By Anna Grace Usery
Editor-in-Chief
anna.grace.usery@hottytoddy.com
Sarah Lacy is a staple within the Oxford School District, even since her retirement in 2011 with 39 years experience teaching math and biology. You’ve probably seen her at a variety of OHS sports games, as she’s the head appointed bookkeeper and confidante. She is confident when she says it’s the Oxford community—with a hint of getting to be a grandmother—that keeps her going and going. HottyToddy.com’s Anna Grace Usery sat down with Lacy to hear more of her story.
Usery: Ms. Lacy, where did you grow up?
Lacy: I grew up in Lexington, Mississippi and graduated from Lexington High School. I graduated valedictorian and then went to the “W”, the Mississippi State College for Women. I majored in math and minored in biology. When my husband and I married, we moved to Oxford and I got my master’s in biology from Ole Miss. I started teaching at the Oxford School District in 1972.
Usery: When you were growing up, were you sure you wanted to be a teacher?
Lacy: I did. I had two absolutely wonderful teachers – one taught math and one taught biology. Those two men are the reason I went into teaching. I always wanted to work with young people, and those two guys were such mentors to me. That’s where a lot of it came from.
Usery: What was your first year of teaching like?
Lacy: I was a graduate assistant at Ole Miss from 1968-1971 when I was working on my master’s and, again, I worked with some amazing people. I learned so much during that experience. Of course, teaching in college is a little bit different than teaching high school. But I learned a lot, particularly from the preparation phase. Then I had a son in November of 1971, so I didn’t teach much that semester. In March of 1972, the math teacher at the high school had started working at the pharmacy school at Ole Miss, so they asked me to work for the rest of the year. At the end of the year I went to the principal and said I wanted to apply for the same job for the next year. He told me no. He wanted a man who could coach basketball and teach math. So, a friend of mine got the job.
I got a call from the junior high and the principal wanted me to teach biology. Since I had a master’s in biology I could make more money teaching biology than I could teaching math. I accepted the job. Then the high school teacher calls me and wants me to teach math. Of course I said no. He asked me why I didn’t want to wait to teach high school and I explained I made more money teaching middle school. In 1987 they moved the ninth grade teachers to the high school and I taught there until I retired in 2011.
Usery: Have you developed any hobbies post-retirement?
Lacy: My boys were shocked when I said I was going to retire, because I’m always doing something. But I told them I had a plan. I learned to quilt. I don’t make them for the public, but I make them to give away or as Christmas presents. When I started teaching at the junior high, I began keeping basketball books because it’s what I did in high school. When they moved us to the high school, the football coach wanted me to start doing football stats. Then the baseball coach came to me and said I should do baseball. So, I still do volleyball home games, baseball (home and away), football (home and away) and basketball (home and away). I’ve got a lot going on, and I just thoroughly enjoy what I do.
Also, there is a virtual high school at Ole Miss called the University of Mississippi High School. I have four classes through that that I maintain and teach. This particular high school is designed for students who have different life circumstances or who may have been bullied in their regular high schools. For example, I had one student who was on a Nickelodeon show and she’s enrolled because she’s in California so much of the time. I’m still a teacher even though I’m retired!
Usery: So I take it you’re a sports fan?
Lacy: Just a little bit. I’m a big Yankees fan and have been since I was a little girl. I was an only child and I would sit and watch baseball games with my dad when they came on TV. I started following the Yankees because I had read some biographies on Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and his brother, and Babe Ruth and I just got very interested in the Yankee tradition. In 1961, when Mantle and Maris were hitting all the home runs, I got a chance to go to Yankee Stadium and watch them play. Everyone else wanted to go to Broadway, but I wanted to go to Yankee Stadium. Neither one hit a home run that night, though. I have been a Yankees fan ever since. I used to listen to different baseball games on the radio just to see if I could get the score to the Yankees game.
Usery: I also hear you’re a cat lover.
Lacy: Oh, yes! I have had a cat since I was two years old. My daddy got so mad at the man who gave me my first kitty cat. Her name was Mama Kitty. Right now, I have four cats. I love Blue Point Siamese. They have the best personality a cat could have. I also have a rescued Tabby, a Steele Point Siamese and a rescued long-haired. Missy and Coco are in their teens, and the other two are 6 and 7-years old. I have two old folks and two young folks. They keep me going. It’s good to have someone to come home to who doesn’t ask for money, who doesn’t stay out late, who doesn’t ask to borrow the car. They just ask to be fed and be loved.
Usery: What are you looking forward to in this next stage of life?
Lacy: I tell people I do what I want to, when I want to, if I want to. I think what I’m enjoying more than anything is to help my children out if they need it. I have two grandchildren, 10 and 7, who live in Baltimore. My son is in the Army. He’s going to retire in 2020. If they need my help, I am glad that I can jump on a plane and go help them. My other son just got married—he lives in Memphis—and I’m looking forward to him having grandkids that I can go up and see. It just a matter of being there when my children need me.
Usery: What’s your favorite thing about living in Oxford?
Lacy: Well, I wish it was back like it was when it was a smaller town and we didn’t have as many students in town. What I really like is the school system. The Oxford School system is probably atypical for Mississippi. The students get along, there are great teachers, and there’s a great support system in the community. I have talked to people and they said they moved here because of the school system. Even though it’s close to my heart, I believe that is of utmost importance.
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