ARTICLE

Emotional endings to school year R.L. Turner teacher's retirement ends link with district that began as a student in 1952
Author/Byline: KATHERINE MORALES

Like at the close of many school years, Jan Mayberry, science teacher at R.L. Turner High School, will feel a mix of happiness and sadness.

But the sadness may not hit her until later.

"I don't think this whole thing will hit me until August because that's when something different will happen," she said. "I won't be preparing for school."

She's retiring after 34 years of teaching for the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District and nearly four decades after she graduated as salutatorian from Turner.

During a recent class, she waited for a student to finish his exam, one of the last she will administer. On the classroom's board, a student had written, "We love you Ms. Mayberry."

The only time she spent away from the district was the four years she took off to get her teaching degree at the University of North Texas in Denton. "I never strayed too far," she said.

Ms. Mayberry began her academic career as a student at Carrollton Elementary in 1952, the year that school opened.

"I had a teacher there, Billie Harrell, and she was a wonderful teacher and person, and I just wanted to be like Mrs. Harrell," Ms. Mayberry said.

She landed at R.L. Turner in 1960. Board trustee Nancy Strickland was a Spanish teacher at the time and said she remembered Ms. Mayberry well.

"She was an outstanding leader, and we encouraged her in what she wanted to do," Mrs. Strickland said. "She was and is a marvelous example, but then I can say the same thing about all of our teachers."

After graduating second in her high school class, Ms. Mayberry went to college and became the first college graduate in her family.

"I started teaching science because I love the hands-on element," Ms. Mayberry said. "Even though students may say they don't like science, they like to do the experiments."

She estimated that she's taught about 5,000 students in her years with the district.

Some of her high school students were aware that she graduated from Turner, too. For fun, she occasionally showed them her yearbook.

"They think the clothes and hairstyles are funny," she said. "They will probably think the same thing when they look back at their yearbooks."

She taught integrated physics and chemistry primarily to freshmen.

"She specifically requested to teach the younger kids," said Kim Holland, principal at Turner. "She's a very consistent and loving person, and she has high expectations and standards for her kids."

Although she's retiring, she doesn't plan to let her teaching skills get rusty.

In addition to the traditional retirement plans of traveling and relaxing, she will help with an alternative teaching certification program at Brookhaven College.

"We're just beginning to put that together - the first class will be in the spring of 2003," she said.

She said she would attend the Turner graduation ceremony, cheering on her final class of graduating seniors.

"I'll miss the people and the friendships," she said. "I'll also miss those daily miracles of seeing kids light up when they understand a concept. You have to look for it, but it's always there."

The Dallas Morning News - May 31, 2002