Wartime teaching experience bonds teacher, students
“I was attending University of Texas to become a P.E. teacher. It was during World War II, and the Navy had taken over the dormitories. There were thousands of good-looking sailors studying to be pilots or ship commanders.
“By the end of two years, I decided to go home to Huffman and rest a semester. It wasn’t the studying. I was just having way too much fun for a young girl.
“Because of the war, there was a shortage of teachers. When I arrived home, the pastor of First Baptist Church was teaching grades 4, 5 and 6. He was helping out until they could find someone. We lived next door to a board member who had known me for years. When I was offered the position, I became Miss Joy to 12 students who were together in one room. Two rows were fourth grade, one row was fifth grade, and there were three sixth-grade students.
“It was love at first sight between the teacher and pupils. I was only 19, and they were 10, 11 and 12 years old.
“One day I had them all read aloud. Then I said, ‘For the next 30 minutes, I want you to read silently.’ As I look up, there stands this little boy, Irby ‘Buddy’ May. I said, ‘Buddy, do I come back and lean on your desk while you’re working?’ He said, ‘No, mam.’ So I said, ‘Well, go sit down and do what I asked you to do.’ He starts back to his desk, turns around, and says, ‘But you could if you wanted to.’ He became my pet from that moment on.
“After finishing the school year and one more year, I returned to Austin to complete my degree and become a full-fledged teacher. I went on to a 33-year career as a P.E. teacher, and I loved every minute of it.
“But one of the happiest times of my life was teaching those 12 students in that classroom in Huffman. We kept up with each other through the years — especially Buddy. Just this April, I visited with him at an event in Huffman. Not long after that, he died. He was 85.
“As I was reading his obituary and all the wonderful things he had done in his life, I realized that had I not had those 12 wonderful children, I would never have stayed in education all those years. God blessed my life with 12 of his best.”
— Joy Walker, 96
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