The come-and-go reception will be from 2-3 p.m. in Badger Corner, located on the second floor of the College Union Building.
“I feel honored,” Ford said. “I enjoyed so many happy years teaching at the College. Of course, I can’t help thinking of so many others who deserve this recognition more than I do.”
Ford, who was among the first to teach in AC’s fledgling English as a Second Language program, was a full-time member of the AC faculty from 1980 until her retirement in 2003. Her tenure at the College, however, far exceeds that span and is now at 38 years and counting.
She originally taught English composition part time at AC from 1970-1980. Ford then taught ESL classes from 1980-1990 and spent the ensuing 13 years teaching mainstream English composition, grammar and creative writing. But her retirement was short-lived; she returned to the College about five years ago to mentor students in AC’s Tutoring Center, and she is still at it today.
“I’ve always worked hard to become a better teacher,” Ford said. “I had a good work ethic and I gave it all I had. I graded papers at home constantly, almost every day, even over spring break.”
Ford made it a practice to write letters to her composition classes, offering extra credit when they responded in kind. Once, when a student lamented an excess of fault-finding red ink obscuring her essay – she said it resembled blood – Ford altered her approach and began grading papers with gentler green ink, or blue.
Ford served on numerous committees at AC – from Academic Affairs and the Adult Students Program to Mentoring, Student Services and Professional Development. She is remembered fondly by colleagues as a “true student advocate” and for helping organize numerous interdisciplinary faculty dinners.
She was a recipient of the Student Government Association’s Faculty Award, and she was nominated for AC’s highest faculty honor, the Mead Award. Ford also was once AC’s nominee for a prestigious Piper Professorship.
Ford has a lengthy history of service to the community, too. She has served on boards for YMCA, Children’s Rehabilitation Center, Friends of Opportunity School, Junior League and more. Additionally, she represented AC on boards and at conferences regionally and throughout the state and nation.
She has served on the board for First Christian Church, where she taught youth Sunday school for 17 years, and she remains active in the sanctuary choir. She says community service has afforded her an opportunity to “give something back” for all the blessings she received throughout a lifetime of teaching and tutoring.
“It’s why I still tutor today,” Ford said. “I’ve always liked to be busy, I just want it to be meaningful. That was easy when I was teaching full time because we had such a high level of professionalism throughout the College. There was great rapport among faculty and staff. AC was a very happy and productive place to work, and I was constantly inspired by all the master teachers we seemed to have in every department.
“Those of us who traveled to conferences and meetings, no matter where, were always proud to say we were from Amarillo College.”