Elaine Shirley Farrar:
CLASS OF 1969
Berner High SchoolClass of 1969
Massapequa, NY
Elaine Shirley's Story
I went straight to Dean Junior College in Franklin, MA after high school. I graduated from there with an A.S. in Humanities in 1971. I transferred to Buffalo State College and graduated from there in 1973 with a B.S. in Elementary Education and a minor in Social Sciences. Unfortunately I couldn't land a job in NY even though I had a great grade point average so instead of ending up working at the Massapequa Mall, I decided to move to Tennessee and live with my grandparents so I could begin teaching.
My first job was teaching 32 fourth graders at Joppa School. The next year the man I would be married to for 36 years also took a teaching job at Joppa. Rodney and I were married in 1976 in Morristown, Tennessee. I was working for a quirky principal and decided to move on down the road to a school in Knox County. That year I drove 52 miles each way and taught third grade at Farragut Primary School. I had the only self-contained third grade class in an open school. It was a great situation but the drive got to me so the following year I transferred to a school that was much closer to home. Skaggston School was a small school with only two classes for each grade level. After teaching there for three years, the county built a brand new school and consolidated three small schools. It was so much fun opening East Knox Elementary School. The same year EKCE opened I was pregnant with my first child. Kristin Elizabeth was born in November of that year. I was back teaching again by the beginning of the second semester. My assignment was 6th grade Social Studies. I had so much fun teaching the sixth grade. I even took my students on the coolest field trip. We flew from Knoxville to Charlottesville, NC and back. Many of the kids I taught were from Appalachia and had never been on a plane. United had just started flying that route and offered a deal I couldn't pass up! I taught at EKCE for three years and then my son, Andrew Howard was born. Since I had two children to take care of I stayed home for awhile.
The next big event was a move to Virginia. My husband wanted to change fields. He was a teacher, but he took a job with 7-Eleven hoping to move up to store manager or supervisor. I continued to stay home until Krist...Expand for more
in entered kindergarten. I volunteered at her school and starting missing teaching. I started back at a preschool so Andrew could go to work with me. The following year I applied to Loudoun County for a teaching position and that I where I remained until I retired three years ago. While employed by Loudoun, I taught sixth grade Language Arts and Reading until computers starting popping up in the classroom. The technology bug had bitten me hard and it wasn't long before I was able to become a Technology Resource Teacher. At first I had to travel to three different schools. Finally the county realized that TRT's was needed in each school full-time so I remained at one of the middle schools I had been traveling to. It was during my tenure as TRT that I also taught some computer classes as an adjunct professor for George Mason University.
Since retiring I have become a grandmother to Jasmine who is Kristin and George's daughter. Her brother, Jordan, arrived on November 1, 2016. Kristin took after her mother and father and works for Montgomery County, MD schools, as an Autism Specialist. Andrew is currently living with me. It is a temporary move. Besides grandparenting, I also volunteer as an administrative worker for the Leesburg Volunteer Fire Department. To fill up some of my free time I also belong to a Woman’s Club and a book club. I also love to travel when I get a chance.
My marriage of 36 years ended in 2012. We are still on friendly terms, just not in love with each other anymore. We continue to spend holidays with our children and celebrate life's major events. I never thought it would end up this way but you never know what the future brings. Last November 2019 I rescued a dog from an organization in Alabama. Lolly has won my heart. She is part chihuahua and part terrier, who is full of energy but also knows when to be a sweetie-pie. BTW Rodney's stint with 7-11 lasted about ten years. He was a supervisor when he decided to go back into teaching. He took a job with Loudoun County also and retired this past July as an Assistant Principal.
I guess that sums up what I have been doing the last 51 years. I hope to be around for many more.
Would love to hear from other '69 graduates that remember me.
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