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Betty Blaisdell is the Woman's Club of Fredericksburg's Woman of the Year, but her commitment to helping others spans decades. |
Long before Betty Blaisdell helped revolutionize English teaching in Fairfax County schools
And long before she started a post-retirement career of volunteering in the Fredericksburg area
And long before she was named Woman of the Year for 2008-'09 by the Woman's Club of Fredericksburg last week
She was Betty Jefferson, a bright Fredericksburg teenager with a vision for her future.
She and her two younger brothers lived with their parents, Elliott and Virginia Jefferson, on Fall Hill Avenue. Betty walked every day to James Monroe High School--then housed in the big brick building that became Maury School, then Maury Commons condominiums.
As she walked, she thought about what she wanted to accomplish.
First, to learn to swim. She'd have to do that, she knew, to graduate from Mary Washington College.
And second, to be truly independent. She wanted to live on her own and support herself for at least a year before settling into married life and motherhood.
That's exactly what happened. Betty Jefferson graduated from Mary Washington in 1952, then moved to Alexandria, lived in a rented room and taught English and dramatic arts at George Washington High School.
Some of her students were 19 years old. So was she.
Her father had worked for the Sylvania plant, but he died during her senior year of college. So Betty sent much of her $3,000 salary for the year back home to help support her mother and brothers.
She also corresponded with a boyfriend from back home.
She'd met Preston Blaisdell when she was just 15, when he tagged along on a double date with Betty and her boyfriend, and Betty's best friend and her boyfriend--Preston's cousin. Later, Preston asked the cousin for Betty's phone number.
He was four years older, already an Army veteran, and Betty knew her parents would never let them go on real dates together. They saw each other instead in groups of friends, and each dated other people as well.
Gradually, though, their relationship grew more serious.
And after that first year of teaching, Betty Jefferson came back to town and married Preston Blaisdell of Stafford County. They were united in 1953 at Fredericksburg Baptist Church.
MARRIED LIFE AND CAREER
Over the next several years, the Blaisdells moved to Florida while Preston started and ultimately decided against an Air Force career. They both got degrees, Preston his bachelor's and Betty her master's from the University of Florida. And they had two children, a boy and a girl.
Two-career families were not common in those years, but they weren't unheard-of, either. When the family moved to Annandale for Preston's work in construction management, Betty used her Alexandria and Florida teaching experience to land a job with Fairfax County schools.
She taught and chaired the English department at Fairfax High School, then moved to a supervisory position, developing curricula for elementary, middle and high school English programs.
When a central office position opened, she almost didn't apply. She didn't have a doctorate, and she figured one was required.
But a colleague urged her to try, and she got the job. Her husband wasn't surprised at all; he knew her enthusiasm, energy, love of the subject matter and fondness for the students were irresistible.
In that position she was instrumental in developing learning objectives for each grade--an idea later formalized as the statewide Standards of Learning.
She also pioneered a program in conjunction with George Mason University to change how teachers taught students to write. It focused more on thinking and clear expression than on rigid, formulaic rules of composition.
In teaching teachers, Blaisdell said, she encountered many brilliant, dedicated and creative people.
"I benefited more than I gave," she said.
TIME FOR A LIFE CHANGE
By 1989, Preston Blaisdell was ready to retire and at last build the couple's dream home on land owned by his parents, Clarence and Leathea Blaisdell. It's in Falmouth, overlooking the Rappahannock River.
Though she still had things she wanted to do for Fairfax schools, Betty Blaisdell agreed that it was time.
Preston personally supervised the construction of their home, with enough bedrooms to accommodate their children, children-in-law and grandchildren.
Steve Blaisdell and wife Patty live in West Virginia and are the parents of Elaine, 26; Bethany, 21; and Grant, 19. Beverly Blaisdell and husband Paul Messplay recently built their own home on the family land in Falmouth. They are the parents of Paul, 21; Daniel, 19; and Katie Beth, 10.
For Betty Blaisdell, retirement didn't mean slowing down.
"I wanted to meet people and be active," she said in an understatement.
She and her husband joined Fredericksburg Baptist Church, where both are deacons and Beverly is Sunday school director--38 classes with 93 teachers. She sings soprano in the choir.
She became involved in numerous other volunteer activities. (See sidebar).
And she joined the Woman's Club of Fredericksburg and was its president in 1993-'94, helping to establish a scholarship program for Mary Washington, Germanna Community College and James Monroe students.
For many years she also chaired the Woman of the Year committee, never imagining that she'd one day receive that honor herself.
Only this past year, since turning 76, has she slowed a bit, bowing out of Woman's Club and some other activities to focus on getting and recovering from a hip replacement.
She was just out of the hospital, in fact, when she found out she'd been chosen Woman of the Year.
"I just cried when I got it," she recalled. "I couldn't believe I was selected."
Though she hasn't loved recovering from surgery, she's used some of the time for her hobbies--reading for her book club, and reviewing and cutting out recipes that, someday, she'll get around to organizing.
But not necessarily preparing: "I read recipes, and I collect them," she said. "But you know what? I don't have time to cook them!"
She's been diligent, too, about physical therapy to rehabilitate the hip. The sooner she gets better, she knows, the sooner she can get back to all her activities.
Because she still has a lot to do.
Laura Moyer: 540/374-5417
Email: lmoyer@freelancestar.com
Besides her activities with Fredericksburg Baptist Church and the Woman's Club of Fredericksburg, Betty Blaisdell volunteers throughout the community. Here's just a sampling of her civic works. She has long been involved with the Salvation Army Woman's Auxiliary, working on Thanksgiving, Christmas, Camp Happyland and red-kettle programs. She often rings the bell in front of the Ben Franklin on Caroline Street at Christmastime--most recently with grandson Danny, a University of Mary Washington student. Always a teacher, Blaisdell volunteers regularly with Olde Forge Junction, an after-school program for at-risk children from Rocky Run Elementary School in Stafford County. She and other volunteers help with homework, teach values such as honesty and integrity, and work on skill areas identified by pupils' classroom teachers. More recently, she's tutored a group of African refugee children newly arrived in the United States, helping them learn English and American culture. With her husband, Preston Blaisdell, she helped initiate the ElderStudy program 16 years ago at Mary Washington. They're also active in the Stafford Historic Society, and Betty Blaisdell is on the board of directors. She's been active with the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities. And she recently started serving on the James Monroe High School 60th Reunion Committee and a JM scholarship committee. "I like people, I really do," she said. "My whole life, I wanted to be around people." --Laura Moyer |
