Done with school after 50 years, 2,000 pupils
CONROE — When she was 7, Ray Anne George paged through a Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalog and spotted an item she wanted: a teacher’s kit.
After her uncle got her the kit for Christmas that year, George would “teach” her younger brother and sister, the first of an estimated 2,000 pupils whom George would teach through her 50-year career as an educator in public, private and even international education.
“That’s how I got started in teaching. I loved it,” George said, growing emotional as she recalled how a small gift inspired a career that recently ended with her retirement at age 71.
Originally from Port Neches in East Texas, George graduated from Lamar State College of Technology, now known as Lamar University. She returned to Port Ne
ches to teach for seven years in public school, where she learned the ropes in the classroom from a cooperating teacher.
“I loved being around kids. I was also very involved in our church, and taught kids there too,” George said.
George met a missionary family during a mission trip to Peru that shifted her career in a new direction. George was offered a job as live-in teacher for the family’s children in Peru.
“The family lived way up on the shores of Lake Titicaca. I had always lived at home, and I was scared of living like that, in an altitude of 12,500 feet. I prayed about it for an entire year, but God told me that it wasn’t my ability, it was my availability,” George said.
At 29, she moved to Peru, living with this family and teaching their three children for two years. George read a poem she wrote about the experience — the new foods, animals and transportation methods she experienced — but also how much she learned from the children she taught.
Upon her return to the United States, George began looking for teaching jobs, this time in the Conroe area. She secured a position teaching fourth grade at Austin Elementary in Conroe ISD, where she taught for 31 years.
“I loved teaching there, and developed some fantastic relationships. It was like one big family,” George said, recalling how one student who had trouble grasping language arts in fourth grade went on to become a physician. Years after she was a student, this woman invited George to a graduation ceremony to thank her.
The relationships with kids, George said as she leafed through a folder of notes from former students, kept her going through her career.
“To know you’ve inspired their lives, you’ve touched them and changed them and they’ll go out into the world to be world changers … that’s the best part,” George said.
“And when they come back to you and tell you how much they appreciate what you’ve done, it’s just really neat.”
After retiring from public education, George taught for 10 years at Lifestyle Christian School, a private school at Conroe First Assembly of God. The school staff and George’s friends and family hosted a final retirement party for her recently complete with food and cake, photo albums and mementos of George’s 50year career.
Her daughter, Rosanna, said it was exciting to celebrate her mother.
“Everybody loves her so much, and I’m blessed to be her daughter. It’s a blessing to hear everyone loving on her so much and hearing how people’s lives have changed because of her over the years,” Rosanna said at the party.
In reflecting on the career that began with a small teacher’s kit, George’s advice to young teachers was never to give up.
“A lot of times you don’t see it, but you are making a difference in children’s’ lives. There’s a lot expected of teachers, but my advice is to stick with it and don’t get discouraged, because payday will come in the lives of the children you’ve touched,” she said.
As for what’s next, George said she’s thinking about getting involved in mentoring youth in her community.