DEDICATION
EDUCATION TO
by Diane Ciarloni | photo courtesy of Argye ISD
“Be a teacher,” they say. “Arrive on-site with 24/7 dedication and inspiration. Form future citizens. Help determine what kids learn and how they learn it. Be responsible for shaping bodies, minds, and spirits. Plant and cultivate a legacy of learning.”
T
hey didn’t mention that following this path successfully requires bottomless dedication, unblinking commitment, willing sacrifice, constant creativity, and a steadfast faith that the kids under your care are worth everything you do for them. Sounds like the description for a superhero, doesn’t it? There was a time when Argyle ISD Superintendent Dr. Telena Wright was known simply as Telena Burk, from the small west Texas town of Ballinger. Her mother, Juanita, landed her
Master’s degree in English when Telena was seven. Her father, Orvalee, taught vocational agriculture.
During the hot, dusty summers, one
of her duties was to drive around the
neighborhood and pick up the Hispanic children for English lessons. Telena
handed them a pair of flip flops before they headed for their class, which
was taught by Telena’s mother. They
loaded back in the car at the end of the session, put their flip flops in a box until next time, and returned home. Telena knew what the
youngsters needed to learn and
where they should be to learn it. Telena considered a career as a
pharmacist, concentrating her early
studies on math and chemistry at the University of Texas. Before long,
her genetic predisposition to education kicked
in. She finished her
undergraduate studies and then moved to
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Hardin Simmons University in Abilene for her Master of Education. She achieved her Doctor of Education in 2000 at the University of North Texas, returning there part-time to teach campus law for the past seven years. “I worked at a pharmacy during high school and college,” Telena explained. “That was the influence for my early thinking but moving into education was natural for me. I became a counselor, a teacher, an assistant principal, a principal, a certified chemical dependency specialist, an assistant superintendent, and a superintendent. What that means is I have hands-on experience from just about all educational perspectives and levels. “I was given a box of chalk and two teacher’s manuals when I started. Our technology consisted of reel-toreel tape machines so we could watch educational films. Technology (computers) has been the biggest, most far-reaching, and most positive change within education. The teachers – all the people who go into education both then and now – are still the same. They are individuals interested in, and committed to, the youth of our country.” AUGUST 2021 | ARGYLE LIVING | 11
