THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
More on the
career of Dr. N.V. Dyer
The farm mule that Norman Vester
Dyer chose
to have his father sell and give him the $150.00 to continue his
education
proved a good investment. This man, noted wherever he went as an
industrious,
wise and solid "school man," touched teachers and students in various
parts of Georgia.
He started out teaching in
Choestoe, his
home community, as an assistant in the country school where he began
his own
first grade work. Professor Theodore Swanson, who had been the teacher
for the
seven-month term, wanted to leave early, and suggested to Vester Dyer's
father,
Bluford Elisha Dyer, known as "Bud" Dyer, a trustee of the school,
that the young lad who was just finishing seventh grade, was capable of
taking
over the school and completing the term. Challenged and somewhat
frightened by
the task, Vester buckled down and was able to complete his seventh
grade school
year as a teacher. This was the beginning of his 46-year career as an
educator.
Places, besides Choestoe, that
knew the
influence of this educator, all in Georgia, were Hiawassee, Jones
County (Green
School), Dooly County (Lily), Milner, Luthersville, Fairburn,
Blairsville
(Collegiate Institute), Cornelia, Eastanollee (Stephens County),
Dawsonville
(Dawson County), Summerville and Villa Rica. In the period of his
service, the
major administrator of a school within a city system was called
superintendent
(now called a principal). Even though he was head of the school, he
also
enjoyed teaching so much that he had a class he taught seniors at each
school
called vocational guidance, citizenship or group counseling. His class
was
popular with seniors and helpful to them as they explored areas of job
opportunity, set goals for their future, and struggled with ideas about
living
lives of service to mankind.
In his memoirs entitled A Fugitive from a Georgia Schoolhouse,
Dr. Dyer said he often encountered three major disturbing elements in
school
administrator's work: selfishness, politics and ignorance (Fugitive
from a Georgia Schoolhouse, p. 65). He gave
numerous examples of these three often-times negative hindrances to
educational
progress.
Selfishness reared its head in
those who
would downgrade the school and its work because of petty jealousies or
desire
that jobs of teaching and school management be awarded through
nepotism—or
making family members or special friends recipients of any jobs
available in
the schools. In such situations, qualifications of the teachers and
administrator, or even their success in operating a school took a back
seat to
favoritism.
Those who suffered most from
such
unprofessional practices were the students themselves.
Politics often played a role in
who would
be elected administrator or who would keep the job. After eleven years
as a
successful superintendent (principal) of Cornelia city schools, Mr.
Dyer was
ousted because of the "political machine" operable within the city.
The same was true after four years of hard work in the Eastanollee
School in
Stephens County.
Sometimes called "The Court
House
Gang," the politicians wanted to get rid of Mr. Dyer as superintendent.
Stephens County citizens, who had seen the school improve greatly under
his
leadership, circulated a petition with over 2,000 signatures asking
that he be
kept on as superintendent. They even had a Professor N. V. Dyer Day,
complete
with a hired band, invited speakers and dinner on the grounds on March
30, 1935
in an effort to break the School Board's deadlock on his reelection.
Asked to
speak before the Board of Education on his own behalf, Mr. Dyer
surprised all
the large crowd present at the court house by arising, quoting the
speech of
Brutus from William Shakespeare's play, "Julius Caesar," and likening
the political maneuverings to those described in the play in that
ancient Roman
regime.
He saw ignorance as a daunting
deterrent to
progress in education. He did not mean by this illiteracy, or
backwardness
sometimes found in a community due to a lack of educational
opportunities. He
saw prejudice and resistance to change for the better as enemies of
education.
In many of the systems where he served as administrator, he offered
classes for
adults that would help them to a better quality of life. He set up Home
Economics classes in some communities and invited mothers to learn to
care
better for the nutritional and nurturing needs of their children. If
men could
not manage to get jobs, he offered night classes in literacy or in
trades that
would help them in vocational pursuits. And ever, he urged students in
school
to set their sights on higher education, helping them to find ways to
get enrolled
in college or vocational school beyond high school. Truancy was a
problem in
his early years of teaching. He helped to write the truancy law that
was
eventually enacted by the State of Georgia.
Change in administering
discipline to
students was one of Mr. Dyer's strong points. He initiated the idea of
keeping
records, turned into the office, of student's offenses. These were
recorded on
individual cards for each student. If a student had "demerits" equal
to five hours from teachers, he/she would be assigned work around the
school to
clear the demerit points. In that way, many improvements to the
buildings and
grounds were made by students who had caused disturbance of any kind.
Prior to
the work to erase the offense, Mr. Dyer would have a counseling session
with
the student and talk about responsibility, citizenship and payment for
offenses. He talked to them about taking pride in their work, and
making the
school grounds and buildings better than when they had entered the
school. This
method of discipline, he affirmed, worked much better than the
old-fashioned
"paddling."
In whatever town the Dyer family
lived,
they became a vital part of the community as well as the school. Always
active
in church, he, his wife Jane, and their three daughters, Sarah Ruth,
Betty and
Helen, were involved. He was a deacon and lay preacher. Jane was a
teacher and
women's worker. The girls were part of the youth program, and when they
became
adults, were also leaders in their churches. In Dawsonville, Mr. Dyer
led in
the effort to erect a new building for First Baptist Church. In most of
the
towns where he served as superintendent, new school buildings were
erected.
Active in Lions Club, he served as a local officer as well as a leader
in the
district and state organization.
Reba W. Roberds who was a
teacher under his
supervision during his eleven years as head of the Villa Rica Schools
said of
him at his retirement banquet in May, 1955: "I knew him as a man
devoted
to high ideals of service, a man of vision and perseverance, a
Christian
gentleman, and a true friend."
Dr. Norman Vester Dyer, born on
a Choestoe
farm March 10. 1885, died December 28, 1968 in Villa Rica, Georgia. Of
his 83
years spent on earth, 46 of them were as an educator.
c2008 by
Ethelene Dyer
Jones; published October 30, 2008 in The Union Sentinel, Blairsville,
GA.
Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
[Ethelene Dyer
Jones is a retired educator,
freelance writer, poet, and historian. She may be reached at
e-mail edj0513@windstream.net;
phone 478-453-8751; or mail 1708 Cedarwood Road, Milledgeville, GA
31061-2411.]
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