A Career of Service: Veteran Teachers in Their Own Words

Credits: MILTB Photography Committee

There are over 30 teachers at Vestavia Hills High School who have taught here for more than twenty years. Whether or not you realize it, these veteran teachers, who have dedicated their careers to your education, safety, and well-being, have likely profoundly influenced you in some way. Even if you have not had them as a teacher, they are mentors and role models for pretty much every faculty member at VHHS. I had the privilege of getting to talk to some of them about their experiences as educators. The original plan for this article was to include some of the material from those interviews, but mostly my own commentary. However, their responses to my questions were simply too great not to share. Therefore, this article is dedicated almost entirely to the words of the teachers themselves. 

Many teachers had very different expectations of what their career would look like today when they started teaching. Dr. Toland, who has been teaching social studies at VHHS for 22 years, says that he initially planned to teach for 10 years. “Over time, though, my thoughts changed, and I came to realize I could have a bigger impact by staying,” he says. Others, though, had a set goal in mind when they started their teaching career. Dr. Horton, one of the band directors, said that when he and Ms. Palmer came to VHHS, they made it their mission to build a band program that they would be proud of. “I think we can honestly say that we have collectively built something that is unique to Vestavia Hills, and that was our goal.”

Whether they planned to teach for 5 years or 35 years, our veteran teachers have inevitably encountered challenges that helped them grow. Ms. Richardson, an AP Biology teacher who is currently in her 20th year of teaching at VHHS, says that one of her biggest challenges as an educator was mastering the material. “Sometimes teachers are expected to have all the answers, and we can’t know everything,” she says. “The way I handled that was just asking other teachers who are also masters in their content. So the first year I taught AP Biology, I sat in another teacher’s room every single day while she taught.” Ms. Palmer noted that the band directors have often had trouble with people understanding the band program as a whole. “Sometimes we’ve struggled with having people actually understand what we do, and what the program is actually about,” she says. “It’s not just to go out and play loud for people; it’s an educational experience, too. You guys are not just a record player for whoever needs some music.”

Nevertheless, their long and challenging careers proved rewarding. When asked what they were most proud of, every teacher had an answer specific to them, but they were all focused on their students’ accomplishments. Ms. Aiken, a history teacher of 32 years who has had one of the longest teaching careers of any teacher in the Vestavia Hills school system, said that she was most proud of the Support Our Soldiers club, which was founded at VHHS following the September 11th attacks. “Students ‘adopted’ a unit from the 20th Special Forces, headquartered in Birmingham, that was deployed to Afghanistan,” she describes. “They created ‘shoebox’ care packages for those deployed. The Support Our Soldiers Club later evolved into the ‘Spirit of America.’” When asked the same question, Dr. Horton said that he is most proud of the lives he has helped influence as a teacher. He referenced Walker Burroughs, a former student who is now an acclaimed singer and songwriter. He also recounted an anecdote shared by a friend who is also a music educator. “He said he stopped displaying trophies, and he started putting up pictures of students. So I think the people are what I’m most proud of.” Madame Harlan, one of the French teachers, says that she is “the most proud when [she] is with [her] students in France and [she] get[s] to witness them trying out their skills in the wild for the first time.”

Despite their wisdom, these teachers acknowledged that they had much to learn from the students they had taught over the years. Ms. Gifford, who has taught math and coached the Geometry Math Team since 1996, says that she loves teaching high school students because they are “very optimistic and fun to be around.” Ms. Richardson also commented on the upbeat energy of teenagers, saying that her experience teaching high school students has taught her to “laugh at [herself]” and that “life is meant to be enjoyed.” Teaching teenagers has also helped some teachers understand more about themselves. Ms. Palmer, who has been the band director at VHHS for 22 years, explained that she had to adjust how she related to her students after coming to Vestavia. “I didn’t grow up this way,” she says, “having the kind of opportunities that you guys have. But I also can’t assume that everybody has had the opportunities that a lot of people have here. There are still a lot of people here who struggle with things… I had to be compassionate in a different way, and not make assumptions.” 

Over the course of their career, these teachers have witnessed the evolution of Vestavia Hills High School. Entire halls have been added to the building, principals have come and gone—Ms. Rohling, the guidance counselor, says she has been around for nine of them—and thousands of great students have graduated. They had a lot to say when asked about the evolution of the culture of the student body over the years. Many of them claimed that students were less independent than they are now. “When I came to Vestavia, students did not have phones,” says Ms. Dalton, the Yearbook sponsor and 10th-grade English teacher. “They went through the day without contact with parents, so they learned how to figure things out or ask for help rather than relying on parents to fix problems.” Other teachers noted how students have generally gotten more respectful over the years. Dr. Horton and Ms. Palmer discussed how the culture of the band was more hostile when they started, saying that the students were “more combative and less cooperative” in general. “It was a little bit more rough around the edges,” says Coach Hatchett, the legendary former basketball coach who now serves as a substitute teacher. Ms. Gifford said that “they used to do senior pranks,” recalling one year in which students took desks out of classrooms and put them on the roof. 

Credits: MILTB Photography Committee

Each teacher interviewed was asked what their teaching philosophy was. Here’s what they said:

Ms. Dalton: “They are never required to see a piece as I see it. I do not hold all the expertise on literature in the room. Each student can become his or her own expert. Last year, a student said to me that he just realized at sixteen years old that repeating back what a teacher has said is not learning. If that is the only lesson I ever teach, then I am the teacher I always hoped to become.”

Madame Harlan: “I want each student who walks through my doors to feel safe, seen, and valued. I want my students to leave my class with new perspectives on themselves and the world. I strive to encourage curiosity, empathy, and empowerment in my students. My goal is that students can use language as a powerful tool to connect with others.”

Dr. Horton: “Everybody has this unique skill or talent, but when you put that all together, it just elevates it, and everybody gets better. So I always say that we know that everybody’s not going to be a professional musician, but we know that they’re going to be professional people. We feel like we’re providing a space where, through studying music, we can help people gain skills that they’re going to take with them for the rest of their lives.”

Ms. Richardson: I think my teaching philosophy is that everyone can do hard things. Everyone is going to face a challenge at some point in their learning life, and the best thing you can do is your best. So, that’s going to look different for everybody, and that’s okay. As long as you’re doing your best and challenging yourself every day, that’s the best way to learn. You can’t learn if it’s too easy.”

Ms. Gifford: “If I expect my students to do their best, then I need to do my best as well.”

Ms. Rohling: “All students want to be accepted and seen and valued, and we all need to make an effort to do that.”

Coach Hatchett: “Remember the past, live in the present, and plan for the future. I live in the present.”

Ms. Palmer: “Being in band saved me when I was in high school. And in high school, I never realized that I would be a band director. But it saved me, and I went on to realize that I wanted to instill that into young people… I don’t do it to make ones at contests, even though that’s awesome and fun, but the feeling of knowing that you guys walk into a room and have a place of confidence and happiness.”