Ethlyn Byrd taught 35 years — 22 in Henderson County. She retired in 2002. She first taught math and science in Balfour seventh and eighth grades starting in 1967. Next, she taught seventh-grade language arts and social studies in the early years (1972-76) of Flat Rock Junior High.
She switched to elementary schools — starting with Hillandale (in 1976) and then Atkinson (1986), when both first opened. She taught the academically and intellectually gifted (AIG) at Hendersonville and Drysdale elementary schools and Hendersonville Middle, then HMS sixth-grade math and language arts. Early on, she taught emotionally-distraught children in a state treatment center.
Developmentally-challenged students “weren’t necessarily the easiest children to teach, but they appealed to me.” “I liked the ones who were challenges,” she said.
In reflecting on her service as an educator, “My biggest satisfaction is from watching the children grow up, and become productive citizens.”
2010 Education Hall of Fame
