Louvenia Martin looks back on
a life of teaching, learning
By Frank Ruggiero
Once a teacher, always a teacher.
Louvenia Martin may have replaced the chalk with retirement,
but her tales and memoirs continue to enrich the lives of
others.
Louvenia
Martin holds a scrapbook from her days of teaching.
Photo
by Mark Mitchell |
The daughter of George and Melvina Presnell, Martin, 82,
is Boone native, having grown up near Matney in days of
“scrub baseball” and honest-to-goodness spring
water.
She attended Cool Springs School, which served as a building
block of her career in education and led her to attend Appalachian
State Teachers College in 1943.
The college, she said, was wonderful, but with rigid rules.
Girls could only ride in a car with their parents, Martin
recalled, and all students had to be studying in their dormitory
rooms by 8 p.m. sharp. This didn’t prevent Martin and
her fellow students from slipping the night watchman some
spare change to fetch some sandwiches from Boone Drug. It
did, however, prevent her from sneaking out, since Martin
did not want to lose her scholarship.
Upon graduating ATSC in 1947 with a bachelor of science
in elementary education, she taught sixth grade in McDowell
County for a couple of years. Marriage to Winfield Martin
in 1949 took her to China, Maine, where she was met with
quite the contrast in culture. Boston baked beans and grain
bread were a far cry from the vegetables and cornbread found
in Boone, and Martin would find herself reminiscing about
her great uncle’s corn mill.
To escape the doldrums, Martin volunteered at the local
library and served on the children’s book committee.
Curiously enough, her helpful demeanor led to a stint as
a postmaster. The proper postmaster had scheduled a fishing
trip, but his previous substitute had fallen ill. Determined
to cast off, all the same, the postmaster enlisted the help
of Martin, who continued to work there on and off, even
after the trip.
Martin had her hands full, but she’d still find time
to read plenty of books. “I always worked hard in school,”
she said. “I’d patronize the library a lot, and
I loved to read the books from Maine. I’ve always been
a reader, and I still am.”
Winfield worked for the state highway department, and the
couple lived in Maine for five years, before returning to
North Carolina for Martin to renew her teaching certificate.
In 1956, Winfield died suddenly of coronary thrombosis,
leading Martin to remain in North Carolina. She kept their
lakeside house in Maine, however, along with all the friends
they had made throughout their half a decade spent there.
Martin eventually moved to Rockingham County, where she
taught elementary school for a few years, “and that
was an eye-opener because it introduced me to the tobacco
industry.”
Many of Martin’s students were tenant workers on tobacco
farms, she said, adding, “They were lovely children,
and it’s no wonder why they’d sometimes doze off
in school.”
In 1960, Martin earned her master’s degree in education
from Western Carolina University, before moving to Hendersonville
to work as the pilot teacher for a gifted students program.
“It was a small town, and everyone wanted to have a
gifted child, but I’m of the belief that every child
has a gift,” Martin said.
It was in that Hendersonville classroom that the Propeller
Club of the United States offered Martin and her class a
gift that literally kept on giving – the Adopt-A-Ship
program, in which classes correspond with the crew and captain
of a freightliner and apply tales from the sea to lessons
in the classroom.
For the 1968-69 school year, Martin and her Room 3 class
were assigned the SS Exminster, a large freighter for American
Export Isbrandsten Lines.
Students would write letters to the captain and crew, who
would in turn write back and send souvenirs and curios,
which found their place in the classroom, such as in-laid
wood carvings from Indian and Greek vases. The Exminsters
also sent a large, carved Buddha statue, having told the
students to rub its belly for good luck.
“So, every test day, they’d rush to rub the Buddha’s
belly,” Martin said.
Room 3 adopted the Exminster through 1970, during which
Martin and her students corresponded with two captains,
the latter being Capt. F. Jung. During the midst of racial
tensions in the United States, students corresponded with
an ethnically-diverse crew, including black crewmembers,
teaching them firsthand the importance of equality.
The crew effectively became pen pals, and Martin and her
students had a vested interest in their wellbeing. When
a parent heard a report that the Exminster was taking in
water miles from Nantucket, Martin was on the edge of her
seat.
Fortunately, the ship was rescued and temporarily repaired,
and then towed to Bermuda. The freight company deemed the
Exminster beyond repair and sold it to Spain for scrap.
However, the company reclaimed its bell and mailed it to
Martin’s class. Needless to say, the class was surprised
upon the arrival of a giant parcel holding a 300-pound bell,
personally engraved for Martin and the school.
“My kids just went wild,” she said.
In 1986, Martin retired from teaching, but not from learning.
Instead of merely relaxing at home, she decided to travel
by way of Appalachian State University’s geography
department. She would sign on for trips with the university,
visiting locales the world over, including the Netherlands,
Eastern Europe, Latin America and Australia. When it’s
all tallied up, Martin has traveled to all 50 states and
35 countries.
While visiting Taipei, Martin checked into her hotel to
find three dozen red roses on her desk. Also, the message
light on her phone was blinking. Capt. Jung of the Exminster
had learned she was visiting and wished to take her to dinner
and show her Taipei.
“He was a generous, humorous human being who did a
tremendous amount for my classes,” Martin said. “I
wish every teacher could have that experience.”
In 2001, Martin returned to Boone, where she now resides
at Appalachian/Brian Estates. Although there are plenty
of pastimes and activities there, Martin prefers to remain
an active community member, attending Boone United Methodist
Church and arts programs at Appalachian State University.
Martin is of the opinion that one is never too old to learn,
even adding, “I learned a lot more than I taught.”
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