"The pay might change, but the work probably won't":
Dr. Beulah Winfrey's Reflections on Her 50 Years at C of O
Dr. Beulah Winfrey's Reflections on Her 50 Years at C of O
"Discard haste, carelessness, inattention, ignorance, lack of pride. Don't say I'm too young, too old, no time, too hard, too dull, I give up . . . ," Mrs. Beulah Winfrey cautioned at the 1990 College of the Ozarks' commencement address, just as she has advised students on hundreds of occasions.
For many graduates of the college, these words still resonate, no matter how long ago they heard them spoken and watched them lived. Current students, too, are reminded daily--either verbally or through their own powers of observation--of this part of the creed by which Beulah has shaped her 50 years at the institution. In fact, it is in living this creed that Beulah epitomizes the best that College of the Ozarks represents.
After growing up on a farm in Montrose, MO, Beulah attended Central MO State University, completing her B.S. in Education in 1948 and later returning for her M.A. in 1961. She came to The School of the Ozarks in 1948, hired to teach business classes at what was then a 300-student work-study high school just south of Branson. She says she has never thought about leaving the school to work somewhere else, and adds wryly, "Just getting here was hard enough. I came for an interview in March of 1948. Wayne offered to bring me down [from the Lake of the Ozarks area], but I hardly thought that would be appropriate to have your boyfriend bring you down for a job interview. So I got on the bus and had to ride all over the county before I changed buses at Springfield. When I was sitting in the bus station in Springfield, waiting for hours for the bus that would take me on to Branson, I think I was sure having second thoughts about what was appropriate."
Over the past half a century, she has watched the school grow from high school, to junior college, to a four-year undergraduate college with a full-time enrollment of 1,500 students. In the early years of the school, she worked with nearly every student on campus; today, she teaches approximately 200 different students a year, serves on several faculty committees, donates time and money to promoting special projects, and attends most of the special activities on campus.
She has worked to emulate the ideals articulated in the school's fivefold mission statement: to provide academic, spiritual, cultural, patriotic, and vocational growth for students found worthy of an education, but who lack sufficient economic resources to pursue such education on their own. Still one of the most active and vibrant members of the faculty, she remembers that her attitudes toward her work were shaped by her first year on campus:
"I could not believe all that Dr. Good and Dr. Clark expected. Mondays were 9-hour work days, and Saturdays were full days of classes. We had chapel twice a week; Sunday afternoons consisted of a 2-hour study and meditation. And I was asked to direct the junior class play--with no props and no experience. We supervised students on work assignments, and my first schedule was six classes--book keeping, shorthand, general business, and three typing classes--and a study hall," she recalls, and playfully adds, " The principal apologized because there was no demand for economics that year. I thought there was plenty to do without it." Her salary that first year was $ 150 a month, with very little time off for holiday trips home.
Dr. M. Graham Clark's early advice, "The pay might change, but the work probably won't," still amuses her, as she acknowledges that he was right: "The amount of work hasn't changed much." Still, as she thinks about those early years at the school, she is nostalgic for an attitude toward work that, she observes, doesn't always exist today: "I guess I'd say the standard of living has risen so much in the past couple decades that students are less appreciative of the opportunities here. Of course, we were a lot smaller then. I remember plenty of times we were asked to dismiss class and report with students to the bean patch because a frost was expected or to the canning factory because tomatoes or peaches wouldn't hold until the following Monday. The first spring I was here I accompanied students to strawberry patches, which we picked on shares. And, usually, the coaches took students to the blackberry patches."
Of course, her responsibilities did not stop with work and classes. After her first year of teaching, Beulah married Wayne Winfrey. They returned to campus as house supervisors for Foster Hall, then a boys' dormitory. "Just think about being twenty-one years old, getting married, and coming back to campus to hear ninety husky boys calling you 'Ma' and 'Pa.' That is what happened to us."
She and her husband quickly became influential role models for students. "I don't know how many of his white shirts and ties we loaned to boys for Sunday church nor how many times Wayne had to search buildings under construction to make sure boys were not hiding, trying to look for excuses not to attend required events. They even thought he was a student once and tried to hide him from the supervisor when they were rolling the trash barrel up and down the hall on roller skates," she chuckles.
