Shirley Phillips leaves teaching legacy

Her dad was a Math teacher at Lamar High School and University of Houston Her mom also taught as a Physical Education at Houston I.S.D. “I was a blend of both parents,” Shirley Phillips, WISD retiring teacher said.

A Bellaire H.S. in Houston product, she believes teaching is on her blood. She received her B.S. in Math, got married to Larry, worked as a teacher in Houston and then put her life on hold until her firstborn. Later they added four more children.

With the children growing they decided to move to Porter, Texas where she obtained a job at New Caney H.S. When her oldest was in high school they moved to Oak Ridge.

“When my parents retired to Wimberley we came for a visit, we fell in love. In 1985 we bought twenty acres and in 1995 we moved here.” She got a job at Drippings Springs Junior High.

Again, she had to stop for family sickness, taking care of her father instead of putting him in a nursing home. When she returned teaching, she became a testing specialist at Smithson Valley Junior High.

“I worked with 8th graders who could not pass TEAMS or TAKS (state tests). At the end of the year they beat the AP class. They were very successful,” Shirley said. A stop at Austin ISD where she supervised five Math programs was next.

“Get me out of here and back in the classroom,” was her mantra and she got her wish when she would be teaching 20 freshmen the basics of Math one and a half hours a day in San Marcos.

Finally at Wimberley High School she got a halfday spot teaching remedial TAKS with two classes a day. “I was helping with their weaknesses, individuals with their exit tests senior year. It was very rewarding.”

Openings happened and “I wanted to do what the department needed.” Full time now she taught Algebra and Geometry. “I love Math and working with kids…I enjoyed Geometry but loved freshman.”

One of her major accomplishments is receiving a M.S. in Education from Sam Houston State University. With kids, life and night school, it took her seven years. One thing that she misses is teaching to the test takes all of the time in the classroom.

“You have to teach one section a day. It makes it hard on a kid. You don’t have the time. It makes it harder for the kids to see another side of you. You don’t have that opportunity.” Having time to reinforce learning with in class experiments, such as adding weights to a toy Slinky and watching it perform on steps.

One little trait she has learned to observe is that doodlers are usually good geometry students. “If they like drawing pictures in Geometry, I like working with them.”

She loves to travel and during the summers would pack up all five kids and one year travelled and camped 9,000 miles in five weeks. She has plans for this fall.

“It’s my first time ever to visit Tennessee to see her granddaughter and daughter during the change of seasons. I want to sit on the porch in Cumberland and catch their football games and what their day is like.”

When she returns home, she plans to tutor or whatever she can do at home, including gardening.

“I loved being a teacher. If you don’t love it, the kids can tell. They know if you don’t,” Shirley said.