From 1976 to 2001: Ann Hooker Remembers Her Days as a Teacher When the City and County Schools Merged
September 13, 2001 - When her dad said she shouldn't go so
far from home, Ann Hooker turned down a job with IBM in New
York and became a math teacher at Martin Junior High where
she was teaching when the Raleigh and Wake school systems
merged. Today Hooker is an area assistant superintendent for
the Wake County Public School System.
 Ann Hooker was math department chair at Martin Junior High. |
Hooker began teaching in 1968 and had become the math department
chair and an active member of the Association of Classroom
Teachers by the time merger arrived in 1976.
"My college roommate did her student teaching at Broughton
High, and I did mine at E.E. Smith in Fayetteville, and she
really wanted to come to Raleigh," said Hooker. "I
only went to the interview with Dr. Freitag from the Raleigh
City Schools, because I was with her. I really wasn't going
to interview for the job, because I wasn't going to teach.
He said, 'You may as well fill out an application, and I can
talk to both of you while you are here.' He gave us both an
early contract. She went to Daniels and taught 8th grade,
and I went to Martin and taught 8th grade."
Hooker teaches at Martin
When Hooker arrived at Martin, it was the era of Afros and
long hair. Students were involved in organizations and clubs.
According to Hooker, kids got along relatively well.
"I grew up in the Method community," said Hooker.
"It's behind the Old Royal Bakery across from Meredith
College. All the kids from that neighborhood were assigned
to Frances Lacy Elementary and Leroy Martin Middle. I recall
when I went there as a teacher, many of the kids were from
my neighborhood. That was kind of difficult as a young teacher,
teaching the kids who knew me as Ann all the time and then
had to go to school and call me Miss Carter. That was difficult
for them and for me."
Hooker worked hard. In five years, she was chair of Martin's
math department. She began taking classes and earned her Masters
in Math Education from N.C. State and a degree in school administration
from North Carolina Central.
"I felt pretty secure," said Hooker. "I had
seniority in the math department. I never felt that my job
was in jeopardy or anything. I thought about going to the
high school level. Every year I said, 'I'm going to transfer.'
But I guess you get comfortable. I was busy doing other things.
And I was president of the Classroom Teachers Association.
I was so busy doing other things that I didn't need to change
jobs. I felt very comfortable there."
As a classroom teacher, Hooker remembers the pride she took
in being part of the Raleigh City Schools and the concerns
that employees had when merger was first discussed.
"Raleigh was considered a much more progressive system,
more of an elitist system than the county system," Hooker
recalled. "Whether that was true or not, that was the
perception that I had as a young teacher. I acquired that
perception by working with people who would say, 'You are
in the Raleigh City system. You are lucky you are in Raleigh
and not in Wake County. It's so much more progressive.' That's
how I formed that perception about Raleigh City."
Hooker reflects on merger
Hooker's recollection was that teachers were concerned about
what merger would mean for them.
"I was working with ACT, the Association of Classroom
Teachers, and some of the biggest concerns were, 'Would they
wholesale move teachers around in the system? What was it
going to be like for the teachers?'" said Hooker. "I
remember that was an issue we had at ACT. Are teachers going
to be sent all across the county? Were the county teachers
going to be mixed with the city teachers and were the city
teachers going out to the county?"
Hooker said there were concerns about merging the two school
administrations into one and the location of administration
facilities. Instead, a new superintendent was hired, and the
new school administration was housed at Raleigh City's Devereaux
location. The new system's Operations were housed at the county's
Noble Road location. Hooker said this new group of leaders
helped to bring the two systems together.
"When I look back and I think of John Murphy and I think
of Walter Marks and I think of Bob Bridges. Those were three
transitional superintendents that truly left their mark on
this school system," said Hooker. "Bob Bridges came
in after being with Murphy and Marks and kind of calmed things
down and set things on an even course. But we needed radicals,
people like Murphy and Marks to come and really pull this
off. They were mavericks. Their leadership is what really
helped it to gel and come together."
Hooker pointed to Walter Marks' work to establish the magnet
program in the county. She said Marks invested a great deal
of time talking in the community about the benefits of magnet
schools and rallied support for the magnet concept.
"He said all children have some gifts and talents. If it's instruments they want to play, we will have them. If it's art, we'll have it. He fixed up art rooms and put in kilns. It was interesting," Hooker said. "It let us know that we could do it. We were like a little sleepy-town school system, and they came in with their progressive ideas and said, 'Hey. We can do this.'
And he made us believe that we were somebody. We were a big time school system, and we could do it. And I don't think we have ever looked back. We've always thought, 'We can do it. We set the tone. We set the pace.' People look to us. They still do."
History impacts Today
The choices parents are provided through the magnet school
program that Marks established are a major factor in the success
the Wake County Schools enjoy today.
"We are at a point where we can't afford to close schools,"
said Hooker. "We can't afford not to have the schools
we already have full. We can't afford to build new schools
to accommodate the children if we had to close down those
schools in the inner city. With the magnet program, we keep
them alive and viable. They still have a powerful magnet draw.
People want to go to them. I think merger and the magnet programs
were two of the most perceptive things that the early leaders
in this school system did for this system. It made this system
what it is."
In the 25 years since the Raleigh City and Wake County school
systems merged, the school system has grown and improved.
Hooker said these developments have created a system that
is where it should be.
"We have stabilized the school system. We have gelled.
We are one school system," said Hooker. "We know
that we can be a good school system. We know that. The expectation
is there. Now our biggest challenge is focusing on maintaining
that superiority, and we maintain it by looking at the customers
we serve: the children, the community, the parents, and making
certain they believe what we believe, 'This is a good school
system and that all children can learn' We should not just
give lip service to that. Today we are truly focused on the
philosophy that, 'All children truly can learn, and we can
make it happen.' We can make it happen!"
Hooker worked 14 years at Martin as a teacher. Then she worked as a principal at Kingswood Elementary for two years and Northridge elementary for nine years. She has worked eight years as a central office administrator.