In the fall of 1987, a striking blonde teacher transferred from Rockwood High School to Midway High School. Tina Ruffner had taught at Rockwood for 7 years and was now the new Home Economics teacher at Midway. Her husband, Darrell, was hired the previous year as the new Midway High School head basketball coach. Mrs. Ruffner quickly became one of the favorites among the students at Midway and remained so during her 19 years there. Mrs. Ruffner went on to teach at Harriman High School in 2006 before retiring this year after 35 years of teaching.
Without question, some teachers can have a positive impact on the lives of their students. Tina Ruffner is no exception. I was a student of hers in the mid ‘90s and like so many of my fellow students, had a lot of respect for her.
There isn’t a certain characteristic that I could say was the reason why Mrs. Ruffner was so liked and so respected; it could be because of how she respected her students that they in turn, respected her. But I believe it has more to do with how she carries herself and a reason why those that were former students, continue to admire her now many years later. This was the case for me. Sure she was a caring and thoughtful teacher for 35 years to unruling, know-it-all teenagers but I believe her most difficult and admirable job was being the wife of a coach. Since 1986, Darrell Ruffner has been the head basketball coach at Midway High School as well as the baseball coach since the mid ‘90s. This means “date night” for this husband and wife duo is often a Friday night at a high school gym in Sunbright, Coalfield or worse….Greenback. It also meant not having as much help as she may have needed on any given evening from November through May with raising their 3 kids. Frankly, it wasn’t until I was married with kids of my own that I began to realize the sacrifices that the spouse of a coach makes. Since 1986, Tina Ruffner has given up thousands of hours with her husband so he himself could be the coach and role model to hundreds of youth. She has attended an astonishing number of high school ball games all in support of her husband and her school, not to mention the fun task of sitting and listen to all of us parents’ cretic play calls of the man she loves. It’s astonishing the number of coaches that can be found in the stands during the games of every high school these days. Tina Ruffner has done this for 35 years, all why carrying herself with such a positive attitude, class, and respect that is unmatched.
Some of my best high school memories included my time playing ball for Coach Ruffner but there is one specific memory that correlates directly to the misses that I’d like to share. Many know that April, my wife of 12….errr 13 years and I were high school sweethearts where she was also a student of Mrs. Ruffner’s. To this day, April and I still laugh about her Home Ec mishap and the tale of the “expanding biscuits”. Between classes, April came from Mrs. Ruffner’s class ecstatic for me to try one of her biscuits. Her first as a young Home Ec protégé. Not known for ever turning down a biscuit, Greg Patterson and I both grabbed a biscuit and started to chew. And chew. And chew. Greg and I looked at each other with the same look that if we didn’t hurry and spit it out, we would surely die because we both had the sensation that the biscuit was expanding in our mouths. To this day, the three of us still tell this story and laugh as if it just happened. My now wife would thankfully be under the wings of Mrs. Ruffner for a couple more years where she would turn into a decent, I mean great, cook.
Upon learning of Mrs. Ruffner’s retirement, I spoke with other Midway alum such as myself who are privileged enough to know her. What’s amazing in speaking with others about her is that you’ll hear a lot of the same words used to describe this legendary teacher, i.e. respect. Below is what a couple other former students had to say about Mrs. Tina Ruffner.
So when I started writing this note, I thought well I will just write some stuff to tell people how Mrs. Ruffner helped me to discover how much I loved to cook, bake, make candy, and sew. Ha, well anyone that truly knows me can tell you that I really do not like doing any of those things. Thank you Mrs. Ruffner for taking the time to help teach me the basics of Home Economics – which is what the course was called when I took it over 25 years ago. My mom appreciates you for actually getting me to at least go in a kitchen to do something other than eat or run my mouth. She also appreciates you for teaching me how to thread a sewing machine and bobbin, so that I could do those things for her.
