NewsStudent LifeFaculty/StaffPre-K to 8Service
Starnes, Blanton retire
May 24, 2002 8:00 AM
By Stefan Eady - Faculty
Beth Starnes, Lower School first grade teacher, is retiring after 42 years of teaching, which includes 29 years at Darlington. “If Darlington had a teachers’ hall of fame, Beth Starnes would have to be at or near the head of the class. Her picture should be right beside the word “professional” in the dictionary,” Lower School Principal Mark Tayloe said to the audience of Darlington faculty, friends, and Board of Trustee members during the Brown Dinner, at the Coosa Country Club, May 9. “She is one of the most confident teachers I’ve ever been around. She’ll make you believe she knows what she’s talking about even when she doesn’t –and I’ve never known a time when she didn’t. And I wouldn’t have the courage to tell her if I did!”
Tayloe describes Starnes as an energetic individual who generates ideas and is always current on many issues and trends in education, a tremendous resource for her colleagues. “One of the reasons she’s such a wonderful teacher is that she’s an avid learner. It pains me to think of the Lower School without her. She has touched the lives of so many children and pulled mouthfuls of teeth along the way. As she said to me in March, though, it’s time –time to travel, stay home all day, and spend more time with her family and outside among the frogs,” Tayloe said.
Betty Blanton is retiring after 16 years as a kindergarten aide. “She is one of the most dependable, faithful, consistent workers I’ve ever known. In fact, I can’t remember the last time she missed a day of work,” Tayloe explained at the Brown Dinner. “She does her job thoroughly and always with a smile.” Tayloe described her as a humble, devout Christian who genuinely loves children –and someone who the children love in return. “She’s as even-keeled s a person can be, and she has always been a calming influence in the classroom.” After retiring, Blanton plans to spend a lot more time with her family.
Tayloe describes Starnes as an energetic individual who generates ideas and is always current on many issues and trends in education, a tremendous resource for her colleagues. “One of the reasons she’s such a wonderful teacher is that she’s an avid learner. It pains me to think of the Lower School without her. She has touched the lives of so many children and pulled mouthfuls of teeth along the way. As she said to me in March, though, it’s time –time to travel, stay home all day, and spend more time with her family and outside among the frogs,” Tayloe said.
Betty Blanton is retiring after 16 years as a kindergarten aide. “She is one of the most dependable, faithful, consistent workers I’ve ever known. In fact, I can’t remember the last time she missed a day of work,” Tayloe explained at the Brown Dinner. “She does her job thoroughly and always with a smile.” Tayloe described her as a humble, devout Christian who genuinely loves children –and someone who the children love in return. “She’s as even-keeled s a person can be, and she has always been a calming influence in the classroom.” After retiring, Blanton plans to spend a lot more time with her family.
