Jo Ann Goolsby Memorial Scholarship

Jo Ann Goolsby began her teaching career in 1969 in a Sam Houston High School temporary building. She moved only once in her 21-year career — to an inside classroom the following year when SHHS opened in its current location.
Education was of utmost importance to Mrs. Goolsby, fueled by her East Texas roots where she started first grade in a one-room schoolhouse. The youngest of five children, her education began even earlier when her older sister taught her to read by age 4. She became a voracious reader, carrying books wherever she traveled for the rest of her life. The family eventually moved to the nearby town of Paris, where she graduated from Paris High School in 1951.
After marrying and moving to Arlington, Mrs. Goolsby decided to pursue a college education. She enrolled at Arlington State College (now the University of Texas at Arlington) in 1962, attending classes while her three children were at school. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in May 1969, with teacher certification, and later earned a Master’s degree from North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas). 
Mrs. Goolsby taught junior English at Sam Houston for ten years, then taught senior English for 11. She quickly fell in love with Sam Houston, once turning down a position at Lamar HS despite it being much closer to her northwest Arlington home. By then she counted many close friends among her fellow teachers, and could not leave her beloved SHHS students.
She was not known as an easy teacher, but students flocked to her classes nonetheless. She tried to help them connect to the subject at hand, such as using a popular song to pull them into the world of poetry. She often said she did not give students their grades — they earned them.
And those needing extra help often discovered she was their best advocate. When one student dropped out months before graduation, then returned after six weeks, Mrs. Goolsby put a desk in the back of her classroom where the student could do her make-up work during lunch, off periods, and after school. In between teaching her classes, Mrs. Goolsby guided the student through English assignments as well as her other class work.
“She was the only one who helped me after I realized I needed a high school diploma to get a decent job,” the student said. “If not for Mrs. Goolsby, I would not have graduated high school.”
Illness forced Mrs. Goolsby’s retirement in March 1990. Following her death in February 1991, a scholarship was created in her name. More than 40 students who, like her, showed a true love of reading have received scholarships in her memory.

Mrs. Goolsby’s children dissolved the scholarship fund in 2020, donating the remaining balance in full to the SHHS Alumni Association scholarship fund. We are honored to award these scholarships and continue her legacy.