ADK honors charter member

By Janice M. Howard / Style Editor for the Southern Standard

Arrie Mae Smith is recipient of four bouquets of fresh roses presented over a period of weeks by the local chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa. (Janice M. Howard photo)

The local chapter of Alpha Delta Kappa, an international honorary society for women educators, is celebrating its 40th year. The McMinnville chapter was organized in January 1965 with 12 charter members attending that first meeting.

Arrie Mae Smith, 93, is the only charter member who still actively participates in its meetings held on the first Thursday of each month. As a way to recognize her long standing with ADK, Mrs. Smith has been the recipient, over a period of weeks, of four lovely bouquets containing 10 fresh roses each, signifying her 40 years with the chapter as well as the chapter’s years of existence.

“I’m pleased that these ladies chose to honor me in this way,” Mrs. Smith said. “I still enjoy having a connection with the teaching profession I was involved in for so many years.”

ADK offers opportunities for recognition of its members’ commitment to educational excellence, for personal and professional growth, and for collectively channeling their energies for the good of their schools, communities, the teaching profession and the world. It is united in the common goals of educational excellence, altruism and a worldwide understanding.

Mrs. Smith, a Sparta native, has resided in McMinnville since 1938. She attended college on a basketball scholarship and experienced her first classroom work in a two-teacher school in White County. Her teaching career continued in Warren County when she was hired to complete the last two months of a school year at Bybee Branch School for a teacher who wanted to further his own education. She remained at Bybee Branch for two years before a member of the city school system invited her to accept a sixth-grade position at City Grammar School. There she remained for 25 years, advancing to teach the seventh grade when the school was changed from an elementary to a junior high school only.

Early in her retirement, Mrs. Smith was an active member of Faulkner Springs Home Demonstration Club. Her creativity is evident in the ceramics and crafts she has made that are displayed in her home along with a collection of hand-painted china and figurines. Now, her pastime of choice is reading.