Annual Report - 2001
Legacy Story - Blanche Plunkett

In 1934, when Blanche Orand Plunkett applied for her first teaching job at Leverett Chapel School in northeast Texas, officials refused to hire her because she had no experience. She immediately went to find the superintendent who happened to be plowing a field at the time. When Blanche confronted him on his tractor and asked for a job, he reiterated that she had no experience.

“Well if I could go buy a package of it, I would,” she challenged, “but you can’t buy experience in a package.”

Her persistence paid off, and she was hired, thus beginning a career that spanned 50 years of teaching. After a few years in that little school near Overton and a few more in Kilgore, Blanche moved to Midland in the early 1950’s where her first teaching assignment was at DeZavala Elementary School.

In the latter part of her career, Blanche earned a degree in library science from the University of Texas and became an elementary school librarian until she retired in 1984. Until recent years, she continued to serve the public schools by volunteering at the Carver Center.

In honor of Blanche, her family created the Blanche Plunkett Scholarship Fund, which provides scholarships for students graduating from a Midland high school.

Mary Wood, a longtime friend who taught with Blanche, said, “She devoted her life to the profession of teaching and she made a difference in the lives of generations of children. I am so pleased she has been honored in this way.”
Blanche continues to live in Midland. She belongs to First Presbyterian Church where she has been a member for 50 years.