COWLEY alumni & friends newsletter She also has fond memories of Always giving of herself and helping create a recreation area for never asking for anything in return, the students to enjoy. She helped Betty Joe Fisher, Class of 1941, has clean and paint the recreation area, helped numerous individuals dur- which upon completion would in- ing her life. clude a phonograph to play records. Since graduation from Arkansas “Having a place to call our own City Junior College, Fisher went was great,” Fisher said. “Free time on to join the Navy’s WAVES from class found us in our newly (Women Accepted for Volunteer decorated domain, visiting, dancing Emergency Service) and then spent and recreating us before going to our 39 years as a teacher. next class.” Fisher, who grew up on the oil Fisher received her degree from fields near Arkansas City in com- ACJC in elementary education. She pany housing, has fond memories enrolled a third year at ACJC, tak- of her time at ACJC. ing mostly teachers’ courses, which would qualify her for teaching. “Most of the teachers were kind and helpful,” Fisher said. “I be- Mrs. Thelma Hall was in charge came good friends with many of of student teachers. Those striving the student body and continue to become teachers were enrolled to keep in touch with some of in an observation class, where they them. My years at ACJC were observed classes one week at a time the happiest years of my in grades one through six. After the college career.” six weeks, the student teachers were Cowleygradmakes assigned to a classroom, teaching the remainder of the semester. WAVES aftergraduation Fisher’s assignment was teaching third and fourth ’41 grades at Washington At ACJC, Fisher played a clarinet School in Arkansas City. After the in the pep band. The superinten- first day of class, Mrs. Jones, Fisher’s dent of schools arranged for Fisher student training teacher, repeated to teach a Business Women’s’ Vol- to Fisher what she had been told by leyball class one night a week to Mrs. Hall, who had observed Fisher’s help defray her college expenses. A class from the back of the room. few of the women professors at the college enrolled in the class. She said, “Betty Joe is doing well. I have no worries about her approach to teaching” That was all Fisher “I became the teacher and they needed to hear to realize she was in became the students, I loved it,” the right profession. Fisher said. “From that day on, teaching was a Fisher recalls Edith Joyce Davis breeze and I had found my nitch,” being the girls’ physical education Fisher said. instructor. “She was strict but she was the best,” Fisher said. Fisher However, her teaching career returned to Arkansas City when would be put on hold as spurred by Davis turned 100 years old. the death of a family friend in World 2 | alumni news snare drum and joined the drum and bugle contents corps. 2-3 + At Stillwater, she was close enough to catch Betty Joe Fisher a “puddle-jumper” train across the border into Kansas to visit her family. 4 She was eventually stationed close to Virgin- Kary Booher ia Beach at Camp Shelton, where she wrote orders for in-coming and out-going officers. 5-6 She left the WAVES in 1946 and became a Mike Everhart teacher in Boise, Idaho, where she currently resides in the same home she bought back in 1947. 6 Tiger Alumnus 2007 After receiving her Honorable Discharge from the Navy, she was offered a federal job in Washington D.C., but turned down the op- 7-8 arts at Cowley portunity because her first love was teaching. find the noise series “The pay would have been great, but I have always felt that money is not my priority,” Fisher said. “I love people!” 9-10 graduations While in Boise, Fisher had the desire to War II, Fisher joined the WAVES, the non-com- go to college and earn her B.A. Degree. She bat women’s reserve of the U.S. Navy in 1944. applied for a position in the Boise School 11 District and was given a third grade class with student honors Fisher’s job with the WAVES consisted of do- 35 students, meaning she would teach during ing clerical and secretarial work to make young the winter months and attend summer school. men available for combat. She did this for nine consecutive summers 12 college honors The U.S. government campaigned to involve before receiving her B.A. Degree from the women in the war effort. One year after the College of Idaho. WAVES were started by an act of Congress, She taught third grade for seven years, and 13 27,000 women wore the uniform. Thousands of then was offered a girls’ counselor position leadership degree