Irene Vanslyke | Joplin Junior College

Irene Vanslyke (1920-2012) attended Joplin Junior College from 1938-1940 and earned an Associate’s Degree in Education.

The college was a Junior college which was started the year before I went. The first year classes were held in the HS building but the year I started they had bought an old school building which they used for several years.

from handwritten autobiography of Irene Vanslyke

At that time in MO, one only needed 60 hrs to get a teaching certificate. However, in ’40 when I graduated with an AS degree school teachers were more plentiful than jobs and school boards just weren’t hiring people with no teaching experience

from handwritten autobiography of Irene Vanslyke

---

I’d had early ambitions to be a lawyer but by the time I finished HS I knew I’d be lucky to get to go to college enough to be a teacher. My parents were not financially able to send me to college but several things combined to make it possible. A junior college had been started in Joplin, Mo. where I had an aunt living, and I received a scholarship which paid for my first two years tuition. My aunt did not charge me any board and I was able to get a job for the summer between HS and college. I stayed with a family where the mother recently passed away and I did light housework and acted as a companion fo the girl who was about my age. I made $3 a week and since I had no expenses was able to buy most of clothes to start to college. My second year I worked Fri, Sat, + Sun nites at a little lunchroom. I received one dollar per nite and had to pay for having my uniform (which was furnished) laundered.

from handwritten autobiography of Irene Vanslyke

Irene doesn’t name the the lunchroom she worked for and in her yearbook, the following advertisement was run:

---

During my two years at Joplin Jr. College I made some good friends. One of which I still keep in touch with. We were both in teacher training courses and after we became acquainted we discovered that her grandfather and my grandmother were brother and sister.

from handwritten autobiography of Irene Vanslyke

At college, Irene joined the Pi Alpha Gamma sorority.

---