Thousands of students remember with fondness their interactions with Beulah--her compassion, integrity, and no-nonsense approach to work that has to be done. Yet in her characteristically unassuming way, Beulah refuses to take too much credit for what her students go on to accomplish: "I hope I have inspired my students a little bit, but there we many, many teachers and administrators who influenced me. Five of those who are now deceased are Dr. R. M. Good, president of the school; Mrs. Lyta Good, Dr. Good's wife; Mrs. Elizabeth Clark; Joseph Ashcroft, sponsor of the Business Department and member of the Board of Trustees; and my husband, Wayne, who died in 1987."
Most influential in shaping her ethics, she believes, were her parents, of course, and Dr. Good. "He was always concerned about others, always giving and looking out for the boys and girls. He was the most unselfish person I have known. He would have taken the last thing out of his office or home to give to someone else if he thought it would make the person happy." Those students and staff who have been the recipient of Beulah's good will realize how well Dr. Good's lessons took.
Beulah also credits Mrs. Good and Mrs. Clark as serving as important role models for her: "Lyta Good was a walking encyclopedia; she knew all about the school, the students, their relatives; and she was an excellent math teacher. She was a role model for all of the young teachers. Elizabeth Clark was a different type of role model; she was the gracious lady of all functions."
Not surprising to those of us who are awe struck at Beulah's industry and goodness, one of her biggest worries over the years has been the responsibility inherent in sponsoring student activities. "When I sponsored the junior class play, I discovered that meant going to the dorm to get the girls and then returning them after practice. The dorms and gates were locked at 9:30 p.m. then. We took students on hikes and field trips. Then we also had some events off campus, and in the early days, there was always the worry of the bus breaking down. One time it took all the money the sponsors had and all the money students had to get the bus back on the road so we could get the students home safely." Though transportation breakdowns are less of a concern now, she is still wary about making sure all of the students in her care are safe and content.
While she considers it a privilege to be able to serve the college, her service has not gone unrecognized or unappreciated. In addition to being listed among the Outstanding Educators of America, Who's Who in American Universities and Colleges, Who's Who in Missouri Business Education, and Who's Who Among America's Teachers, Beulah has received several meritorious awards from the college: She received the Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1986; the C of O Alumni Distinguished Service Award in 1991; the Governor's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1993; and an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in 1994.
Dr. M. Graham Clark, former president of the college and former director of the Board of Trustees, says he cannot think of anyone who has surpassed Beulah's dedication to the college. "She is one of the finest teachers I have ever hired, and it was a lucky, lucky day for the school when she agreed to take the job. She has always been willing to pitch in with anything and has gotten along with everybody. I remember when we went from a high school to a junior college, some of the faculty dropped out when we made the change, but she got busy and got her masters and was ready to go to work teaching on the college level. She is as close to ideal as we have ever had."
Her influence extends into the surrounding community--both through the graduates of the college and through her own active participation in professional and church activities. A Charter Member of the local chapter of The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, she has held all offices in that organization for professional women educators and continues to inspire teachers at all levels.
As she thinks about changes in education over the past decades, she identifies technology as effecting the biggest change in the classroom. "I remember when we got the old Monroe Educators, a type of calculator which allowed you to crank the handle forward to add and crank it backward to subtract. Then you could turn the machine over for other operations. That is a far cry from the fancy hand-held gadgets we've got to work with now. Also, before we had overhead projectors and screens, we used discarded window shades to mark out the columns of a ledger and to demonstrate operations," she recalls.
While she feels uncomfortable making predictions about what upcoming decades will hold for education, she is warmly encouraging: "Some things won't change. Opportunity offers itself every day, according to your ability, your will for action, your power of vision, and your initiative. You must adapt to changing times, changing ideas, and changing needs. Just getting by is not enough."
And she adds with typical brusqueness, "Pay attention."
Photographs of Beulah Winfrey courtesy of Beulah Winfrey
