A teacher with class – Casey inducted into Hall of Fame tonight

A distinguished 45-year teaching career has propelled Evelyn Casey to the state?s highest honor. She will be inducted into the Tennessee Teachers Hall of Fame tonight in Nashville.

The black-tie affair will take place in the Presidential Ballroom at Opryland Hotel. Casey will be one of seven new members inducted into the Teachers Hall of Fame. Currently there are 64 people in this elite group.

She joins the late Red Gaffin as the only two Warren County educators in the Hall of Fame. Gaffin was inducted in 2002.

?To me the biggest honor is I was nominated by my peers,? said Casey, who received six nominations, including one from West Elementary principal Marsha Newman and the school?s staff. ?Every day was my favorite day. I loved being in the classroom. If you don?t love it, you don?t need to be a teacher.?

Even 20 years after her retirement in 1987, Casey continues to volunteer at West at age 84. She helps students read in the first-grade classroom of Linda Daniels.

Daniels, a teacher with 38 years experience, says Casey has always been there to help throughout her career.

?When I first started, she was the person I went to if I needed to know how to do something,? said Daniels. ?She was like a mother teacher, a mentor. She works with the children so well and does it in such a kind way.?

Even though Mrs. Casey is tender-hearted, Daniels said it didn?t stand in the way of keeping her students in line.

?She was loving but stern,? said Daniels. ?There are so many qualities about Mrs. Casey that made her a special kind of teacher.?

Daniels will be one of several local educators joining Casey tonight in Nashville during induction ceremonies. Others include Mildred Simmons, Marsha Newman, and two ladies who served as student teachers under Mrs. Casey, Terrie Mullican and Nancy McGregor.

?If I had some advice to give to beginning teachers, it would be to know the subject matter, be well prepared, work with parents, and make every child feel like they are capable of mastering skills at their ability,? said Casey.

She grew up during the depression in the Ivy Bluff community. Due to financial constraints, Casey didn?t think attending college was possible even though her parents wanted her to continue her education.

She credits the late Hilary D. Parker as being a great mentor and influence. He went so far as to drive her to Murfreesboro for classes.

?He begged me to go to college,? said Casey. ?He told me I belonged in the classroom.?

During the war, teachers were allowed to enter the classroom after two years of college. In 1942, Casey did just that and landed her first teaching job in Cannon County.

After five years there, she taught in McMinnville at City Grammar School and William Biles. When her late husband Winfred was transferred to Ripley, Miss., with Genesco, Casey taught there for four years.

When she returned to McMinnville, she spent the rest of her career teaching first grade, mainly at West.

?I taught here from the day they built the school until I retired,? said Casey while standing in the main office at West. ?We drew for room numbers and I drew room No. 1, and that was my classroom.?

Class sizes were much larger during the early stages of her career. She has taught as many as 38 students in one class.

?Discipline wasn?t a problem for first-graders when I was teaching,? said Casey, who admitted times have changed somewhat.

She did experience the computer age, getting the first computer in her room two years before she retired. Not wanting to be behind on the times, Casey traveled to Cookeville to take a summer-long computer class at Tennessee Tech.

One of her more memorable classroom rewards was letting students at City Grammar School climb down the fire escape if they scored 100 on a spelling test. ?That was a big thing for them,? said Casey.

In 1969, students in her class built a rocket and did a mock launch to coincide with Apollo 11?s successful journey to the moon.

In addition to the Tennessee Teachers Hall of Fame, Casey was honored as the Outstanding Elementary Teacher of America in 1973. She was named Woman of the Year in 1970 by the local Business and Professional Women?s Association. She was also named Mrs. Warren County by the Standard in 2004.