoned teacher ready for my next learning opportunity…And now I was closer to home, by less than five miles… Terwilliger Elementary…A neighborhood school enriched with diversity….A wonderful blend of students…This was nineteen eighty-nine, and public education was changing, not for the better… Here in Florida, we especially felt this impact with the “No Children Left Behind Act” thanks to our Governor, Jeb Bush… If it weren’t for the blend of wonderfully talented and professional teachers; and that mixture of diverse students, these years were filled with such blessings… I was able to teach upper level students: a year in fourth grade, and five years at fifth grade…Both were great… I also had the opportunity to teach second grade for five years…Even taking an educational sabbatical where I was able to attend the University of Florida in graduate level courses in counseling education…
However, due to health issues, I retired in 2002… after thirty years… I was so proud of my years of inspiring and influencing children…
I still had more to accomplish in my teaching career….More children needed my influence, especially in the times we were heading, in the twenty first century…
So, I was so blessed to be able to resume my teaching career in 2008…at Idywild Elementary, a diverse population of children where many of my students were from challenging homes situations….
I was back teaching first grade…. where, with the many years of experience, I was able to provide my children a strong, structured, safe and loving classroom…. Moreover, with a strong support staff providing our children the best education we were able…And, given these times of less funds…more testing and developmentally inappropriate curriculum…
Our children were successful!!!…
As for me…What a gift I was given…to be able to teach eight more years, thirty-eight in all …I then felt I was ready to retire from my teaching career …in 2015…
These last eight years at Idywild turned out to be my most rewarding…I truly felt I had made that difference I so hoped when I began this journey!!!
And now have the time advocating for our children, and their right to a strong public school education….
It is my belief that our schools have always relied on certain fundamental qualities affecting its climate; the children, the teachers, the staff…and the parents…
Thus affecting the outcome of our children’s ability to learn and become successful…
And now, more that ever…in these most difficult of times, even when our government is trying to dismantle this sacred of institutions…our public schools….These fundamentally necessary, must be supportive,working closely in conjunction with the teachers…providing a climate where children can succeed…
The one most critical factor… The support and involvement of Parents...
I have learned that having parents involved in my classroom has been valued deeply; though our communications and their support…Moreover, when an opportunity arose, having that extra pair of hands, in a variety of classroom activities such as: field trips,class parties, and special programs… My classroom had always been a welcoming place to my parents; inviting them to just come in and observe…
Back in the Seventies when I began … Parent involvement focused on specific parenting workshops designed to encourage parent participation…Parents who needed extra support learned to make and take materials to use at home with their child…These workshops really got many parents involved..At this time, we were so fortunate to receive appropriations from government to fund these programs…
During these later years, I have found it somewhat of a challenge to have parent involvement… with a population of our parents… Our school has had to become more creative in coming up with a variety of ways to maintain a strong parent involvement… that would include: dinners, fairs, special programs, and performances …successfully bringing many parents in; allowing us to provide essential communications, free books and learning materials for our parentsto take home…Hopefully encouraging them to use these books and materials at home with their child…
Another critical component to our parental involvement that has been successful, was making visits to the home, especially for those parents not able to come into school…These home visits would give me a better understanding of the home life of my children….In addition, if needed, we could rely on our school guidance counselor for assistance…However in the last fifteen to twenty years, the school counselor has been over loaded with extra demands, not enabling he or she time for counseling our children as much, and no time to assist on our home visits…
In the later years we had the opportunity to utilize an additional resource person, a school social worker to help with parent involvement.. Our school social worker was a bridge between home and school… a warm caring resource that helped our many parentsin need..especially those who lived in poverty…
…As a teacher working with diverse children who come from impoverished homes; where so many of our parents were not able to be as involved in part do to their unsettling circumstance…I was then able to appreciate the benefits that our social worker was able to accomplish, providing the necessary resources from our community to many of our parents in need..
However due to cuts in funding, we no longer have this wonderful resource available…
Through all the many years…my school, along with the many other schools; because of their love and concerns for children have done all they could to find a way to get parents involved…
And moreover, in the later years…Personally, spending much of my time communicating with my parents through daily communication in their child’s daily planner, making necessary phone calls, sending emails, and making home visits…My door was always open, welcoming them to come visit, or stop by to just have lunch with their child…Our classroom was a safe and loving place…where their child was going to be successful… “We were a team”…
I am eternally grateful to my parents for making the time♥️
This time of year, back in the day…My classroom was the place for fun that inhanced our learning….We had time to incorporate into the curriculum, learning through special art and creative poetry projects that were made for our parents, as holiday gifts…
We truly enjoyed taking two special field trips to magical places that our children got to experience first hand: visiting a pumpkin patch farm and the viewing of the Nutcracker Ballet…Some of our children would never have had those opportunities…What learning!
We spent a great deal of time learning and appreciating different cultures and how they celebrated the season…And finally, the children couldn’t wait for the culmination of the celebration of the season with our holiday cookie exchange…Then off for winter break!!!
It is my hope that our public school teachers continue these beautiful traditions for our children…As we know, there are those children who especially need to know the Beauty of the Season…
Being an eternal optimist… I must keep my positive outlook… Having had many challenges in my personal life… I as many are feeling in the aftermath of this election, may want to give up the fight…
My positive outlook on life dictates for me not to give up, but rise and a call to action….
We as a People can not… As “Hillary” would emphatically say…
We are Stronger Together… For all that is right in our Country… For our beautiful children who need positive roll models…
Teaching those many years, my children who came into my classroom from poverty and dysfunction in their homes, would listen, with full attention when I would share some of my personal stories coming from a poor single family household…and how I overcame the many challenges I incurred in my life, made me work extra hard, paying my way with loans and grants for my college education; I was always hoping to provide them with insight …and guidance… Our young children want and must need to know…from us…In order to succeed….
