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Annette was born at home in Hillsdale, Tennessee, on September 6, 1920. For those of you who are not familiar with Hillsdale, it was a small town approximately eight miles south of Lafayette on Hwy. 10. Hillsdale was in Macon County and had its own post office. Annette attended Trousdale County High School but dropped out at age 16 to marry Harold Cothron. Harold and Annette farmed a 200-acre piece of land in Macon County. In 1938, the Cothrons had their first daughter, Robbie. In 1940, their second daughter, Carolyn, was born. Carolyn had a learning disability, and this was to play an important part in Annette's future. In the early 1940s, Annette became the first person in Macon County to ever receive a GED. She began teaching first and second grade in the Hillsdale School in the 1947-1948 school year. During the summers, when school was out, from the 1940s until 1961, Annette and up to six other people, carpooled daily from Macon County to Murfreesboro. This was an incredibly long trip of 120 miles per day in un-air-conditioned cars and well before the days of Interstate highways. All of these commuters were taking classes at Middle Tennessee State College. In 1961, Annette graduated with a degree in Education and a minor in math. She was also certified in Special Education. Starting in the 1960s, Annette began attending Peabody College in Nashville during the summers. She majored in Special Education all the way. These were small, hands-on classes, and many were held at the Clover Bottom facility and various correctional schools. Annette graduated with an MA in 1969 and an EdS in 1971. Special Education As we mentioned, Annette taught first and second grade at Hillsdale School in the 1947-1948 school year. She did this for two years. The next year, Annette started teaching homebound children. She did this for eight years. In this situation, a teacher would visit the home of a child with a learning disability and conduct individual classes. Annette describes several years where she worked with children in abject poverty. During this time, Annette was learning the reality of teaching children with learning disabilities. At college, she was also being exposed to new ideas about how to teach these children. In Macon County in 1956, Annette started the first EMR class, "Educating the Mentally Retarded." She taught these classes for 12 years. Rather than sending one teacher to a student's home daily, the students were brought together in a Macon County school building. Students were taught things such as good manners, how to handle a checkbook, how to dress, how to cook, etc. The students thrived in this group environment, but there was a problem: when Annette wasn't there, the children were not able to function. Working with Dr. Dunn at Peabody, Annette came to the conclusion that children with learning disabilities needed to be exposed to the system in which they would be living. Macon County cooperated and became the first school system in the area to mainstream children with learning disabilities. All but the most severely retarded children were enrolled in regular classes at certain Macon County schools. The children thrived in this environment. Macon County later became the first school system in the area to mainstream hearing-impaired children. In these classes, teachers wore microphones that transmitted their voices to special hearing aids the children wore. Annette retired from teaching in 1985. She and her daughter Carolyn now live on a 300-acre farm in Macon County. Annette's daughter Robbie has two children, and Annette now has two grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Annette loves to grow roses and was even featured on the cover of Tennessee magazine in 1997. Special Education in Macon County Today Thanks in part to programs which Annette helped develop, Macon County has one of the best Special Education programs in Tennessee. Each student with a learning disability is evaluated by a multi-disciplinary team to determine if a child can be mainstreamed and any special aids that child might need. An Individual Education Program (IEP) is then developed for each student. Special buses are available throughout Macon County to transport students with special needs to schools. Whenever possible, students with learning disabilities are part of regular classes. In other cases, students attend classes in special rooms, but they still have the opportunity to interact with other students during lunch, physical education classes and recess. Thoughts on Children with Disabilities As we mentioned, Annette's second daughter, Carolyn, has a learning disability. This gave Annette additional insight into the needs of children with learning disabilities. Carolyn frequently attended classes her mother was teaching. Not only did Carolyn learn in class, she was able to help many of the other children on their own level.
We asked Annette what advice she might have for a parent of a child with a learning disability. She recommended, "Expect of them the best that they can do, but no more. Do not ever start comparing one child to another child you have. You never know which child is going to be the greatest blessing to you." Accomplishments One thing of which Annette is very, very proud: two of the students with learning disabilities that she home-schooled became valedictorians of their high school classes -- one at Macon County High School, and one at Red Boiling Springs School. In 2001, Annette Cothron was inducted into the Tennessee Teachers Hall of Fame. The Tennessee Teachers Hall of Fame, sponsored by Middle Tennessee State University, is a way for the education profession to honor those who have made exemplary contributions to the field. The Hall of Fame celebrates educators who have made a difference in the lives of their students, in their communities, and in their profession. We are very proud of Ms. Annette Cothron, and we are honored to have her in Macon County!
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