STA teacher Terry Conner had groundbreaking career in the Navy for 30 years | by CAROLINE THOMPSON
“Today is another day in which to excel,” STA teacher Terry Conner tells her daughter one morning. These are the words Conner wakes her children with everyday. They are the same words she heard from her father– a Commander in the Navy, a major influence on her career and the introduction to a male-dominated world in which she was determined to excel.
An early passion
Born in Norfolk, Virginia in 1955, Conner grew up in a family of three kids with a father in the Navy. Their family moved throughout the country about every 2 to 3 years to places such as California, Texas, Washington D.C. and Minnesota.
“I learned to adapt,” Conner said. “I got used to going to new schools and making new friends.”
By the time Conner was 12, her father retired from the Navy and the family of five moved to West Virginia. There, Conner grew up and developed a passion for math and science. Her studies were slightly limited, however, because most female students did not take accelerated math and science courses during that time.
“We took home economics,” Conner said. “I didn’t take physics [in high school]. No one ever mentioned that I should take it even though I was good at math.”
After high school, Conner attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and pursuing her interest in math and science, she majored in nuclear science and physics. Often times, she was the only girl in her classes. However, Conner said that she never felt she was at a disadvantage as the only girl among boys.
“It helped that I was smart,” Conner said. “If you have something to offer, it erases that gender awareness. Eventually, we were all on the same team.”
While her majors were unpopular among women at the time, Conner said she chose her coursework based solely on her interests and not on future careers.
“I had no view of reality or what I wanted to be,” Conner said, laughing. “I liked math and I was good at it, but translating that to a job never crossed my mind.”
By her junior year of college, however, Conner said that reality set in and she began to seriously address her career choices. At the time, the job opportunities for women in her chosen field of nuclear physics were basically nonexistent. Even in 2008, according to the United States Department of Labor, the top ten jobs occupied by women did not include technological or scientific-based careers. The most scientific occupation was nursing, which followed jobs like cashiers, elementary school teachers and secretaries.
The opportunity of a lifetime
Once while Conner was walking to class at Virginia Tech., she noticed a poster recruiting seniors to earn $500 a month by teaching in the Navy.
“I never intended to be a teacher,” Conner said. “But I was a poor college kid with no money and thought, ‘500 dollars?’ That sounds nice.’:
After enduring several written exams and personal interviews, Conner became a member of the Navy her senior year, 1976, and began teaching at the Navy’s Nuclear Power Academy while finishing college. She was stationed in Florida among 300 teachers, only three of whom were women. The other female instructors taught mathematics, but Conner hoped to teach her field: physics. Conner qualified for the job and at age 22 taught in a classroom of 50 men ranging in age from 18-24.
“I was used to all guys from my college classes,” Conner said. “But this was a lot of pressure. You can’t fail at this [job]. If I [failed] I would be propagating stereotypes that women can’t do technical stuff. So, I put a lot of pressure internally on myself.”
Initially, Conner felt not only intimidated, but also awkward at times in her new teaching position.
“My most awkward moment was when I was teaching the highest physics class…full of cocky guys fresh out of high school that thought they were just the smartest things,” Conner said. “I decided I wanted to impress them with an answer [to a student’s question]. No one was sitting in the front desk and I thought, ‘That’s funny’ and went to lean on it. I found out why no one was sitting there. It was missing a leg. Before I could catch myself, I unexpectedly fell to the ground…I was wearing a skirt and I was sprawled out on the floor. You could hear a pin drop. I got back up and said, ‘I believe petty officer Jones had the floor before I literally took it from him.’ Once [the students] knew I was okay, everyone cracked up. I laugh now, but at the time I was like, ‘I can’t believe that just happened!'”
After teaching physics for two years, Conner wanted to teach her more specific area of nuclear reactor operations. No woman had taught that class before, but the administration decided to let her try. The experiment was successful and she taught the class for six more years.
A changing lifestyle
After eight years in active duty, Conner had married her high school sweetheart and had three daughters, so she decided to move to the reserves. This branch of the Navy is only called into active duty in times of crisis. She remained in the reserves for 22 more years, living in places all over the United States and even overseas in Korea and Japan.
During her time in the Navy, Conner’s mother-in-law helped raise the children while Conner was stationed in different parts of the world for a few weeks during the year.
“Growing up with a mom in the Navy was a constant, bittersweet adventure,” Conner’s 24-year-old daughter Erin Conner said. “You never knew what faraway place she was going to go away to next, but you always knew that there would be exciting stories and shiny baubles when she returned.”
Conner’s youngest daughter, 22-year-old Kaitlyn Conner, said growing up with a military background was full of fun memories, two of which being what she calls “military showers” and “room inspections.”
“Military showers are [when you] turn on the water and get wet, turn off the [water] for the remainder of the ‘shower’ while you wash your hair and your body, and then after you are all done, freezing and miserable, you can turn the water back on and rinse very quickly,” Kaitlyn said. “When we did room inspections after our Saturday clean, we would have to stand at attention at our doors in the salute position until we were saluted back to show our room was satisfactory and we were allowed to go play.”
While her kids attended Maranatha Academy in Shawnee, Kan., the high school needed a science teacher and her daughters suggested Terry for the position. Terry decided to sign up for the job and taught co-ed classes for six years. In her last year, Hurricane Katrina struck and Terry was called up to the reserves to provide aid in New Orleans. She then decided that maintaining a job in the Navy and as a teacher, along with raising a family was too stressful and decided to quit teaching at Maranatha. She spent the following year in New Orleans, and after being a captain for 30 years, the Navy’s policy forced Terry to retire.
“I loved [working in the Navy],” Terry said. “I stayed as long as I was eligible and as long as I stayed productive.”
Transition to all-girls
After retiring from her previous two jobs, Terry discovered a job opening at STA and became the physics teacher the in 2007.
“I took the job not realizing how wonderful it is to teach all girls,” Terry said. “[Unlike in co-ed high schools], you don’t see girls running to the bathroom before class checking their make-up because that one guy is going to be in chemistry class. The student dynamic is totally different.”
In addition, Terry said STA’s environment is more relaxed and has “more room for fun” than the classroom atmosphere in the Navy.
“When I taught in the Navy, I was teaching these boys concepts that if they got wrong they could blow up a ship,” Terry said. “But it’s not life or death in high school. It’s more like ‘Oh, my mom’s going to ground me if I don’t get an A.'”
Another enjoyable aspect of working at STA for Terry is the opportunity to influence young women– especially in the study of science.
“As a woman being in a male-dominated field of science, I love to be able to encourage that next generation of female scientists,” Terry said. “[Women] should know that their intellect is just as important, and if they are passionate about something, they should do it.”
In a school that is “committed to the education of young women,” as emphasized in STA’s mission statement, Conner’s philosophy fits well. Erin believes her mother is a great example for young women and especially those wishing to pursue a male dominated field.
“My mom has proved that breaking into a male dominated field is absolutely possible if you’re willing to trust in God’s plan,” Erin said. “My mother knew that she was meant to do extraordinary things, and she did not stop at anything to achieve that purpose…For those of you students who haven’t had the pleasure of learning from her, you are missing out…She expects a lot from her students, but she helps push you to accomplish things that you didn’t know were possible.”
