"Once you understand what you are doing, there is no deviation," she said.
As a teacher, she believed in endless math drills, nightly homework and practice. She described herself not as a harsh instructor but as one who thought algebra is "a skill like ball playing and piano playing. Once you learn the basics, practice is necessary to ensure mastery."
Doris Broome DeBoe, 83, believed all her students could succeed, and she also believed math required plenty of practice "to ensure mastery."
Photo: Family Photo Photo
She said every child had the potential to do well in class. "My best dog is the underdog," she told her students.
Her conviction motivated many students. Michael Bell, a student at Bertie Backus Middle School in the mid-1970s, said Mrs. DeBoe was the inspiration for creating his math preparation company, Acaletics, which helps develop curriculums and training programs within the Florida public school system. His company follows the same basic formula as Mrs. DeBoe's teaching: Practice makes perfect.
"She is one of the better teachers in mankind," Bell said.
Mrs. DeBoe, 83, who died June 9 at Washington Hospital Center of respiratory failure, hadn't intended to be a math teacher. She had aspirations to be a nurse while attending LeMoyne-Owen College in her native Memphis during the 1940s.
At her mother's urging, she changed her career goals and began taking education courses. Her mother said it was important to get a four-year college degree instead of a two-year degree in nursing.
"When I finished school and needed a job, I took one as a teacher. I guess that's how I got sidetracked from nursing," she told the World Book Science Annual in 1985.
She married Charles DeBoe in 1952, and they had three daughters, Kathy, Christy and Sheri. They all survive, along with a sister, a brother and two granddaughters.
Mrs. DeBoe graduated from LeMoyne-Owen in 1946, and she received a master's degree in science technology from American University in 1975.
During the 1950s, '60s and '70s, she taught at various District middle schools and for a few years in the late 1970s wrote the math curriculum for the school system.
In 1983, while teaching at Banneker High School, the city's new academic high school, she received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and was also runner-up for D.C. Teacher of Year. She retired in 1987.
She never let personal troubles distract her from her career. During the early 1980s, she learned she had ovarian cancer. A few years later, it spread to her lungs and eventually to her breast.
Her friends, including motivational speaker and author Willie Jolley, said her strong faith helped her through the physical suffering.
"She refused to give into the gloom and doom of the disease," Jolley said.
"She would tell me, 'I might have cancer, but cancer doesn't have me.' " [rc]
© 2009 The Washington Post Company
July 5, 2009
USA: Like Her Subject, Math Teacher's Dedication and Conviction Were Absolute
.
WASHINGTON DC / The Washington Post / July 5, 2009
A LOCAL LIFE: DORIS BROOME DEBOE, 83
By Lauren Wiseman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Doris Broome DeBoe, who became one of the District's leading math teachers, said she was drawn to the subject because it was absolute. Where other subjects were subjective, she said, math was exact.
"Once you understand what you are doing, there is no deviation," she said.
As a teacher, she believed in endless math drills, nightly homework and practice. She described herself not as a harsh instructor but as one who thought algebra is "a skill like ball playing and piano playing. Once you learn the basics, practice is necessary to ensure mastery."
Doris Broome DeBoe, 83, believed all her students could succeed, and she also believed math required plenty of practice "to ensure mastery."
Photo: Family Photo Photo
She said every child had the potential to do well in class. "My best dog is the underdog," she told her students.
Her conviction motivated many students. Michael Bell, a student at Bertie Backus Middle School in the mid-1970s, said Mrs. DeBoe was the inspiration for creating his math preparation company, Acaletics, which helps develop curriculums and training programs within the Florida public school system. His company follows the same basic formula as Mrs. DeBoe's teaching: Practice makes perfect.
"She is one of the better teachers in mankind," Bell said.
Mrs. DeBoe, 83, who died June 9 at Washington Hospital Center of respiratory failure, hadn't intended to be a math teacher. She had aspirations to be a nurse while attending LeMoyne-Owen College in her native Memphis during the 1940s.
At her mother's urging, she changed her career goals and began taking education courses. Her mother said it was important to get a four-year college degree instead of a two-year degree in nursing.
"When I finished school and needed a job, I took one as a teacher. I guess that's how I got sidetracked from nursing," she told the World Book Science Annual in 1985.
She married Charles DeBoe in 1952, and they had three daughters, Kathy, Christy and Sheri. They all survive, along with a sister, a brother and two granddaughters.
Mrs. DeBoe graduated from LeMoyne-Owen in 1946, and she received a master's degree in science technology from American University in 1975.
During the 1950s, '60s and '70s, she taught at various District middle schools and for a few years in the late 1970s wrote the math curriculum for the school system.
In 1983, while teaching at Banneker High School, the city's new academic high school, she received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and was also runner-up for D.C. Teacher of Year. She retired in 1987.
She never let personal troubles distract her from her career. During the early 1980s, she learned she had ovarian cancer. A few years later, it spread to her lungs and eventually to her breast.
Her friends, including motivational speaker and author Willie Jolley, said her strong faith helped her through the physical suffering.
"She refused to give into the gloom and doom of the disease," Jolley said.
"She would tell me, 'I might have cancer, but cancer doesn't have me.' " [rc]
© 2009 The Washington Post Company
"Once you understand what you are doing, there is no deviation," she said.
As a teacher, she believed in endless math drills, nightly homework and practice. She described herself not as a harsh instructor but as one who thought algebra is "a skill like ball playing and piano playing. Once you learn the basics, practice is necessary to ensure mastery."
Doris Broome DeBoe, 83, believed all her students could succeed, and she also believed math required plenty of practice "to ensure mastery."
Photo: Family Photo Photo
She said every child had the potential to do well in class. "My best dog is the underdog," she told her students.
Her conviction motivated many students. Michael Bell, a student at Bertie Backus Middle School in the mid-1970s, said Mrs. DeBoe was the inspiration for creating his math preparation company, Acaletics, which helps develop curriculums and training programs within the Florida public school system. His company follows the same basic formula as Mrs. DeBoe's teaching: Practice makes perfect.
"She is one of the better teachers in mankind," Bell said.
Mrs. DeBoe, 83, who died June 9 at Washington Hospital Center of respiratory failure, hadn't intended to be a math teacher. She had aspirations to be a nurse while attending LeMoyne-Owen College in her native Memphis during the 1940s.
At her mother's urging, she changed her career goals and began taking education courses. Her mother said it was important to get a four-year college degree instead of a two-year degree in nursing.
"When I finished school and needed a job, I took one as a teacher. I guess that's how I got sidetracked from nursing," she told the World Book Science Annual in 1985.
She married Charles DeBoe in 1952, and they had three daughters, Kathy, Christy and Sheri. They all survive, along with a sister, a brother and two granddaughters.
Mrs. DeBoe graduated from LeMoyne-Owen in 1946, and she received a master's degree in science technology from American University in 1975.
During the 1950s, '60s and '70s, she taught at various District middle schools and for a few years in the late 1970s wrote the math curriculum for the school system.
In 1983, while teaching at Banneker High School, the city's new academic high school, she received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and was also runner-up for D.C. Teacher of Year. She retired in 1987.
She never let personal troubles distract her from her career. During the early 1980s, she learned she had ovarian cancer. A few years later, it spread to her lungs and eventually to her breast.
Her friends, including motivational speaker and author Willie Jolley, said her strong faith helped her through the physical suffering.
"She refused to give into the gloom and doom of the disease," Jolley said.
"She would tell me, 'I might have cancer, but cancer doesn't have me.' " [rc]
© 2009 The Washington Post Company
