Comments for Wilfed Boykin - A dedicated teacher vs Class Clown | Eastern North Carolina Now

When I married and had children I operated on the Postulate (see above) that teenage behavior is based largely on the Peer group of the child. No matter how well you try to train them about between right and wrong, they will gravitate towards the social norms of their peer group. For that reason I monitored their friends for clues of their character. That included selecting the neighborhood, school and social environment they operated in. It was not racist, homophobic or elitism but parenting that I was trying to apply.

Fortunately, today I don't have to face the pitfalls of a Peer teacher indoctrinating my kids, but I do have grand kids and have warned my son about my Postulate. It doesn't take a village, it takes concerned parents. Hopefully he will be aware of the influence of the boys on the block when his boys reach teen years.

The military calls it unit cohesion, gangs call it blood, cops call it perps, lawyers call it defendant and wardens call it Inmate. I am fairly close to calling my Postulate a Theorem.

Commented: Tuesday, July 31st, 2018 @ 8:53 am By: Bobby Tony

Thanks for the comments. Sometimes it is good to build a Mosaic from the broken fragments of a self-absorbed young man. Paying homage to this teacher (who I mention again was only 7-8 years older than I was at the time) is the minimum I can do to assuage some residual remorse. I found his 1956 College Yearbook on line and extracted a few pictures from it for our High school Class Facebook Alumni page.

Here is the Mosaic / Collage of Wilfred E. Boykin

Commented: Sunday, July 22nd, 2018 @ 7:41 am By: Bobby Tony

Update July 2018:
I received this note from the caregiver of Mr. Boykin. He passed July 15, 2018

HI Bobby Tony. I have been working on the Eulogy for Mr. Wilfred Boykin. He died in the care of hospice on July 15. Your remembrance of him is helpful to me as I prepare remarks for his funeral. I am certain he received your letter, and he had a penchant for keeping everything sent to him, so it is probably in his things!

Mr. Boykin struggled with dementia the last years of his life. I work with a home care company and we provided care for him through the years as his dementia increased.

A memorial service for him will be held on Monday, July 30, 11 am at the Glenn Chapel. Emory at Oxford remained first in his heart. Of that I am certain.
Thanks again for your remembrance.

Commented: Saturday, July 21st, 2018 @ 8:02 am By: Bobby Tony

I too am one of Mr. Boykin's fans. I was a senior ( 1964)and a poor boy with no money for college and I wanted so badly to get out of the home and go off to college. I planned to go to Ga. Tech and live at home as the only available option. Mr. Boykin told me to try to go to Emory at Oxford, his school. He pointed me to the scholarship part of the college and wrote recommendations for me and my best friend, Kim Palmer, another poor boy to get an acceptance. I registered at Tech and was ready to start summer quarter when lo and behold I got a letter offering me a full scholarship to Emory at Oxford. Today it is know as Oxford College of Emory University and is located in the small town of Oxford Georgia, near Covington.
I immediately accepted, as did Kim Palmer. This started me on a road that would lead to early admission to Dental School and graduating from Dental school in 1970 with a DDS. Who would have ever imagined it.

I can only imagine how many other lives this man has probably touched in the years he has been in the teaching profession. I actually loved Geometry and looked forward to the class. I was spell bound by the theorems that were developed on the board in front of my eyes. Thank you so much Mr. Boykin.

Commented: Friday, April 14th, 2017 @ 12:03 pm By: gordon jay davis

Great post B.T., as you have unveiled the unique and totally unboring spark that we could have within us all; the spark that makes our lives and enriches the lives of others.

This is what I refer to as a positive message, and we need that badly right now.

Commented: Thursday, November 3rd, 2016 @ 12:05 pm By: Stan Deatherage

Getting old lets me read your articles twice not remembering. What was the question?

Commented: Thursday, November 3rd, 2016 @ 10:37 am By: Ted McDonald

Palmer Marsh was a lumber jack before going to college late-maybe on the GI bill. He was a jovial, physically powerful man not to be messed with. I learned the -dash from Michele Rhem but probably used incorrectly.

Commented: Thursday, November 3rd, 2016 @ 8:18 am By: Ted McDonald

WW2 Vet teachers needed no help with discipline.

Commented: Thursday, November 3rd, 2016 @ 8:09 am By: Ted McDonald

No child left behind. Everybody got passing grades. The S.A.T. was the only guide for college acceptance. No computers or cell phones. Kids were as crazy as today. What was the question?

Commented: Thursday, November 3rd, 2016 @ 6:53 am By: Ted McDonald