I remember often thinking, I do not know why I look forward to going to this class so much because really I dislike doing most of the things that we did in the class except for tasting the things that we made in the kitchen. Later looking back and reflecting on what Mrs. Ruffner was teaching me, it had little to nothing to do with the actual course work. She taught me how to listen without judging others, how to care for others and not expect anything in return, but most importantly how to be myself in a place where I was clearly a little different.
So when I would go to her classroom on a daily basis for my counseling sessions, I can truly say that I learned a whole lot about being patient, kind, treating others with respect regardless of the situations. All of this and more were taught to me by watching Mrs. Ruffner interact with her students, colleagues, and parents of kids that she taught. I use to get kind of miffed by the fact that if I asked her a question, she was not one who would just come right out and give me the answer. She would always put it back on me and make me think about it from different points of views. I would think, she should have just given me the answer, told me what to do, etc. A little later in time and truly now in my life, I get it, I understand that in life there is no one to just hand you all of the answers. If you learn to work at it, work it out, work through it, then you are always better prepared for anything that life throws your way. Anything and everything that is worth having, you must work for it. Thank you Mrs. Ruffner again for all of the counseling sessions and life‘s big lessons.
Judy Moore
Midway High School Class of 1991
Mrs. Ruffner – MHS Domestic Goddess
Growing up in the south, there are some expectations about what a young woman should know how to do before venturing out into the world. I was born into a family of women that could put out a spread that would put Paula Dean to shame and could craft, sew, clean, or fix anything, all before having the benefits of YouTube. Sadly, by the time high school rolled around, I had not acquired any skills through heredity, nor just by being around these woman.I joined FHA because I really liked going to the TVA Valley Fair and you got to get out of school for an entire day.
I quickly realized that the fair and day out of school was only going to be a small reason that I loved FHA and, eventually, Home Economics. My developed love for all things domestic was for the most part, fostered by Mrs. Ruffner. Now don’t get me wrong, we were not a match made in Heaven as far as teacher/student relationships go. There were times that I think she could have strangled me or wanted to just shake the sense into me. But she never gave up on me.
One of our first projects was making biscuits. My Maw Collier and Granny Tilley had taught me how to make biscuits at a very young age, so I thought, “I got this!” One of the lessons that I got from Mrs. Ruffner was “always read the recipe!” Me? “Heck no! I know how to make biscuits.” After baking the gloriously colored, even flaky biscuits, her and I bit into one. We looked at one another straight in the eye and both knew….”uh…something is not right”. But before explaining to me, she suggested that I bring them to Coach Ruffner (her dear husband) to try. She said, “he’ll love them!” So I did (again, upon her suggestion). He bit into one and gagged and spat like no one I had ever seen. Long story short, I had replaced the baking powder amounts with baking soda and salt. Not good. As I got older and had a husband of my own, I sometimes think back to that day and can understand why she *might* have suggested that. Again, she taught me a life lesson that you don’t always have to have an argument with your spouse if they have done something to upset you before work in the morning. You can always find another “source” to get your point across. Baking soda biscuits could be perfect “revenge”. All kidding aside, I did eventually learn to read a recipe. Over the years, I have honed my cooking skills and can put out a decent meal if needed.
Mrs. Ruffner’s entries into my yearbook always suggested that I sometimes did not show my best side. She would always comment and say that she could tell what mood I would be in by how I dressed. I could either come into school wearing something off a magazine cover, or be wearing something that was 20 years old, too big and sloppy. To this day, every morning when getting ready for work, I remember those words and try to dress for success. No matter your mood, or how you felt, get up and show your best side. That was how she taught us to present ourselves to the world. And she was 100% correct.
There are really so many great memories I have of this woman, this teacher, this wife, this mother and this grandmother. I could probably fill up a notebook but the most important memory is that she equipped us all with the tools to be successful, contributing members of society.
Midway High School became a better school because of her. I, for one, will always be grateful.
Thanks Mrs. Tina Ruffner! Wishing you much happiness in your retirement and will be praying and sending positive thoughts for your quick recovery.
Aimee Tilley Moore
Midway High School Class of 1992
FHA Vice President