Betty Scales was born in the midst of the Great Depression, finished high school in a tarpaper building and began her teaching career in a one-room schoolhouse for an annual salary of $1,800. None of these deterrents prevented Scales from doing what she felt destined to do: teach.

Scales, who was African-American, spent 46 years in the classroom, where she taught students of all ethnic backgrounds.

“I was hired to teach — I didn’t care where you were from,” she said in a 2013 feature in The Herald. “All of us are kinfolk whether we like it or not.”

For Scales, teaching was more than learning times tables or memorizing places or dates. She liked to begin each school day with poetry.

“My students came from unsure homes, not even safe homes,” she said 2013. “They came to school to hear a beautiful poem — it changed their outlook.”

Scales also strongly believed in extracurricular activities. “Happiness is giving,” was the motto of one club she sponsored. Scales followed the advice she gave her students. She volunteered in the local 4-H program, played piano and organ for her church and sang in the choir.

Scales died in May and was not here to celebrate her Dec. 2 birthday. She would undoubtedly be pleased, however, to know that Cumberland Public Schools marked the occasion with the Betty Scales Day of Service. On this day, recently declared an annual event by county supervisors, students did community service projects that included sending cards to soldiers, first responders and nursing home residents and collecting canned goods for a local food bank.

“She was a remarkable woman, mother, educator and civic leader. My hope is that we all try to live by her example,” Division Superintendent Dr. Amy Griffin said.

In 2013 Scales told The Herald, “Cumberland is always the place I wanted to be, and I don’t intend to leave it.”

Cumberland supervisors made a wise choice in honoring their longtime educator. With this annual Day of Service, Betty Scales and the legacy she created will remain in the classroom for generations to come.