Now that this election is over, I am deeply heartsick, and realize how divided our Country is… We as teachers have definitely witnessed how these changes have impacted our children…Children, especially from poverty need those positive role models to guide and direct their future…This is crucial especially those that may not get much if any support from home…
Having listened to such negative and hateful rhetoric, watching our media giving so much attention to getting the story… missed so much… The divide of our people…how their anger affects children, nor really caring about the effect..
As I witnessed first hand in volunteering for Hillary’s campaign this concerns me what kind of message we are giving our children..
However, In my own personal experiences canvassing neighborhoods for this campaign. Flagler County, in a Republican Community in Florida, I did meet many people from different ethnicity, age groups, and genders… I realized…We were all ready working together to get Hillary elected as our President…… I must be positive and hopeful… Those of the many of us; as the popular vote affirms, believe as I do…
We need to keep up the fight for all the beauty our Country has to offer…We must continue speaking out for the “good”… We need to be positive role models for our children…
I feel we will succeed…for our children…This really is their future….!!!
With the beginning of a new school year, and the start of my second year since retiring…I am ready to reflect on those many wonderful memories …
The one I do hold dearly is that all through my thirty-eight years…I truly appreciate my children allowing me such a wonderful platform where I could utilize my unique sense of drama and creative talents into myteaching..
In today’s challenging times, with fewer resources, and many demands of teaching; even after these many years; It was the children’s love and innocence that provided me with passion to inspire them utilizing my enthusiasm and my strong sense of spirit…
They were a wonderful audience where each day was unique… And led to my success I felt as a teacher…
It was always my goal to find the fun… And now, I can recollect those moments of fun a teacher shares with his or her children… Through this captive audience, my children allowed me to keep my spirit alive…Keeping “the child in me alive”…
When I first began teaching in the early “Seventies”, I was young and fresh; our curriculum allowed time for the fun…We got to bake more often…Play and theater was a big part of the day…I myself enjoyed the opportunity to use drama in the classroom… I felt like I was playing a role, putting on a performance…to engage with the children…Never a dull moment…Each day was a new beginning….The years flew right on by….
Teaching the children of today, has certainly become much more serious… than just the “play”… I have needed to become a strong, positive role model… incorporating “my spirit’ to get their attention…even to manage behavioral issues…
For many of the children, I was their one positive constant in their lives… Utilizing my drama and creative spirit to reach them, even for that moment…Hopefully touching their lives forever…
Having taught back in the early seventies, post Civil Rights Movement and having the most important opportunity teaching all children especially those that were mainstreamed from our society that practiced segregation …I can remember just like it was yesterday, entering into teaching with such passion that reflected my idealism and hope…As I do speak for myself; many of my colleagues felt as I did…
I can even remember entering the classroom for the very first time, summer of…1970…doing my first field experience in preparation for my becoming a teacher….
I was going to “Change the World”…And “Make that Difference”!
The political climate of the Seventies was definitely pro education…It was more than just rhetoric… Federal programs such as Head Start with such a strong emphasis on early childhood education and Title I programs that assisted those children who struggled with their learning…were being funded and implemented…
Parenting groups also began at this time, providing such educational and informative workshops for those parents who needed support and encouragement; Hopefully in the end, becoming more knowledgeable and involved in the educational needs of their child…And I too, even had the wonderful opportunity to be involved with…
I feel so blessed that I was able to be a part of this history; fueling my passion for saving children…So much so , that most of my forty years have been in primary education…
Over twenty five years as a first grade teacher, of which ten of those years, teaching children that were not on grade level…
This political climate of pro funding continued through the Eighties … However by the early Nineties there was a most definite shift… … the result from the direction of our politics right here in Florida, under the Governorship of Jeb Bush. .. Sadly, his politics encouraged the privatization of education, detrimentally affecting our children with the… “No Child Left Behind” Movement…And I as many feel the beginning of Public Education’s struggles….
Public Education was most definitely not a top priority any more…We teachers felt this in our classroom everyday… We had to deal with the strain of more standardized tests, and more biased accountability… This was now the beginnings of vouchers and the privatization of education…Our children were now feeling this emphasis, more demands and less resources…We teachers, feeling so unappreciated…and devalued…And more than ever the blame with all the reasons schools were failing…
“Our children were being left behind”…
My first twenty years flew by so…Teaching was such a joy…
However, through the Nineties, and into this New Millennium with the demands and fewer resources due to this political shift…Society’s politics has impacted families thus affecting our children… Children are now coming in to school less prepared…More of our children live in poverty and have emotional and physical issues… …And we teachers with all our creative talents have such unrealistic demands…Our classrooms are micromanaged and we are being assessed on how proficient we are…We educators have always felt being accountable is extremely essential…Children deserve the best… However we are not being assessed fairly due to the limits placed on with testing and collecting data… Many teach in overcrowded classrooms and fewer resources at our disposal….
How will the Politics of Today play out? …Thanks to President Obama Passing…The Every Child Succeeds Act, no child will be left behind…
Some of the rhetoric has been ecouraging fewer tests and even giving recess back to children….
I feel this can be a fresh start, and we may be going back to a time in History… the politics of the Seventies when all our children were important…We must prioritize funding Public Education for all our children…
This time of year, back in the day…My classroom was the place for fun that inhanced our learning….We had time to incorporate into the curriculum, learning through special art and creative poetry projects that were made for our parents, as holiday gifts…
