Millennium Magazine_6th Ed

117 Millennium - A Marquis Who’s Who Magazine PAMELA JOHNSON TAVERNER SECONDARY SCHOOL EDUCATOR (RETIRED) Clearwater High School Wichita, KS from Friends University and a master’s degree in communications from Wichita State University. Certified to teach in the States of Missouri and Kansas, she commenced her teaching years at Elk Valley High School in 1971. In 1972, she moved onto Summersville High School, where she taught for three years, and Clearwater High School, teaching there for 33 years. From 2000 until her retirement in 2008, Ms. Taverner taught at Cowley College and Newman University. Ms. Taverner was honored with the establishment of the Pamela Johnson Taverner KNEA Retired Distinguished Service Award in 2019. Additionally, she was named an Outstanding Teacher/Director by the Kansas Theatre Association in 1993. Alongside her recognitions, she recalls seeing former students create successful professional careers, many as educators, to be the highlight of her work. Ms. Taverner believes her career would not be so successful without the support of her husband Clyde, who passed away in April 2019. He was a U.S. veteran who served as a medic in the Vietnam War. In addition to reflecting on the memories of her life and career, Ms. Taverner spends her free time partaking in Victorian restoration, needle crafts, gourmet cooking, political activism and taking in stray cats. Ms. Taverner is a member of the National Education Association, the Kansas National Education Association, the South Central Kansas National Education Association and the Clearwater Teachers’ Association, where she served as treasurer, president-elect and president. She has also served in the National Council of Teachers of English and the PFLAG. She served on the board of examiners for the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education until retiring in 2008. Looking toward the future, she intends to continue enjoying her well-deserved retirement. I nspired by one of her elementary school teachers, who taught her phonics and a love of reading, Pamela Johnson Taverner knew she wanted to be a teacher. Later on, she was also inspired by Sarah Robinson, a literature and speech teacher; Cully Abrell, a university theater professor; and Janice May, her sister. Ms. Taverner received a Bachelor of Arts EDUCATION