make a difference in our lives. When I started fifth
grade at West Point School, I met such a per-
son. She is a teacher I will always remember: Ms.
Gerdye Howell.
“Today as I look back, I realize that she had very
little state or county money to spend in the class-
room,” Harbison wrote. “I am sure she spent much
of her own money to meet our needs. Through her
creativeness, she instilled in me a desire and love
for learning. She showed patience, kindness, and
encouragement, as she so faithfully taught from
day to day.”
Harbison said that her former teacher let her
know that she was extremely strict in her teaching
and, that as a student, she must always do her best.
“She would accept nothing short of this,” Harbi-
son penned in her article.
As a child, Harbison said, she kind of thought
her mentor was “called” to teach, much like a
preacher is “called” to preach. “I noticed that this
lady didn’t just teach the Bible, she lived it. Many
students soon found that she believed, very strong-
ly, in Proverbs 13:22 : ‘He who spares the rod hates
his son, but he who loves him is careful to disci-
pline him.’”
Harbison said her former teacher also let her
students know she loved them.
“Building good character and getting along with
others were very important to her,” said Harbison.
“She never read the Ten Commandments to us, as
I remember, but now I understand where she got
her rules. We were not allowed to steal, give false
testament against others, misuse God’s name or use
other bad language. We were taught to treat oth-
ers as we wanted to be treated. Within her was the
desire to make a difference in educating children.
“I was very fortunate in being able to do my
student teaching with her 33 years ago,” she said.
“It brought back so many precious memories. But
in working with her, I also learned many things of
practical use that were never covered in textbooks.
I learned the importance in helping each child to
do his or her best. Her classroom management and
control was just as emphatic as it has been when I
was a fifth grader. Just as in my days, the students
loved her dearly.”
Alice Harbison as a child.
Harbison said after spending nearly 36 years in
a classroom of her own, she found herself using
some of Howell’s methods. “I put forth the effort to
read to my students every day because that was my
favorite time of the day when I was in her class-
room as a student.
“Ms. Howell, not only made a difference in my
life, but she made a difference in hundreds of lives
through her many years dedicated to teaching,”
she said. “I often thought that when she arrived in
heaven she would wear a crown with hundreds of
jewels to represent the many lives she has touched.”
Harbison also won many awards over the years
for her outstanding service as an educator—the
plaques displayed elegantly on shelves in her home
library.
As Harbison recalled the impact her teacher had
on her, she couldn’t help but reflect over how much
teaching has changed since she taught school.
“There is so much more that teachers can do
technology wise that they couldn’t do when I was
teaching,” she said. “Take Pinterest for example;
this source of technology provides a gateway to cre-
ativity that we didn’t have back then.”
CULLMAN COUNTY SENIOR MAGAZINE
SUMMER 2020 | 19