Batesville teacher goes above and beyond
BATESVILLE — Kathy Walter, who teaches English as a second language at Batesville High School, combined passions to find her niche.
“I love to teach English, and I’ve always had a passion for learning different cultures and languages,” she said.
Walter’s passion hasn’t gone unnoticed. She was presented with the Citizens Bank Above and Beyond Award for September. Nominations pointed out her positive attitude and dedication to her students both during and after school.
“It was a surprise to me,” she said of the honor. “To be honest, I was asked to attend the [school board] meeting. I thought I was giving a briefing on the number of ESL students at the high school.”
Walter, 63, grew up in northeast Arkansas, the daughter of George Prater, a coach-turned-school-administrator, and Wanda Prater, an English and French teacher and, later, a librarian. The family moved from Egypt, Arkansas, to Hoxie when Walter was 14, and she graduated from Hoxie High School.
Teaching was not her first thought for a career, despite her parents’ influence.
“I thought I was going to make a million dollars as a writer,” she said, laughing.
She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in English from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, then got a master’s degree in English.
She married Bob Walter, a military man, and the couple moved to Leesville, Louisiana, in 1978.
“Truly, my first job was in Leesville in math,” Kathy Walter said. “I’m terrible in math, but it was basic math, so I was able to do that. I really enjoyed it. The school — it’s so clear — I remember the boys with their truck windows rolled down and three guns on the gun rack. We never felt threatened; it was a different time.”
She also worked as a substitute teacher in North Dakota before the couple moved to Batesville in 1998.
“His family was some of the original settlers in Independence County, and they have a farm at Walnut Grove,” she said.
“The farm has been passed down through the family since 1850; he’s a caretaker. When he
retired, he wanted to build a golf course, so he built a [private] nine-hole golf course at the farm,” Walter said.
“I taught English at Batesville High School from 2000-2001, when a teacher had to have an operation,’ she said. “When she came back, I didn’t have a job, so I was subbing. This job just came open. It just kind of fell in my lap.
“I have always been interested in languages. Since my mom was a French teacher, I learned French. I wasn’t fluent, … but I took French in high school and college. I loved learning languages.”
Because her husband was in the Army, “I was exposed to a lot of different languages and cultures from all over the world,” Walter said. “It was really very interesting the people I’ve had a chance to see, and the people and customs I’ve had an opportunity to be exposed to.”
The English as a second language position was part time in the beginning, she said.
“The ESL population was starting to grow,” Walter said. “There were 75 students when I started in 2002, I think, and now we have over 500.” Those students have her heart. “The population is predominantly Hispanic, but we do have Chinese, Vietnamese; we’ve had Gujarati and had Ukranian,” she said.
“I love the students; they’re at such a disadvantage,” Walter said. “It’s so rewarding to help them acclimate to this culture and this language because they don’t have, a lot of times, the support from home.
“It’s a mentoring job; it’s a mothering job; it’s a teaching job — just so many different hats. Students trust you, and they open up.”
Walter’s favorite part of the job is just helping the students.
“Like I said, the students I work with have so many needs, and that’s what I try to do, try to make sure that those needs are met,” Walter said. “It’s the whole child, I guess. They need an education, but they also need somebody they know is going to be on their side; they need help.
“When I know I’ve helped them, steered them the right way and made a difference in their lives, that’s why I love the job I have.”
Walter gives students her phone number so they can contact her if they need anything. And she means anything.
“I have helped them with homework over the phone, taken them to take the written part of the driving test, answered questions about events at school, helped them make doctor’s appointments for themselves or their parents, helped them get glasses,” she said. “I’ve attended their weddings, baby showers, quinceaneras (a birthday party for 15-year-old girls) and birthday parties for their children.
“It’s things that their parents don’t know how to do. A few of my … students don’t know how to go to the post office and purchase a money order to pay for their graduation cap and gown, so they give me the money, and I go get it for them and help them mail it — basically, whatever they need, if I can help in some way.”
Chuck Jones, chief communications officer for Citizens Bank, said award recipients are nominated by their peers.
Jones said one comment made about Walter in her nomination was that she “truly cares about each of her students and will go above and beyond to make sure each of them gets the help they need to be successful.”
The program is in its seventh year. Monthly winners receive a certificate, a $25 gift card and an insulated tumbler.
“It’s a small token of appreciation, but who is more deserving than educators [and members of the school district staff]”? he asked. “It’s a position that goes less rewarded than it should.”
Jones said his wife is a retired teacher, and they have two adopted children, one from the Ukraine and one from Bulgaria.
“We have a warm spot in our heart about English as a second language,” he said.
The 63-year-old Walter said she’s getting close to retirement, but she has plans.
“I have always been interested in photography. I’d really like to be able to pursue that,” Walter said. “I write books in my head all the time. I’d like to try to write a book. My mother wrote poetry and would read poems to us when we were little and tried to write songs. She left quite a bit of writing. I’d like to go through that and publish a book of poems that she wrote.”
Walter may not make a million dollars, but she’ll fulfill another passion.