When we meet new people, my
husband enjoys playing “Guess My Wife’s Occupation.” If he was a gambler, he could make us wealthy because nobody
has guessed correctly yet, even when given clues.
They are surprised when he announces that I teach Technology Education
and question how I came to choose that field of work.
Nineteen years ago I
graduated from Cheyney State College with a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Arts
Education. It was a long road for
me to finally achieve that goal. In
order to tell my story, I need to go back many more years to childhood.
During my early years, I
played with dolls and trucks, learned to sew, enjoyed playing “army”, ice
hockey, tennis, ping pong and reading books (especially ones about inventors).
I did not care that some things were “boy” activities; I did what
interested me. A need to make money
led me to a paper route, a bicycle repair business, and occasional odd jobs for
neighbors, such as gardening, painting porches and shoveling snow. I did some babysitting, but did not like it.
My curiosity about inventors resulted in me persuading a history teacher
to let me do the required major research paper on “Common Characteristics of
Successful Inventors.” (Alright, I admit that it was quite a stretch for the
assignment requirements, but it was what interested me.)
For my sixteenth birthday, my
boyfriend gave me a Heathkit radio kit.
I spent many hours following the detailed instructions and was thrilled
when I was finished and it worked!
Soon I was studying electronics with him after school because my high school did
not have co-ed Industrial Arts classes.
I accompanied his class to Boston to take the test for the FCC 3rd Class
Radiotelephone License. His
electronics teacher was surprised when I passed.
In my senior year in high school, I became the first female to take the
electronics class. Mr. Henry Offner
taught the first semester of the course.
I was nervous at first, but he was very encouraging.
After school, I taught electricity and rocketry enrichment classes to 4th,
5th, and 6th graders and worked for a
tutoring program.
In February of my senior
year, I woke up one school morning very distraught.
I had planned to become a French teacher, but suddenly that did not feel
right. A dear friend told Mr.
Roland Chevrefils, my second semester electronics teacher. He then asked me why I was so upset. I blurted out that I had no idea what I should do after high
school graduation. He then
suggested that I consider becoming an Industrial Arts teacher and assured me
that he was confident that I could do well, pointing out that I already had
successful teaching experiences. I
decided to give it a try, since I could not think of anything better. The problem was that it was very late to be applying to
colleges for fall admission. (The
colleges that had accepted me had great foreign language departments, but did
not have Industrial Arts programs.)
To further complicate matters, I only had one electronics class. What were the
chances that I could successfully compete with students who had many Industrial
Arts classes? Most people thought I
was crazy and suffering from “senioritis.”
But, the decision felt right, so I had to go with it.
I visited Cheyney and was
assured that they would provide tutoring as needed to help me obtain the skills
needed for me to compete with my fellow students. The professors and instructors welcomed me, so I decided that
it was the right place for me.
The first semester was very
difficult and stressful. It felt
like I was constantly being examined under a microscope. Few students talked to me and most gave me odd looks.
After proving myself by earning a 4.0 average, I was accepted as “one of
the guys.” They realized that I was
serious about my schoolwork and did not choose to be in the Industrial Arts
department to “hook” a husband.
(Yes, many students later told me that was the rumor.
I sure hope that students would not think that today.)
I was elected as president to
Cheyney’s Industrial Arts Society, then president of the Pennsylvania Council of
College Students in Industrial Arts.
I got Cheyney chartered with the American Industrial Arts College Student
Association in 1978 and served as a regional vice-president with that group.
In 1980, I graduated and had the privilege to give the valedictorian
address. I challenged our class to
work at resolving the energy crisis and to develop alternative forms of energy,
lessons learned from my power and energy classes.
After graduation, I took a
job with a greeting card company instead of a teaching position because I felt
that I would be a better teacher after having some industrial and business
experience. I worked for a large
corporation, then a small, family-owned custom photo lab, did a freelance
wedding photography business for ten years, and ran a home-based daycare and
nursery school business (while my own two daughters were young).
I knew that I would go back to teaching at a public school, it just took
me longer to get there than I had originally planned.
In 1994, I took a Technology
Education workshop at Millersville University to update myself and prepare for
the teaching job hunt. I
substituted for a few months, then was hired by the West Chester Area School
District. I was astonished to learn
that there were still few female Technology Education teachers. Although the students have accepted me without question,
sometimes adults are somewhat startled.
They usually ask me how I ended up being a “shop” teacher.
The other teachers in the department have been great, willing to share
ideas and treating me with respect.
Soon after, I went to my
first TEAP Conference since college and was politely told where to go for the
spouse’s portion of the conference.
After an awkward moment, the innocent faux pas was smoothed over.
At the conference, a few teachers cautioned me, stating that I would not
be accepted by the “old boys network”, but I am pleased to be able to say that I
have not felt that way at all. In
fact, I have been encouraged to get involved with TEAP and I am happy to be an
active member again. My husband
attended the last conference with me and thoroughly enjoyed the spouse’s
portion. (Perhaps he was the first male spouse to attend most of the
spouse’s activities?) He feels that
TEAP is a wonderful organization and is proud to see me involved with it.
That is my story to date. (The Reader’s Digest condensed version.) I only wish I could find Mr. Offner and Mr. Chevrefils and thank them for seeing my potential and encouraging me. To all the TEAP members that I have met, I want you to know that I am grateful for the respect that you all extend to me. I am pleased to be involved with such a professional organization.