Three Rivers College is looking at losing a collective 47 years of experience at the college.
Professor of business Dr. Martha Kirkman, director of communications Teresa Johnson and fire training coordinator Jack Armor filed their intents to retire effective July 1. The information was reviewed Tuesday during the monthly Board of Trustees meeting.
Kirkman joined TRC in 2000 with the hope to positively impact her students’ lives.
Many of those students, she said, were the first member of their families to attend college and those who weren’t still came in nervous.
“A lot of them didn’t have confidence in themselves and questioned what they were thinking coming to college,” Kirkman said. “I have loved watching them come out of their shells and realize that they have what it takes to make it in college.
“Watching them come through my door wondering what in the world they were thinking registering for college and then two years later walking across the stage earning their degree and then becoming successful in their chosen career paths has been so exciting and fulfilling to me and knowing that maybe in some small way I had a part in encouraging them.”
It’s hard, Kirkman said, to leave TRC after 21 years. Her twin daughters will be seniors in high school next year and she doesn’t “want to miss a second of their last year at home.”
In the long-term, she’s looking forward to traveling and spending more time with her loved ones.
“In the last six months, I have joined Magnolia Travel Group as a travel advisor,” she said. “So with my retirement first of all I’m hoping for a long, healthy life that will allow me the opportunity to do whatever I want to do and to spend time with my family and friends enjoying time with them and then, to travel and experience new places and cultures as much as I can.”
Johnson, who came to TRC in 2004, has worked in the communications department ever since.
The best part of working at TRC, she said, has been the stories from former students.
“When people I meet in the community learn that I work at TRC, they love to tell me how Three Rivers opened up opportunities that helped make life better for themselves and their families,” she said. “The next best part of TRC is the amazing people I’ve worked with and the feeling of family we create.”
Since she’s worked her entire life, Johnson said she’s looking forward to a few months of “not doing much of anything.
“Then I plan to enjoy some travel and time with friends and family.”
Armor joined the college faculty a few years after retiring from the Poplar Bluff Fire Department in 2008.
He worked part time for two years before becoming a full-time faculty member in 2014.
“I told the hiring board my main purpose is to be here for the guy behind the nozzle,” he said.
Armor said the best part of working for TRC has been the family atmosphere of the staff and watching his students succeed.
“It is the best place that I’ve ever worked in my entire life, as far as working with the people and their attitudes. It’s amazing,” he said. “But I think equally high on the list are the students that we brought through here, just to see them succeed in their career. Just seeing young men and women become firefighters that we can all be proud of.”
Armor said he’s ready to spend more time with this love of his life, Edith. They have five grandkids and six great-grandkids to spend time with, but they’re also planning some time to themselves.
“It’s time for her and I to slip away with ourselves and travel,” he said. “We’ve not been out west so we’ll probably go to the Grand Canyon. We’ll probably go to Glacier National Park ... We’re going to just ease around and go see the things we want to see. We love cruising, we’ve been on nine cruises, so we may very well take another cruise or two once they open up again.”
Armor said he came to TRC as a firefighter, not an educator. He came to the college at the recommendation of both local fire chiefs along with Bud Joiner and Gary Pride who worked to develop the fire school.
“I stood on their shoulders,” he said. “Gary left, and they said ‘we need someone for this program ... they called me and said ‘Hey, we need you.’ So, here I am.
“I was thrown into the world of high ed, which was different, but (the staff) has certainly helped me immensely. I can’t say enough good about Dr. Wes Payne, and Dr. Mary Beth Payne, they have really taken me under their wing and helped me along, and Will Cooper, our department chair.”