RETI RE MENT RELAY
Retirement Relay is a series featuring retired profesionals
in Cullman County who have made a difference
AHeart
of Gold
DEDICATED DECADES TO MOLDING THE LIVES
OF CHILDREN ALL OVER CULLMAN COUNTY
W
By Kelly Wheeler
hen Alice Harbison walked into her in-
home library in Vinemont and picked
up a children’s book, she didn’t just
stand there and casually scan through the materi-
al. Instead, the retired elementary school teacher
started reading through the popular children’s se-
ries and recalling the days of yesterday—when she
would spend every single day molding the minds of
third graders in Cullman County.
“Do I miss it?!” she repeated thoughtfully after
being asked the question. “Well, I guess you could
say I do, probably not as much as I did after I first
retired, but teaching comprised the majority of my
life for so long that in many ways it is always going
to be my first love.”
And one unique aspect of her career is that she
spent the entirety of her career in the same class-
room, in the same school, for 35 years.
“Guess you can say that I didn’t have to learn
how to adjust to a new environment!” she said. “My
classroom was like my second home and it was
where I spent the majority of my time, working
with children in the Jones Chapel area, hoping to
18 | SUMMER 2020
instill in them a love for reading and writing.”
Plus, she said one neat thing was watching her
students grow up and become educators them-
selves.
“I loved the fascinating kids who surrounded me
every day,” she said. “They were so funny and so
resilient. To me, they were without a doubt worth
getting up before sunrise and putting in way too
many hours a week. I’ve developed lasting relation-
ships with kids I taught more than a decade ago. “
The elegantly and beautifully composed retired
school teacher recalled how she would see several
former students at church or “just out in the com-
munity.” Harbison said that she was hired in 1966-
67 by Superintendent Earl York at Jones Chapel to
teach fourth grade. She taught third grade for 18
years and fourth grade for 17 years.
Harbison, who will be 84 in April, credited long-
time West Point Elementary School teacher Gerdye
Howell with inspiring her to become a teacher.
She even shared excerpts of a tribute she wrote
for Howell who taught her:
“As we pass through life, we meet people that
CULLMAN COUNTY SENIOR MAGAZINE