others joined the “Rosie the Riveter” campaign along with teaching physical education in a by going to work in factories. remedial junior high school. After three years, 14-15 At the age of 21, Fisher got on a train to go she was hired as a full time counselor. Center for Technical Excellence to 12 weeks of “women’s boot camp” at Hunter Her next goal was to earn her Master’s De- College in Bronx, N.Y. This was quite a trip for gree. She worked toward this goal by attend- Fisher considering the farthest she had traveled ing night and summer classes and eventually 15-16 from home was to nearby Arkansas City. graduated from Boise State University with a athletics There were 1,680 women in Fisher’s regiment. Master’s Degree. Training consisted of physical education and en- For one of her Thesis chapters, Fisher chose 17-18 durance. The rest of the time, the women were to write a book on hearing entitled “The Ear alumni news tested on Navy history, bookkeeping, finance Book”, “A Handbook for Parents and Teach- and other things. ers To Help Identify Children With Hearing 19 Impairments”. The book was copyright in Fisher was ultimately trained in clerical work in memory 1977. and sent to Oklahoma A&M in Stillwater for cover photo by more training. There she learned to play the cont. page 6 - Waves Denise M. Irwin April 2007 | 3 Cowleygradfinds ’94 Booher believes he successas owes a lot to Cowley SportsWriter and the mentoring he ary Booher, a 1994 graduate received from Osterthun. K helps that the Springfield Cardi- of Cowley College, has gone from nals play in a beautiful $32 million “It is difficult not to become writing for the Cowley Press to stadium. emotional about Cowley and the covering the World Series mentoring I received from Stu,” win of the St. Louis Car- “It’s definitely an ex- Booher said. “The College and dinals in last year’s Major citing time,” Booher Stu provided a foundation for my League Baseball World said. “The St. Louis career, and for that I will always be Series. Cardinals own the grateful.” team, and their front Perfecting his craft as a office, I must say, is Booher’s mother, Barbara, and sis- writer while at Cowley first class.” ter, Sharon, graduated from Cowley College, Booher went on in 1991. His younger sister, Jenni- to earn a bachelor’s degree He has wonderful fer, graduated from Cowley in 1997. in journalism at Okla- memories of his time His father, Kent, played football at homa State University in at Cowley, espe- Cowley during the 1970 season. 1997. While at Oklahoma State, cially having had the opportunity to Booher served as the sports editor learn from former Public Relations Booher thoroughly enjoys the of the Daily O’Collegian student Director/Cowley Press advisor Stu opportunity to cover minor league newspaper. Osterthun. baseball games, but would also like to someday cover major league After graduation, he went on to While working as the sports editor baseball or NCAA Division I work at the Topeka Capital-Journal, at the Cowley Press, Booher recalls football. The Morning Sun in Pittsburg and a turning point in his career as a The Jackson Sun in Jackson, Tenn. writer. During his freshman year “Covering a Major League team at Cowley, Booher attended the would be amazing, especially if I He currently is a beat writer for Kansas College Newspaper awards could begin as the No. 2 guy on the the St. Louis Cardinals’ Double-A banquet in Wichita, where he failed beat,” Booher said. “A lot of that is affiliate, Springfield Cardinals, for to garner an award. just from having covered the World The Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader. Series and the big-league playoffs, He earned an opportunity to cover Booher remembered riding in the plus spring training the past few the Major League club when they back of the van on the way home, years. But I also have an eye on advanced to the 2006 World Series. thinking he had a long way to go in covering big-time NCAA Division the business of sports writing. How- “I had clubhouse access and was I football. I saw it done when I was ever, Osterthun helped him regain right there in the champagne in Tennessee and think I could be faith in his writing abilities. celebration, then was interviewing successful at it.” manager Tony La Russa in his office “A few days later, Stu pulled me With Cowley College helping him when the World Series trophy was aside one afternoon there in the achieve his goal of covering profes- brought in and placed on his desk,” Cowley basement, where we had sional baseball teams, Booher hopes Booher said.