Local teacher is still passing down knowledge at 85 years old

CHILLICOTHE— "I've been teaching a long time," said Iolene Powell.

These words, however, are quite an understatement as the 85-year-old Chillicothe resident has been teaching at various levels of education for over 45 years.

Powell grew up in West Virginia on a small family farm with her parents and four siblings. Her mom would sew and make clothes for the kids while her dad worked for the gas company. The family would also work on the farm taking care of the cattle, chickens and pigs they raised as well as picking crops from the garden and fruit trees. Powell said during her childhood she always had chores to keep her busy after school.

"We didn't have a lot of money but we never went hungry," said Powell. "We raised almost all of our own food."

When Powell was in high school her mom would get sick and eventually die, leaving her to help her dad run the household. She would often wake up early in the mornings before school to help get breakfast ready for her and her siblings. She was also in charge of washing and drying all the clothes. She said she did all of this before they had a dryer, so clothes were hung up on the line to dry.

After her morning chores, Powell would attend school where she was encouraged by her teachers to go to college. She said two teachers in particular, her math and science teachers, encouraged and motivated her to go to college after she graduated top of her class in high school.

Her mother wanted her to become a nurse, but after being in the hospital during her mom's sickness she knew that was not what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. Instead, she wanted to help students learn just like her teachers had taught her.

"I idolized what they did," said Powell of her teachers in school.

To go to college Powell worked while at school and over the summer to earn money. Powell would also meet her husband, who she would marry just five months after meeting him. A the time she wasn't interested in "going steady" with anyone but she said after meeting him they both just knew as they had a lot in common. Powell said her dad was shocked when she went home and said she had met the man she was going to marry because she had also been seeing a guy when she was at home but she didn't love him.

"We were the perfect match for each other," said Powell of her and her husband.

Before getting married Powell and her husband were slated to work at different schools away from each other but they would eventually both move to Chillicothe together when a friend said they would be moving here. The friend never came but Powell and her husband did, eventually buying a house and continuing to live and teach in Chillicothe for the rest of their lives.

Powell took a break from teaching while having her three children. She said she and her husband wanted to be active parents who were involved in raising their children. Just because she wasn't in a classroom doesn't mean Powell stopped teaching as she would read to her kids every day which allowed them to become readers before they were in kindergarten.

After her kids started school Powell went back to teaching biology at local schools. She said many students found her class tough as she was demanding of her students. However, she said former students have told her how much her discipline helped them once they graduated high school and went on to further their academic careers.

"The kids didn't really like us that much till they got out of high school," said Powell. "My kids had to work"

Outside of work Powell also coached volleyball for over 15 years, teaching kids who had never played before and turning them into a winning team. She also coached track and field for several years. Powell has fond memories of the students she coached who are now adults she sees in the community.

Powell would retire from Chillicothe schools in 2001 after a long career of teaching. Not long after her husband would die after battling cancer. In 2003 she decided to go back to teaching, this time at the college level at Ohio University Chillicothe. For a short time, she would teach at high school and college but would quit teaching at the high school for a second time as she said it was too much. She said teaching in a high school where you have several classes per day is a lot different than in college where she was in charge of two-hour-long labs throughout the week.

As a lab instructor, Powell enjoys getting to be hands-on with the students. She said she is not a stand-and-lecture type of professor, she would rather be going around the classroom and helping students. She often hosts open labs before tests to help any students that need extra help.

"I like working with kids, I want them to learn," said Powell. "If they need help I want to help them."

Powell has not gotten any less strict in her teachings over the years, especially while teaching potential nurses. She said when she needs to go to a hospital she hopes the nurses were properly trained by teachers and know what they are doing.

When she is not in school Powell enjoys taking vacations, having traveled across the country in a tent with her family, to Israel, Ecuador and many more places around the world. She also enjoys reading, collecting antique furniture, quilting and sewing, a skill her mother taught her. She is also active in the community volunteering at the Hope Clinic, the outdoor drama and through her church.

"I stay busy or I would be miserable," said Powell.

Powell also spends her time walking her dog around her neighborhood. The pair will often walk three miles a day, sometimes more. She said it is usually Coco, the dog, who wants to finish the walks early. Walking, Powell said, helps keep her healthy but she is careful to no longer walk on days when the roads are icy and slippery so she doesn't fall.

At 85 years old Powell thought about finishing her teaching career this year but said she got the call to go back and couldn't say no as she enjoys teaching and knows the school needs help finding teachers. So for the time being she will continue teaching the minds of Chillicothe.

Shelby Reeves is a reporter for the Chillicothe Gazette. You can email her at SReeves@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @Shelby_Reeves_

This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Local teacher is still passing down knowledge at 85 years old