Leola Morrison Downey

Leola Morrison Downey taught for 25 years - first in Millerton and then at Webutuck. I’m periodically asked: “What was it like to you have your mother as a teacher?”

It was my good fortune...and it had very little to do with the classroom.

On a personal level, growing up in the household of a teacher means living in an environment where information and thinking are valued. High standards are set. Your homework had better be done and you better do the best you can in anything you undertake. Though not always evident to me as a child, the value of that approach to life has become clearer over time.

On a broader level, because students reflect the community and family from which they come, my mother’s observations about young people gave me an early education about the complexity of the human mind and spirit. They also helped me better understand the factors which shaped the lives of my contemporaries and my community. The enduring value of those insights is greater than any I’ve received from my formal education.

Of course, there were some downside risks. My oldest friend has a wonderful sense of humor. He laughs easily and often. His classmates figured that out at an early age. Typical of young boys, we would make adolescent remarks under our breath in class to try to make him laugh. When he did, the teacher would reproach him and we would sit with innocent looks on our faces. In one of my “what-was-I-thinking-moments”, I tried it one day in my mother’s class. She looked right beyond my friend and said” Downey, cut that out” Nothing was said at dinner that night... nor did it need to be.

Among my mother’s papers, I found the following unattributed magazine clipping. I suspect she saved it because she agreed with it and found in inspiring. I gave a copy to her grandson, Evan, when he began his teaching career. If she were here now, this is what I think she would share with you about the importance of both her profession and her craft:


What Does It Mean to Be a Teacher?

It means stimulating young people to ask the great questions more than it means giving them the right answers; it means opening young minds to the excitement of new ideas; it means the adventurous search for all the great noble examples of people who have gone before us.