“We just returned from a trip to London, England; Paris, France; Lucerne, Switzerland; and Heidelburg, Germany. Matthew and I had the most awesome ever English teacher. Well, she was also our gifted teacher. She is the one who put the trip together,” said Katy Clevenger.
“She is really great! Her name is Tarver, Judy Tarver, Dr. Judy Tarver,” said Matthew Lovejoy.
Both of the animated young people told of the wonderful educationally packed trip that Dr. Tarver led. There were ten young people and a dozen parents that enjoyed this special adventure. Most of the group was from Sulphur and the students were members of Dr. Tarver’s various English classes.
Clevenger is the daughter of Meg Lovejoy and Gary Clevenger.
Lovejoy is the son of John and Rebecca Chapman Lovejoy.
Dr. Tarver is surprised to be called “awesome,” but she does not deny that she has a passion for literature and does try to pass that on to her students.
Tarver has been on four trips oveseas, the last two of which she organized herself. The adults on the 2008 trip were Nicole Fontenot, a teacher at Sulphur High School; Mr. Clevenger; Mrs. Galley, her sister, and a good friend of the two women; Mr. and Mrs. Mangrum; Mrs. Lovejoy; Mrs. Hearn; and Barbara Schwartzenburg, Tarver’s sister from Baton Rouge. The students were Erin Casteel, Jamie Pope, Amy Ellender, Katie Clevenger, Claire Galley, Madison Temple, Julie Mangrum, Matt Lovejoy, Andrea Nunnery, Alex Ducote, and Chance Hearn.
“I’d been to England three times before and I wanted to see more mountainous countryside. I designed the trip to be a beginning for all of us. We could have a look and
decide where we’d like to return one day,” Tarver said.
Students Clevenger and Lovejoy told the story of the ten day trip.
The London experience involved a tour of the city, a trip to Westminster Abbey, a peek at the Crown Jewels, a stop at Buckingham Palace for a photo op, and a wonderful evening at the London theater to enjoy “Les Miserables.”
Paris offered Notre Dame, Le Tour d’Eiffel, and L’Arc de Triomphe. Then a visit to see the art at the Louvre and an excursion to the Palace of Versailles.
Everyone loved Switzerland with its clean and modern European look. In Lucerne the group saw the foothills of the Alps as a background for an ice cold glacier lake that was an amazing color of blue. They saw the famous Lion Monument. Mark Twain spoke of it as the “saddest piece of rock” he’d ever seen. It memorializes the 800 Swiss guards who died in vain trying to protect the French royal family during the French Revolution. A special performance there was yodeling at a folklore show.
A bus ride through the countryside brought the group to, Germany. They cruised the Rhine River and toured many castles before flying back to the States.
Tarver was born in Crowley, but lived in Lake Charles all her school years. She was a St. Charles Academy student who went on to receive her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English at McNeese State University. Her doctoral degree in English was completed at Louisiana State University.
“Both my parents were teachers, Dr. William Iglinsky who taught at McNeese for thirty years and Gertrude Iglinsky, who taught for twenty-five years at St. Charles Academy and then St. Louis High School. My two brothers and my two sisters have all had years of education. Their professions are opthamologist, dentist, registered nurse, and ballet teacher.
“When I was in the first grade, there were 53 students and one little nun trying to teach us all. She put us all in groups and I was in charge of the first group and taught them. So I really knew from the first grade that I would be a teacher.
“I leaned towards science until high school and then moved away towards music. My first year of college I majored in piano and voice. I just recently began playing my piano again for enjoyment.
“After the first year of college I changed my major to English.
“Priorities changed when I got married and had our first child. I was out of school for eight years before returning to finish my undergraduate degree.
“I wasn’t really interested in publishing. I did publish one article on F. Scott Fitsgerald and his short stories in the McNeese Review. I am so far the only high school teacher in the professional publication,” she said modestly.
Tarver taught her first year at Lake Charles High School. She taught French on four levels. Then she moved to Barbe High School for 15 years in phase 3 English.
She was thrilled when the Supervisor of Gifted English Gay Arnold said there was an opening in gifted English at Sulphur High School. That was the subject area she really wanted and felt she could do her best teaching.
She returned to school to certify to teach gifted children. This year marks her sixteenth year teaching gifted students in Sulphur.
She teaches two freshman, one sophomore, one junior and one senior gifted and advanced placement English classes.
“Students who qualify for my classes read nine Shakespeare plays and twenty-six novels during their four years of English.
“I want students to think for themselves. I don’t want them to be satisfied with what someone else has thought about a topic.
“I think independent thinking is important for everyone. It’s not an easy thing to do.
“It can also be very uncomfortable--to be able to admit we may sometimes be wrong or that there’s not just one right answer.
“I value literature. In literature we can see all the problems people face in life. We can draw from our reading some wisdom. We don’t have to go through each situation ourselves to understand the problems in life,” Tarver concluded.
Tarver is married to James Tarver, Jr. The couple have three children. The oldest son is working in computers at Palo Alto in California. The youngest son is in the Foreign Service. He has been press secretary at American embassies throughout Asia. He presently is at Seoul, Korea. Their daughter teaches art at Episcopal Day School in Lake Charles.
Lake Charles, La. —
