Centenarian helps sixth graders celebrate 100th day of school year
Nancy Horst, Special to the Gazette
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wednesday marked the 100th day of class in Emporia schools, and a group of sixth graders observed it with a full day of activities.
Students of Amy Coffman and Tell Kirk at Lowther North Intermediate School started their day with a 100th day breakfast of sausage and eggs. The day ended with a special guest, Lucille Talbart, who spent an hour answering questions about her life over the past century.
Coffman said the celebration was a reward for her students who achieved an 80 percent or better on a test over the “words of the day” learned during the first 98 days.
Talbart, 102, lives at Holiday Resort. She visited the class with Cindy Weltha, activities director at the center.
With the aid of a microphone, Talbart responded to questions about culture, fashion, school, money and politics.
She said she grew up in Anderson, Mo., and was just six months from high school graduation when she had to quit and go to work. She told the students she’s lived in 10 states, partly because she was married to a GI.
She recalled a number of historical events studied by the students — World War I and World War II, the assassination of John F. Kennedy and man’s first landing on the moon.
She does not hear well and gets around in a wheelchair, but her sense of humor remains keen. When asked where she was when astronauts landed on the moon, she said, “I was still here on Earth.” She worried that the astronauts would not make it back.
Probably the most significant invention during her lifetime, she recalled, was the airplane. However, having the big machine flying in the sky worried her and she vowed never to travel on one.
Students were quite interested in her experiences with automobile travel, but she told them, frankly, she preferred a team of horses and a buggy. She said they could go just as fast as the early automobiles.