Betty Rucker:
CLASS OF 1973
Farmerville High SchoolClass of 1973
Farmerville, LA
Houston Community CollegeClass of 2012
Houston, TX
Farmerville Vocational & Technical SchoolClass of 1974
Farmerville, LA
Rice UniversityClass of 1974
Houston, TX
Eastside High SchoolClass of 1969
Farmerville, LA
Betty's Story
When Teachers Cared Enough To Teach
When I was eighth grade at Eastside High School, I had an unusual teacher named Mr. Albert Payne. The Paynes of Farmerville were considered in the elite group, but Mr. Albert Payne decided to reach out to common people and to new students in his eighth grade class. Mr. Payne was a kind, and patient man who always had time to explain classwork and to help even the most shy student in his class. I shall always remember Mr. Payne dearly.
In addition, after I left eighth grade, I was blessed to be under the supervision of another very outstanding teacher named Mr. John Q. Watley. I met Mr. Watley when the schools of Marion and Farmerville were consolidated for Negroes midway between Marion and Farmerville at Eastside High School. In the Fall of 1969, th...Expand for more
e Eastside High School was no longer a valid place for just Negroes. At this time in 1969, integration in Union Parish became a fact of life. High School students who lived in Farmerville were sent to Farmerville High School, not to Eastside. Students from Marion, Downsville, and Sterlington were sent to the schools in their hometown; Marion to Marion; Downsville to Downsville; and Sterlington to Sterlington. Mr. Watley's kind behavior helped to ease the pain of student separations from their friends. Mr. Watley was the kind of teacher who made it easy to understand classwork despite the intergration process in Union Parish.
Overall, Mr. Payne and Mr. Watley were two teachers who knew how to ease student's into a new era of change so that the student could get a first rate education.
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