Blount County Schools adds five to Educator Hall of Fame

Blount County Schools celebrated its legacy Thursday by adding five new members to its Educator Hall of Fame.

BCS Director David Murrell called them "legends" and said, "The stories of each of these educators are woven into our history and make us Blount County Strong."

As in previous years, the new inductees' stories were sometimes interwoven with other members of the Hall of Fame. The presenters told of the honorees' heart and leadership, showing the power of relationships forged in classrooms and the community.

Lives changed

JoAnn Doig taught for four years at Rockford, 30 years at Fairview, and after retiring in 2008 served eight years as an instructional assistant at Lanier Elementary.

Her efforts impacted not only her students but future generations of educators. As a member of the first teacher negotiating team with BCS, she saw changes such as pay going from monthly to twice a month and increased personal days for years of service. She worked with state legislators, too, on changes such as adding art, music and physical education classes, which also gave teachers more than one planning period a week.

Current Middlesettlements Elementary Principal Suzanne Graves met Doig as a fourth grader at Fairview and said her teacher had "an uncanny ability to know when things just weren't right in a student's life."

Reading a letter from another former student, Graves told how Doig and her husband became foster parents in the early 1980s for one of her Fairview students and the child's brother, who otherwise would have been split into different homes.

"I felt safe, I felt loved and I felt wanted," wrote the former student, describing the life-changing impact on those children.

When Doig accepted her award, she thanked the next honoree for taking her under her wing. "You guided me at Rockford," she told Robin Goddard.

Connected through history

In introducing Goddard, retired BCS educator and administrator Jennifer Moore rang an old-fashioned school bell.

During her 25 years teaching at Rockford Elementary, Moore said, Goddard created hands-on, nature-based learning opportunities that helped students understand the relevance of what they were learning to the world around them.

Beyond that, Goddard has served as an interpretive guide in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, educating visitors about education in the region at Little Greenbriar Schoolhouse.

"We become educators because we want our lives to have impact, on the lives of a child, on a community, on the world," Moore said, and Goddard still embodies that belief.

In accepting the honor, Goddard read a thank-you note she wrote to Elsie Burrell, one of the first inductees to the BCS Educators Hall of Fame in 2018. "Elsie was why I am who I am," Goddard said, crediting Burrell's support and inspiration.

At 101

The next recipient, 101-year-old Sterling Hearon, accepted the honor with appreciation and a simple, "Thank you very, very kindly."

The Happy Valley native served in the U.S. Navy for four years during World War II and then farmed while being a teacher and principal.

He was certified in special education and started his 25-year BCS career at Townsend high school, according to retired instructional assistant Debbie Boring.

He also served as principal at Everett High and as a Special Olympics coach. Even after retiring in 1985, he continued supporting agricultural education programs.

Leadership

Former Maryville City Schools Director Mike Dalton lauded the leadership of inductee Floyd Porter, who was BCS superintendent when the district consolidated multiple high schools into Heritage and William Blount in the 1970s.

Dalton was an assistant superintendent under Porter and said, "I don't know how he did it," calling what Porter accomplished in those years "almost miraculous."

Current BCS school board member Phil Porter highlighted his daddy's life, growing up in the hills of Six Mile, hitchhiking or catching an Aluminum Co. bus to attend Maryville College, and shoveling coal and cinders on campus to pay the tuition.

Floyd Porter began his career in the two-room Union Grove school in 1940 but served as an artillery forward observer during World War II and the Korean War.

He served as a teaching principal at Binfield and then Alnwick school. "In his first years there, he was also a bookkeeper, a lunch room manager, basketball coach," Phil Porter explained.

He was elected school superintendent in 1974, retiring at the end of his second term. "He was especially proud of starting Junior ROTC programs in both of the new high schools," the son said, noting the programs continue to this day.

Floyd Porter was elected to the Blount County Board of Education in 1988, finishing the four-year term at the age of 74.

Inspiring students

Laura Snoderly, an administrative assistant in the BCS human resources office, introduced the evening's final inductee, saying Steve Stout was not only her favorite teacher but everyone's favorite teacher.

When she asked how many attendees had a nickname given to them by Stout several raised their hands.

Before going on to become an assistant principal at Heritage Middle and Heritage High, and then principal of Townsend Elementary, he was her teacher at Montvale.

All of the inductees have two things in common, she noted, building relationships and inspiring students.

"Being an unforgettable and impactful teacher has almost nothing to do with the lessons learned in class," Snodderly observed. "It has everything to do with building relationships and inspiring students to be their best selves."

She was in the sixth grade at Montvale in 1988 when Stout began teaching there. She described him as young, super blond, loud and hilarious. "He looks like he just walked out of a frat house," Snoderly said to laughter, "and he's walking around the halls singing — no lie — 'Welcome to the Jungle.'"

Stout taught every subject but math, she said, and every one was fun and engaging. "My favorite class was P.E. I am not an athlete," she confessed. "The only thing I run is my mouth."

He recently told her that there was no curriculum, so he made it up. The classes included not only running and dodge ball but sometimes watching Richard Simmons' "Sweatin' to the Oldies." When they played basketball Stout acted like a sports announcer, and Snoderly said sitting next to him awaiting their turn was the most entertaining part of the day.

Then she told about the school trip when she sat in a field and needed to then cover the white shorts she had worn that day, so Stout gave her his jacket to wrap around her waist. "He would literally give you the shirt off his back if you needed it," she said, her voice breaking with emotion.

Then, on behalf of his students over a 30-year career, she said, "I want to say, in your words, 'Love ya!' and welcome to the BCS Educator Hall of Fame," as the Guns n' Roses song began to play.

In the speech that followed, Stout said every BCS director with whom he has worked has always emphasized relationships. "For some reason that was really the only thing I was good at," he said with a laugh, building relationships with students and their parents.

Then with a serious tone he said, "I am very proud to be a lifelong Blount County educator, a Blount County student."