THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 13, 1996 TAG: 9606120130
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SHIRLEY BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 83 lines
BETTY TWITTY'S first teaching position was a learning experience she hadn't bargained for.
After completing her student teaching and doing secretarial work for four months at the former John Yeates High School, Twitty left to teach in an inner-city high school in New Haven, Conn.
A Suffolk native who had never traveled, Twitty determined quickly that the setting did not match her expectations.
``The students were tough because they had to be,'' she said. ``There were gangs and security guards . . . values were different.''
Despite the culture shock, Twitty said the experience proved positive. She developed rapport with her students, and another teacher - from the Virgin Islands - helped her adjust. The fellow worker continues to be her best friend.
``It was an eye-opener, and I learned a lot,'' Twitty said. ``Many of the students didn't have support at home. They were looking for love and someone to give them attention. I tried to attend as many of their sporting events as I could. It meant something to them to look up and see me there.''
When she returned to Suffolk in 1980, Twitty brought experience and dedication to her business classes at John Yeates High School. She also was determined to make learning fun.
Today, Twitty teaches business education classes at Lakeland High School and was recently named Suffolk's Vocational Teacher of the Year. The award is based on instructional effectiveness, vocational organization participation, community involvement and strength as a role model in leadership and communication skills.
``I like what I do, and I love my kids,'' Twitty said, smiling. ``I hope they know that.''
One of four siblings, Twitty planned a medical career before entering the COE program at John F. Kennedy High School.
``I thought I wanted to go into medicine, but after working for two doctors in the Cooperative Office Education Program in high school, I realized I couldn't hurt someone to help them,'' she said.
Twitty received a bachelor's degree in education at Norfolk State University in 1979. She left her teaching job in Connecticut and returned to Suffolk to marry her high school sweetheart, LeVin Twitty; teach in her hometown and live near family members.
``I believe in the extended family,'' she said. ``I wanted my children to know grandparents, aunts and uncles. My mother baby-sits for me, and I don't have to worry about rushing home.''
The Twittys have two children, LeVin Twitty II, 9, and 6-month-old Michaela.
When she was on maternity leave last year, Twitty asked substitute teachers to send her her students' papers.
``I had to stay in contact with them,'' she said.
Twitty has served as coordinator of the cooperative program at John Yeates High School and as the adviser for the Future Business Leaders of America.
The FBLA at Lakeland earned honors for the largest membership in the region for 1995, and the second-largest membership for 1996. Twitty earned the FBLA Adviser Award in 1995 and was nominated by a former Lakeland student to Who's Who Among American Teachers for 1995-96.
For three years, Twitty sponsored a basketball game for teachers, students and parents to build team spirit at Lakeland High School. They raised funds for ASK (Association for the Study of Childhood Cancer Research), as well.
``I also love to play volleyball,'' she said. ``I have company for cookouts and their pay-off is to play volleyball with me.''
Twitty has been the evaluation team co-leader for the ``High Schools That Work'' reform grant project at Lakeland, junior class sponsor, and Academic Team director and coach.
While Twitty was a member of the Tabernacle Christian United Church of Christ, she organized a weekly after-school program for local children.
When she recently joined the East End Baptist Church, where her husband is a member, Twitty was asked to start a children's church there.
This summer, Twitty will attend a three-week computer class at Tidewater Community College.
``I have to stay ahead of the students,'' she said. ``I will teach a keyboarding class for intermediate-level students at Lakeland. The state of Virginia has mandated that students become computer literate.'' MEMO: Also honored by the Vocational Education Advisory Council were
Melvin Bradshaw, a technology education teacher at Nansemond River High
School, and Renny Parziale, a culinary arts teacher at P.D. Pruden
Vo-Tech. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
``I like what I do, and I love my kids,'' says Betty Twitty, a
business teacher at Lakeland High. by CNB