Jimmy Spears has taught welding at Mercer County Technical Schools since 1975, and taught at other schools before that.
Jimmy Spears, 78, right, demonstrates a welding technique to student Isaac Collins, left, of Trenton, in welding class at Mercer County Technical School. Spears is set to retire after more than half a century teaching his craft.One day at Roosevelt High School in West Palm Beach, Florida, a teacher approached young Jimmy Spears and floated an idea: Want to take a look at our welding program?To his delight, he excelled at it and enjoyed it too.
The money was a large draw for welders, Spears recalled. According to records his wife Joyce kept, Spears made $6.10 an hour while working at United Ironworkers in 1968. His teaching career alone has lasted more than 51 years, just a few weeks shy of his marriage to Joyce. The couple celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary this Valentine’s Day, and had met meet at an off-campus party at Trenton State College decades ago, where “she was making googly eyes at me,” Spears recalled, laughing. The mayor of Ewing Township performed a civil ceremony on Feb. 14, 1969, since “no one else would do it back then because we are a mixed marriage,” Joyce said.
Dr. James Fazzone, the interim superintendent at Mercer County Technical Schools, said he’s not aware of any other teachers at the school who have been there for more than 50 years.
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