CHRONICLES OF BUSEY - Woodward Academy

PAGE 6 CHRONICLES OF BUSEY MAY 20, 2007
I know this is a bittersweet and very busy time for you and for all of the Busey community.
When I think back to the years that I spent at Busey, the word FAMILY is the first
word that comes to mind. Everyone at Busey was part of a small close-knit group, very
much like a family. Even today, some of my dearest friends are people I first knew at
Busey.
Two very rewarding life experiences began for me at Busey. Our son Mett began his education
as a pre-kindergarten student in the fall of 1972. At this time Henry and I became
Woodward parents. We enjoyed this part of our life until May of 1993, when Drake, our
youngest son, graduated from the Academy, and our 21 years of being Woodward parents
came to an end. I also began my life as a Woodward teacher at Busey.
In 1979, I joined the Busey faculty to teach second grade. I spent the next ten years
teaching various subjects. I enjoyed several years that afforded me the opportunity to
spend my mornings teaching pre-kindergarten and my afternoons teaching fifth and sixth
grade social studies. During these years, I was always surrounded by caring and loving
people. I have wonderful memories of two very special men, Mr. Lindell Polk and Mr.
Bill Cobb. They offered me encouragement and support and always helped me to help
others.
The Day That Changed My Life
I sat in my car, looking at the Busey School for the first time. I was on maternity leave
from my position as a Fulton County teacher, which I’d held for almost 10 years. I was
here for my interview with Mr. Cobb. I was not only nervous and sleep deprived, I was
anxious and afraid.
I was a classic teaching “burn-out,” frustrated and disappointed, feeling I had been mistaken
in my choice of career. I wasn’t sure what the future held for me, except I knew I
couldn’t go back. Desperation was the motivation that got me out of the car and through
the front door. That day, my life changed forever.
Talking to Mr. Cobb, touring the building, seeing the teachers with their students, soft
voices, reading, working, engaged – learning! In my mind and heart, I felt a sense of
wonder and recognition. The puzzle pieces suddenly fell into place. I could almost hear
the click.
Mr. Cobb said he would call in a few days. I drove home in a daze. My husband was in
the yard when I drove up. I stepped out of the car and burst into tears! He demanded to
My “love affair” with Woodward Academy began the minute I opened the door
onto the Busey Campus in 1972. Little did I know that this “love affair” would blossom
into a romance that still continues after thirty-four years.
The Busey Campus was my “home away from home” for twenty years.
During my first nine years there as a third grade teacher, I enjoyed watching my students
advance their phonics and reading skills, learn to write in cursive, develop a positive attitude,
and memorize the multiplication tables. I did a lot of smiling those years because I
never knew what the students would do or say. One afternoon as I was lining the students
up to go home, a little boy came to tell me he had forgotten to show me something he
brought to school that morning. As you can imagine, I was horrified to see him go to his
desk and pull out a dead snake. Smiles, screams and laughter immediately erupted in my
room. My first and only ambulance ride occurred one afternoon when one of my students
fell off the top of the slide and broke his leg one inch from where it joins into the hip. For
several weeks after that, I went to his house after school to help him with his work.
From 1981-1992, I was a first-fifth grade reading teacher and Assistant Principal.
Those were the years in which I learned from students as well as other faculty members.
We were truly a family in that everyone pitched in to help accomplish whatever needed to
be done. I remember preparing various reading plans, listening to students read with expression,
inventorying boxes of supplies, counting and recounting books, setting-up lunch
tables, serving food, washing dishes, counting magazine money for hours, taking pictures,
and decorating the stage for special programs. Some of my favorite memories include
chasing away “Mr. Tom Turkey,” placing a new role of laminating film on the laminator,
To The Busey School,
Thank you for the wonderful years and awesome memories! At the Busey School, I enjoyed
the opportunity to experience a unique, and very special, learning environment. On
any given morning, I might be met by a turkey, deer, or horse - a bit of adventure to which
we all looked forward. And learning went on everywhere, not just in the classroom. At
almost any time of day, I might see a science class being taught outside, or a reading
group held under the shadow of a tree. Eager students filled the building, though they
were equally likely to be running laps around it, taking riding lessons in the ring, painting
on easels set up all over the grounds, or singing to the heavens. It was a glorious time
The Busey School will live on in the hearts and minds of so
many. Countless students have moved on into life with a
foundation of security and worth that was put in place
on the Busey campus. Your doors may close, but your
light will never go out! Change is a certainty in life,
but purpose, stability and staying power do not depend
upon a geographic location. The faculty and
students who now call Busey home will add a new and
positive dimension to the new Primary School. The
school that will begin next August will be an entity that is
in truth greater than the sum of its two parts. I spent ten
years at Busey and fifteen years at the Primary School. My only
regret is that I could not have had the joy of teaching in the new school that will unite two
groups of people and two places I dearly love in one wonderful new facility. May God
bless you and give you great peace and joy as you move into the future dedicated to your
ongoing purpose of loving and serving children wherever and whenever you find them.
Zoe Miller
know what had happened! “It was wonderful!” I sobbed.
And it was wonderful. In my Busey years, I never
worked so hard, learned so much, made such good
friends, or had so much fun in my life. I love and appreciate
Mr. Cobb for hiring me. I have often said
that he gave me back my career.
The Busey School was more than a job. I saw it from
the perspectives of a teacher and parent. The qualities
that distinguished it as “wonderful” to me are intangible.
In so many ways, Busey exemplified how Woodward Academy
values education, its respect for tradition as well as innovation,
the fostering of collegial relationships, the importance of educating the whole child,
and the way it excites the support of parents. Busey was like my family, and I knew I belonged
there. There never was, and never will be, another school like it. I will always
cherish the memory of the Busey School.
Ruth Miller
preparing prize eggs and hiding the eggs for the Easter egg
hunts held each spring, and walking around the school at
night to find the door that was left open so that the alarm
would set properly. Going with the Pre-Kindergarten
to the Krispy Kreme doughnut shop and chaperoning
the fourth, fifth, and six grade trips to Savannah,
Williamsburg, and Washington DC were both educational
and pleasurable. Dressing-up each Halloween
was enjoyable for students and faculty. One Christmas
I helped a student put on his Santa costume and encouraged
him to act jolly as he went out on the stage. That
time a student actually listened to me, and he was very jolly,
but he almost lost his pants while moving across the stage. He was
the hit of the program!
As you can tell, my years at Busey were filled with terrific experiences, and I am
blessed to have had the opportunity to work there with such a caring, dedicated faculty.
My Busey family and memories will be etched on my mind forever, and I am grateful to
everyone there who enriched my life and impacted it in such a positive way. I know I am
a better teacher today because of the lessons I learned at Busey. Thanks to Mr. Wolf and
Captain Brewster for allowing me to be a part of such a wonderful family. The nurturing
Busey campus was defintently Clayton County’s “best kept secret.”
Joanne Berry
with much love and concern for others. Many lives have
been touched by time spent at Busey. Those days will be
long cherished - and never forgotten.
Bonnie Turner
Instructional Aid-Kindergarten, 1st Grade, Administrative
Assistant