Published: October 14, 2008 10:20 pm         

Helping to shape young lives

A veteran of the classroom recalls career

The best teachers are those who make demands on their students.

And many would even say that the work they do as educators make them today’s true heroes.

“The influence of our teacher remains with us throughout our lifetime,” explained Jeff Britton, a retired English teacher with nearly four decades of teaching experience to his credit. “Teachers remain increasingly important as positive influences and role models for the youth of today.”

Education has always been acknowledged as the basis for creative thinking, the basis for keeping life fresh and interesting, according to Britton, who refused to yield to apathy and indifference. He spent his career encouraging, enlightening and inspiring his young charges every day.

“I guess I found the idea of making a difference somehow irresistible,” explained the 73-year-old Britton.

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In what perhaps has become the world’s most important and demanding profession, Britton’s guiding spirit seems to embody those who were uniquely dedicated, creative and committed to the American classroom landscape during the second half of the 20th century.

This attitude, coupled with a road-warrior’s philosophy of making the most of time spent with the youth of our nation, impelled Britton to spend nearly 40 years in the public school classrooms of West Virginia and Virginia. He spent nearly three decades at WWHS in Beckley, where he also once played football and ran track as a student. He also taught seven years at Page County High School in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

What led to Britton’s lengthy and productive career as an educator? “I enjoyed going to school,” he said. “I thought I’d enjoy teaching school.”

Who was Britton’s major influence? “I would say Coach Jerome Van Meter, a former educator coach at WWHS: He was a father figure. My father died when I was 3. Coach Van Meter was the closest thing to a father I ever had. I played football and ran track for him when I was a student at WWHS from the fall of 1949 to spring of 1952.”

What was the educator’s greatest emotional satisfaction while working with kids? “When they came back after they graduated from high school and college to see me. I appreciated the award the Key Club gave me at the state convention in the mid-1960s and the state key club award in 1975 as outstanding key club advisor for the state. We had students who participated at every administrative level from local and state officers to international trustees.”

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What is Britton’s philosophy of education? “If you make it interesting and challenging for the students, they will achieve,” he said. “I always tried to set a goal for the students. I gave them a syllabus and if they could complete all the steps, the amount of work and success with the syllabus determined their grade. They seemed to appreciate it. It made them feel responsible for their grades as much as I was, even more so.”

How has education changed over the years? “In early days, students were responsible for their learning. Today, the teacher is more responsible for forcing the students to learn. Students don’t have the strong desire to achieve that students used to have. Students are more social and less academic today. That’s not all bad, but it affects the quality of learning in the classroom.”

How does he stay involved with students today?

“Every morning on a volunteer basis, just doing basic supervision during bus duty at WWHS and meeting with Key club members; that keeps me young, because I like to do it.”

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What is the funniest thing that ever happened to you?

“There were several things: In AP class, we had super rapport and one day as I walked in when the bell rang, all students had turned their chairs around, facing the back of the room.

“I had many of the senior cheerleaders in class, and my wife Sue (a retired math and computer science teacher at WWHS who was the sponsor at the time) let them in and they wove maroon and white paper into chains that stretched across the room in several places. We had to use scissors to get in the next morning.

“On another occasion, both of our cars were gift-wrapped in toilet tissue. With those kinds of harmless practical jokes, you knew the students appreciated what you were doing for them.”

Why does Britton still stay involved with education? “I enjoy the kids,” he said. “A person needs something to make him feel useful. A person gets old too fast just sitting around. I plan to totally retire when I hit 90.”