Soul of 78: Robbie O’Rear

Retired First Grade Teacher, Memorial Park Elementary School

Words by Jenny Lynn Davis | Image by Ryan McGill

Robbie O'Rear married her husband, Brack, on a Saturday in the fall of 1962. By Sunday, the two had moved to Jasper so Brack could begin his job at T.R. Simmons Elementary School that Monday morning. But that wasn't the only thing that happened on Monday.

In the early hours of the morning, before the newlyweds had planned to wake up and start their day, the phone rang. It was the superintendent of Walker County Schools, a friend of Robbie's new mother-in-law, calling to ask if she had any interest in teaching at Sumiton School.

The Gadsden native recalls the early morning phone call, "I had been in Walker County for all of two days, all I knew was the little part of Jasper where we were living. So, I turned to Brack and said 'Do I want to teach at Sumiton?' and he said yes, so I said yes, and later that day I started with a class of 45 fifth graders."

While that was a hefty workload for her first job out of school, Robbie was eager to begin the career for which she had worked so hard. She later found that this position helped lay a strong foundation for the 32 years of teaching that followed.

After her first year at Sumiton and a three-year stint at West Jasper Elementary, Robbie found her home at Memorial Park Elementary, teaching first grade. She stayed in that role until her retirement in 1994 and says she couldn't have asked for a better opportunity.

The scope of elementary school saw a lot of change across Robbie's teaching career, but one thing remained constant—first grade was full of six-year-olds.

"Six-year-olds are just wonderful,” Robbie laughs. "They're happy and willing to learn, and also very sweet—invariably honest, but sweet. I couldn't get a bad haircut, because they'd sure let me know it was bad, but I also couldn't get away with having a bad day, because they'd do anything it took to make me smile and feel good. In turn I tried to uplift them and make them feel good, too.”

Robbie admits it never made sense to her when people remain in jobs they can’t stand. Even the harder days in school were ones she enjoyed.

“It was where I was supposed to be. It felt like home," she says. “I look back on teaching as a very pleasant experience and I’m glad I didn’t have to do something else, because it surely wouldn’t have been as fun!” 78