Maurice Houston Field - chemistry

To be a part of a superb faculty and to be able to work with truly academically superior students describe scenes from a dream not your first teaching position.

I also need to point to another reason that White Station is significant to me. I met my wife of 49 years, Carla Wilson, at White Station where she was student teaching in the Home Economics Department during my days of teaching chemistry.

A memory that has withstood the test of time as one of the best productions I ever saw was the Gene Crain production of Oklahoma. That was really impressive.

Although hired as a teacher coaching was added to my life when Sam Lowry recognized me on my first day at White Station. As a catcher on the UT Martin baseball team I hit a double with Sam pitching for Union University and he picked me off. That error on my part led to another whole set of memories from basketball, baseball, football, tennis, and golf. The golf team finished second in the city, then won the State tournament by two strokes.

White Station High School 1960-62, Chemistry Teacher and Coach

I left White Station to return to graduate school to pursue the Ed.D. degree. After two years as a student I was hired as a science educator at The University of Tennessee at Martin where I spent the next 37 years before retiring in 2001. My teaching responsibilities were in the areas of science/environmental education, curriculum design, and educational statistics primarily at the graduate level. From 2001 through 2004 I worked part time primarily working in science/environmental centers which I had founded in the 1980s. From 2005 through 2007 I taught statistics Online to teachers and home economics majors seeking the M.S. degree.

As a part of the activities for the science/environmental centers I developed a personal collection of wild ducks, shelducks, and true geese. The shelducks and true geese were emphasized. By 2005, the collection contained all six of the shelducks and 27 of the 37 sub species of true geese making the collection one of if not the most complete collection in North America. Over the years the collection was visited by thousands of students and teachers on field trips at no cost to the schools or individuals. With retirement the field trips were discontinued and the emphasis for the collection was changed from interpretation to propagation. Presently 350 plus waterfowl are hatched, raised, and shipped annually to all parts of the United States.

Although Carla and I attended the last reunion and thoroughly enjoyed it, we will be unable to attend this reunion. About three years ago I retained carbon dioxide apparently as a result of a non functional diaphragm. Since that time my leash has been short.

I can continue the waterfowl project because of excellent assistants plus the help of my wife, daughter, and grandson. My directions are often based on cell phone discussions, digital camera photographs, or a very good security camera mounted on the 2nd floor of our house which is capable of providing excellent images at 200 yards. The security camera can be operated from any place with Internet service.