Here is the text of a letter written by Ollie McGillivary, a St. Tammany Parish Public School teacher who traveled around the world, serving thousands of students in dozens of countries.
Ollie McGillivary was born in rural St. Tammany on June 3,
1928. She walked about four miles daily to Pilgrim Rest School for three years before
it became consolidated and was merged with Lee Road Consolidated School.
The parish line designated that for the fourth grade she attend the old Covington
Grammar School in Covington (now the School System Central Office). She traveled by bus to the school and attended there from fourth through
seventh grade. The bus she took was the only one picking up elementary and high
school students at the time, since the area where she lived was not very
populated, she explained in her letter.
"After graduating seventh grade, I attended Elmer E. Lyon High
School. While in high school, I was active in band, glee club, 4-H and drama
club. After high school I received a legislative scholarship and attended Southeastern
College. I borrowed money from the St. Tammany School Board to help me get
through college, but the scholarship paid for textbooks only.
"I started college majoring in music. The only piano
teacher I could find to teach me when I was in high school was at St.
Scholastica. I walked from Lyon High
once a week to take the piano lesson, then I would walk to Columbia St. -Lee Road and catch a ride to my home.
"However, there were not many opportunities for music
educators in the parish. After three years, I decided to switch my
major to elementary education. Most of my hours could be used as a result. I only
had to go an extra semester to become a certified elementary teacher. I
graduated in 1951 certified in grades Kindergarten through sixth grade.
"While in college, I served on the Student Government,
was president of the Future Teachers of America, active with Baptist Student
Union center, serving on various committees, then was Louisiana State Editor for
B.S.U. I was also a member of Alpha Sigma Tau and Phi Mu Alpha.
"After graduating from Southeastern I taught at Pearl
River Elementary and Lee Road Consolidated. I decided to do graduate work and
headed to the University of Vermont for a summer. Then, back to Covington. I didn't
see many challenges, so I headed west, stopping in Denver, CO, en route to San
Francisco.
"I did secretarial work for the Dean of the Law School
at Denver University and met my future husband who was at S. U. completing his master’s
degree.
"I returned to Covington in the fall and wed in January
of 1953. My husband became a career officer in the U.S. Navy. Through his
various military assignments and moves (some 28 times) I was given a multitude of
opportunities to become active in community activities, churches and schools.
This gave me a broad scope of all parts of the United States, Far East, Europe,
Canada, Australia, and Mexico, etc.
"I helped with the Red Cross, Navy Relief, March of
Dimes, Ombudsman, sponsored a "boat family" of 13 from Vietnam (while
my husband was Commanding Officer in the Bay area.) I worked with abused family
groups and helped teach on Indian Reservations in Oregon and Washington State. I also substituted in public schools in Washington State,
California, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Florida.
"When there was a need, I directed choirs, led church
groups of young people, was in charge of Brownies and Boy Scout clubs. While my
husband was at the Naval War College, I taught the Laubach method of learning English
to foreign officials wives.
"In my travels I visited public schools in Europe and
Australia. I also volunteered as a teacher in the National Schools of P. I.,
and I taught third and sixth grades for the Department of Defense while in the
Far East.
"Because of my husband's duties, there were
opportunities to entertain senior military officers and their wives, local
mayors, politicians, dignitaries from foreign countries and embassies. While a
naval officer's wife I taught full time in Pennsylvania for four years. We had
two different deployments in this state. I did graduate work at Shippensburg
State College. I taught fourth, fifth, and kindergarten in Pennsylvania and in
Florida I taught first grade. For the Department of Defense, in the Far East I
taught third and sixth grades for two years.
"I also took graduate courses from the University of
Maryland. For two years, I attended the University of California-Berkley doing
graduate work.
"Throughout our military life we were blessed to see
great museums and explore many wonders of the world. With our two children we
availed ourselves of the multitude of cultural activities, situations and opportunities on whatever base or surrounding area we were
stationed.
"I returned to Covington in 1982 and became a
kindergarten teacher at Lee Road Junior High School. Then I taught
kindergarten, first and T-1 at Folsom Elementary.
"It has been my privilege to work with the Folsom
community, Franklinton Heritage Manor, church and school.
"After Hurricane Katrina, I was gratefully given some
26 large trees to help replace the many trees lost on our school grounds. I put
these things down in writing because God has so richly blessed me to have become a teacher, educator, wife and mother.
"My first teaching job was as a 10 year old in a country church teaching beginners four and five years old. I discovered then that somehow I was able to get the subject matter across to little ones. Thus, throughout my life so it's been. Let the student know you really care for them and that they can understand and learn. If you were successful with that concept, you were most likely going to be successful with the students (class) and have high achievers. It worked," she wrote.
"My life has been an amazing one for me. I am so
grateful for having the opportunity of being blessed by God with good health
and the opportunity afforded me by the St. Tammany Parish Public Schools in 1920-1921."
