Retiree News
Calling all Retirees!! WVCA needs your experience and wisdom. There are advantages to being retired. There are no membership dues for us. Of course, donations are appreciated. If you wish to retain your license, there is a reduced rate for that also. The only restriction is that you cannot charge for your services.
Please come join us for WVCA conferences in October. We will have our very own luncheon! We are special!
I look forward to seeing you at the conference,
Peggy Lewis, Committee Chair for Retired Members of WVCA
Activist Dies
Billie Davis, long time counselor, active in the West Virginia Counseling Association, Kanawha County School Counselor Association, and West Virginia School Counselor Association, died on June 9, 2007 in Charleston.
She received her Bachelor’s Degree from Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston) and her Master’s in Counseling from West Virginia University. She was part of a pilot project that brought school counseling into the schools in Kanawha County. Ms. Davis served as counselor at Dunbar Junior High School and at Ben Franklin Career and Technical Center.
Billie served as president of the West Virginia Counseling Association in the 1970s; but was best known for her representation of the group as a volunteer lobbyist at the Legislature. She also trained many other counselors in how to lobby with a program she presented around the state called “Lobby is my Hobby”. She was recognized as a winner of the Anne Maynard Award (WVSCA School counselor of the year) who went on to be named American School Counselor of the Year for Middle/Junior High Schools. And, believe it or not, people at conferences lined up to have Billie tell their fortunes. She laughed a lot and had a lot of fun doing that.
Billie had a heart of gold and was always one of the first persons to offer help to her acquaintances who were suffering or in need. She also had very high standards for herself and for others, especially those who served as an elected officer of any organization or governmental agency. She gave nothing but her best when she took on projects and she expected only the best from others.
She became interested in political activism while a student at Morris Harvey and she maintained that interest throughout her life. The last communication I had from Billie was a note asking me to support a candidate for Charleston City Council. She served as a citizen member of the West Virginia Public Education Study Commission and of the West Virginia Legislature Commission on Juvenile Law. In her position with the Commission on Juvenile Law, she crusaded for better treatment of juveniles by the justice system. She was appointed by the governor of West Virginia to represent educators at the inauguration of George Herbert Walker Bush.
In addition to her counseling involvement, she was a member of Phi Delta Kappa, Alpha Delta Kappa, Phi Lambda Tau, the National Education Association, the West Virginia Education Association, and the Kanawha County Education Association. Also she loved to travel and often participated in Showplane trips sponsored by the Charleston Newspapers to see Broadway plays.
Billie lost two close friends this past year in Virginia Robson and Leah McMillian, also counseling pioneers in West Virginia. WVCA misses them all.
Submitted by Jane Turner
WVCA President
1995-1996
Virginia Robson Memorial
See new Photographic Memories with audio. After the file has downloaded, click on the audio icon, then "slide show". (This may take a long time to access for those with dial up.)
Virginia Remembered
I first met Virginia Robson in the late 90s. I was nominated as her replacement when she retired from her position as ‘ by-laws chair ’ of WVCA. I met with her a couple of times in her home where we discussed WVCA history. Over the years we met at WVCA Board Meetings and Conferences. I found Virginia to be knowledgeable and articulate. She was always a soft spoken, gentle lady. But, make no mistake, when she felt it necessary, she was quite comfortable speaking her mind in no uncertain terms. I always walked in awe and respect around Virginia. I knew . . . “ she knew whereof she spoke ”.
It was only recently I became aware of ‘ the other ’ Virginia Robson, the
multi-dimensional woman. I was unaware of her early life, family, education, world travel, opportunities and successes. This would be a good time to share some of those moments.
But first, let me say . . . ‘ Virginia, I was praying that you would live until the November conference, where we could demonstrate to you our respect and admiration and how we honored you ’.
Dan Henderson
WVCA President
My name is Leigh-Ann Brewer, I met Virginia Robson in her Dunbar home several months ago. She encouraged me as a Graduate Counseling student, telling me it is all worth the effort. She shared some of her life with me . . . along with this story.
