Kilgore College English instructor Bennie Brown recently celebrated 50 years of teaching at the college.
Brown, who was born in Union County, attended Norphlet Public Schools — which has since joined with Smackover Public Schools — until sixth grade when her family relocated to Texas in 1955. Still, she said her teachers at Norphlet had a large impact on her and influenced her to become a teacher.
Brown said she’s still in contact with some of the teachers she had at Norphlet Elementary School and enjoys coming back to the area to visit with people she knew. She also attends the reunions for her Norphlet class.
“I had some really good teachers at Norphlet,” she said. “I’m still in touch with my fourth grade teacher Ms. Mary Ellen White in Hot Springs. I haven’t seen her since fourth grade, but I’m making plans to see her this summer and we’re on Facebook together. She had a great big influence on me as a child.”
Brown attended Kilgore College with plans to study journalism, but she also knew that she wanted to teach. She ended up switching to English because she knew there wasn’t going to be very many journalism-focused teaching positions available. When she was growing up, there wasn’t very many careers for women — mostly secretaries, nurses and teachers.
“When I was a freshman at Kilgore College, my English teacher was Ms. Marge Griffin … she was such a good role model for a college English teacher and I thought ‘that’s where I want to be, right there,’” Brown said.
During her first five years after earning her bachelor’s degree, Brown taught at Judson Middle School and Pine Tree Independent School Districts in east Texas while working on her masters degree. After earning her masters degree, she applied to teach at Kilgore College.
“I was hired and the rest is history,” she said.
She’s been with the college for 50 years — starting in 1969 — and will be returning in the fall to start another year. Brown said, as of right now, retirement is not on the horizon for her. While she’s sure it’ll be coming at some point, her enjoyment of teaching is keeping her at Kilgore for the foreseeable future.
“I like it so much that I can’t get to a stopping place,” Brown said. “I just enjoy my students. They’re all really special. I enjoy taking them where they are when I get that and helping to raise them up to help them meet their academic and professional goals.”
In celebration of her anniversary, about 200 co-workers, friends and family members gathered at First Presbyterian Church in Longview, Texas — where Brown is a member. Along with the celebration was the announcement of a scholarship fund named after her. The The Bennie J. Brown Scholarship Fund is through the Kilgore College Foundation and will be given annually to Kilgore students who are studying to be teachers.
“I’m very humbled by it,” she said. “I was surprised and the fact that it’s going to be given to students who are planning to be teachers is a big plus, I think.”
Brown said her parents moved to Norphlet in 1923 and her father worked in the oil fields. He was transferred to Texas in 1955.
“It was really home to our family … we loved it,” she said. “My siblings also went through the Norphlet schools. Two of my sisters are also teachers and my cousin … was the principal at one of the elementary schools in El Dorado. We have a lot of teachers in the family.”
Michael Shine may be reached at 870-862-6611 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter and like him on Facebook @MichaelAZShine for updates on Union County school news.