Record details
-
-
After graduation from The University of Texas in Austin and following Jim’s graduation from The University of Texas Law School, we were married in Houston. We had met our senior year and fortunately for me the girl he had a date with one night, lived nearby. She was running late and asked if I would go meet Jim and entertain him for a while. I did and still am.
Jim began practicing law in Rusk, his hometown, and I taught junior and senior high school English and History in Maydelle Independent School District, ten miles from Rusk. The school needed a librarian so I went back to school for a degree in Library Science and became the librarian for the junior high and high school during my second year. To this day, education remains a focal part of my life.
Every fall, spring and summer when the Tyler Junior College schedule of classes arrives, looking through the catalog is like sitting at an enormous banquet. The variety of classes offered is impressive and the opportunities for educational enrichment are limitless. Our children attended classes, clinics and camps on the campus, and every experience they had was a good one. My continuing educational experiences have also been positive and rewarding.
Over the years I’ve enrolled in a wide variety of TJC classes across various departments and also performed with TJC’s dance department. I continue to be impressed with TJC’s vibrant campus, dedicated faculty and excellent students. The instructors’ thorough knowledge of their subject along with their ability to communicate the information to their students is the high standard exhibited by each professor in every classroom setting. Teachers must possess subject matter expertise, but as important as it is to be a “knowing person”, truly gifted teachers are both knowing and caring people. At TJC, the professors are dedicated and committed to enriching the lives of their students.
TJC students are also impressive, especially because many work part time, take a full semester load and find time to take additional classes in the evenings and on Saturdays. Adults with demanding day jobs and family obligations drive long distances to attend classes at this jewel of a school in our midst. The campus is teeming day and night with driven students who recognize that education is a lifelong process.
For eighty-three years, TJC has been serving Tyler and East Texas students who are determined to continue their education and secure a better future for themselves and their families. Continuing education is an enviable privilege we can all share, and being part of the campus energy each semester in the TJC arena is energizing and beneficial. The TJC schedule of summer classes has arrived and I can hardly wait to register for more classes!
- Biography
- TJC Hero and Friend Margaret Perkins has been active in numerous civic and community activities and has been a secret angel for TJC. As an anonymous TJC student who has avoided drawing any attention to herself, she has quietly helped make TJC a better place for all. She helped secure funding to transform an under-used area at TJC into a dance studio, helped fund costumes for performances such as TJC’s Nutcracker, helped provide numerous scholarships for worthy students, and, unbeknownst initially to her CEO husband, even secured an area at Citizens 1st Bank to commission and display the art of five talented TJC students.