Virginia Robson grew up in North Charleston. “A lot of property belonged to my grandfather Robson. We were land poor. We had that property, but no money. My father had a grocery store close to the Grandview School. I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. The teachers would come in my father’s store. I thought, ‘Gee, I’d like to be what they are.’ I never lost my feeling for that. “My father died when I was 6. It was suicide. He had some problems. It was explained to us that he had a head injury in his youth and had a plate in his head. That may have been pressing on his brain.
“All my adult life I wondered if therapy could have saved him. In many of my counseling sessions, I would be encouraging parents to refer a child to a mental-health specialist, but they would be reluctant or refuse because of the stigma. They’re more receptive to the idea today. We’ve come a long way with helping people to understand mental illness.”
“My mother was left with four children. Because my father was a war veteran, we had benefits for a few years. Then all that stopped, and there was no money. The custodian at Grandview was retiring, and the school was right across the street from our house, so my mother applied for the job and got it. She worked there 13 years.”
“I graduated from Charleston High School in 1939. I wanted to go to college, but there was no money. I got help from my mother’s supervisor, whose niece was secretary to
Dr. Riggleman, the President at Morris Harvey College. He said I could have a job through the National Youth Administration Program, similar to what they have today for college kids who work on campus. And that’s how I got through college.”
“I majored in Math and English. Then I got a job at Midway Junior High at Campbell’s Creek. Imagine getting to Midway from North Charleston in the war years. I would ride the bus to Summers St., walk over to Capitol St. and transfer to a bus that went to the East End. A teacher at Midway who lived in that area would take me to Midway. When I look at all these student automobiles on our lot, I wonder how they could have coped with that.”
“After two years up the creek, I transferred to Dunbar High. It was a six year school then, and I taught in the junior high division. That was in 1945. I stayed until 1989.”
“In working with students, I knew there were problems out there that might be more important to solve than math problems. I decided to get a master’s in what was then called ‘Student Personnel Administration’ I applied for teachers’ college at Columbia in New York. My next four summers were the best summers of my life. Working on my master’s in New York and seeing the sights, that was an education in itself.”
“I got my master’s in 1949 and became the dean at Dunbar. When they phased out Deans and made them counselors, I had one of five guidance counseling programs in Kanawha County Schools.”
“When I started out, counseling was basically about education and occupations. In the late 1960s, the problems of society became the problems of the schools. We were dealing with drugs, teenage pregnancy, and single-parent families in addition to getting students ready for their occupation and schooling beyond High School. It’s not any better. I don’t see how counselors survive now.”
“I was lucky at Dunbar, the first year I was alone. The next year, I got another counselor. Then another one. Then I got Joan Douglas, from 1965 until Dunbar closed. She went to South Charleston. After I retired, she called me one day and asked if I’d come over and help with the transition of Dunbar students to South Charleston. That was the Fall of 1989.”
“When I was at Dunbar, I was named runner-up secondary school counselor of the year by the American School Counseling Association. The Dunbar Lions Club invited me to dinner. They always sponsor students to Camp Horseshoe and invite the students and counselors for dinner. That night, much to my surprise, the dinner was in my honor. They presented me with a gift - $1,000 for my contribution to youth. They said it was for travel, because I like to travel. But I said I wanted to use it for something else.”
“I knew about this computerized guidance information system called ‘Discover’ that was new on the market. I’d seen it demonstrated at a National Convention. By writing a grant and adding all but $50 dollars of the money they gave me, I got that system. When Dunbar High School moved, the Discover system moved with it.”
“I saved the $50 to buy myself a gift. I bought it in Switzerland – a music box, to remind me of my love of music and travel. I’ve been to about 16 European Countries and all but two provinces of Canada. I think I’ve had an interesting life.”
“ I once got a call from a student who graduated 20 years before. She spent many hours with me in counseling. Because of family problems, through her teenage years, her life sometimes seemed unbearable. She called to say she was doing well, and she sent me a vase of carnations. The card said, ‘Thanks for making these 20 years possible.’ I thought that was really a good tribute.”
Story shared from the Charleston Gazette
Photographic remembrance of Virginia Robson (Powerpoint).
Photographic remembrance of Virginia Robson (pdf format).
If you have memories of Virginia you want to share with others, send them to webmaster@wvcounseling.org.