Two Lakewood Elementary educators, who have been friends since the 1960s, retire after a combined 70 years of teaching at the south St. Petersburg school.
By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published June 9, 2004
ST. PETERSBURG - Alma Cherry and Izella McCree can hardly remember a time when they didn't know each other.
Their sisters were classmates at Gibbs High School more than half a century ago. They became friends through their churches in the 1960s. In the 1970s, they became colleagues at Lakewood Elementary School.
The veteran educators retired May 18, ending a combined 70 years of service to children at the south St. Petersburg school. Since then, they have spent time thinking back over their long careers.
Last week, they shared some observations with Neighborhood Times.
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Alma Cherry was born in 1942 in a small town in Alabama that no longer exists. She moved to St. Petersburg with her parents when she was in seventh grade and graduated from Gibbs High School in 1960.
Inspired by teachers she admired, she decided to major in education at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. She earned a bachelor's degree in 1964. Her first job was at Jordan Elementary, a school that had been built for black students in the 1920s.
During her first year, she was transferred to Lakeview Elementary, which later became Lakeview Fundamental. Then, when the district began moving toward integration, she transferred to Lakewood Elementary and became one of the school's first African-American teachers.
She recalls the early years of desegregation in Pinellas County as peaceful, at least at the elementary school level.
"I can't remember anything that really stands out," she said. "Little kids don't tend to 1960s, she began teaching at Mount Zion Progressive Missionary Baptist Church's kindergarten, which was run by her husband's parents.
She studied early childhood education at St. Petersburg Junior College and thought about getting a bachelor's degree in education but was hired as a teacher's assistant at Lakewood Elementary School in 1973.
Her title changed during the years - when she retired, she was known as a teacher partner - but her responsibilities stayed the same.
"My job was to try to get the kids who were at rock bottom and try to bring them up to grade level," Mrs. McCree said. "It's been a challenge."
One of the things that has made her job more difficult during the years, she said, has been a decline in parental involvement.
"I can't say the younger generation doesn't love their kids, but they don't see the necessity of going that extra mile," she said. "They expect the system to do it all for them."
Court-ordered busing for desegregation, which forced black children to leave their neighborhoods, made things more complicated, she said. Parents lost their sense of ownership in the schools their children attended, and many lacked transportation to attend parent-teacher conferences.
She thinks the district's new student assignment program, which offers parents more choice in where their children attend school, is a good idea. But she hopes it won't short-circuit diversity.
Throughout her 31 years at Lakewood, Mrs. McCree has held fast to one cardinal rule.
"I tried to never let a child go home angry or upset," she said. "I always tried to make him feel like somebody loved him."
She also maintained her conviction that all children can learn.
"I believe that if you put it out there enough and the school and the parents work together as partners, we can get the job done," she said. "As long as there's breath, there's hope."
She plans to return to Lakewood when school starts to work in the cafeteria. She figures she'll be another resource for children who need someone to talk to.
"My passion has always been with the children," she said. "I'm ready to do another 31 years."
