In this interview conducted by Dr. Sam Bommarito, Dr. Betty Porter Walls discusses the many insights she has gained during her nearly 60-year career in education. Those insights can help us all as we begin this new school year.

Recently, I interviewed my long-time friend and colleague, Dr. Betty Porter Walls. Betty has completed nearly sixty years of active service in the field of education. That is a remarkable accomplishment. She has taken on many roles over those years. At the start of her career, Betty spent a few years in the classroom. However, she spent the vast majority of her career in Central Office positions. She has been a curriculum coordinator, a school principal, a human resource director, and a director of state and federal programs. However, the position that has been closest to her heart is that involving professional development, including being a university professor. I’ve had the honor of collaborating with Betty on numerous projects, including the St. Louis Public School’s BTAP (Beginning Teacher Academy Program), annual read-ins at Harris-Stowe State Teachers’ College’s preschool, and several book giveaways sponsored by the St. Louis Regional Literacy Association. Betty has done presentations at the national and international levels. In our hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, Betty is a beloved fixture on the St. Louis Literacy Scene. Let’s learn more about her and hear what she has to say about what it takes to be a successful educator in 2025.

BIOGRAPHY Betty Porter Walls, Ph.D.

Dr. Betty Porter Walls, President of Walls Educational Services, is a former school district administrator, professor of literacy at Harris-Stowe State University (HSSU) and University of Missouri-Columbia (UMC). She’s past president of the Missouri Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (MACTE) and serves as a board member of state and local affiliates of the International Literacy Association (ILA). A social justice and literacy advocate, Betty is a member of the ‘1st Class Educators’ consulting firm. Internationally, Betty has presented in Hawaii, Iceland, Germany, and Senegal. She presented “Literacy is a Family Affair” at a Hawaii International Conference on Education (HICE). Betty serves on the Emerson Electric Scholarship Committee and the Educational Advisory Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis which recognized her as Educator of the Year.

Here is a link to the YouTube Interview:

Here are the time-stamped talking points for the interview (so you can go to the sections that interest you the most first)

LINK to one of Betty’s partners, the St. Louis Black Authors of Children’s Literature.

LINK to the St. Louis Fed Honors Program press release.

ST. LOUIS – Betty Porter-Walls is the recipient of the 2024 Economic Educator Advisory Board Educator of the Year Award from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The award is given annually to recognize a board member for his or her commitment to economic and financial education.

Porter-Walls, retired associate professor at Harris-Stowe State University, was honored at a May 8 dinner at the St. Louis Fed for helping to connect educators with St. Louis Fed teaching resources. She has served on the St. Louis Fed’s Educator Advisory Board for many years, said Eva Johnston, senior economic education specialist and board coordinator.

The board is composed of local teachers who review curriculum, attend meetings, present at events and contribute in other ways to the success of the St. Louis Fed economic education program, Econ Ed at the Fed.

“Betty Porter-Walls is an inspiring, devoted educator who is a role model and motivator for teachers across a wide range of curricula. She is tireless in her efforts to help teachers understand and adopt the best practices to help their students,” Johnston said. “We are deeply grateful for her work on our Economic Educator Advisory Board.”

St Louis Fed Economic Education Officer Scott Wolla expressed his gratitude for the service of Porter-Walls and Johnston, who is retiring from the St. Louis Fed on June 30.

“Eva has been an exceptional economic education practitioner and ‘teacher of teachers’ in her 10 years at the St. Louis Fed. She has inspired hundreds of educators across the nation to delve deeper into how they teach economics and created lessons and other resources that made their teaching more effective and engaging for students,” Wolla said. “Her positivity, encouragement and expertise will be missed by the many educators she inspired and all of us at the St. Louis Fed.”

Among her many activities, Porter-Walls serves as the facilitator of the Beginning Teacher Assistance Program for the St. Louis Public Schools and was president of the Missouri Association of Colleges for Teacher Education in 2019. She also has organized “read-ins” for International Reading Day.

In addition to teacher professional development consulting for 1st Class Educator Group, Porter-Walls has presented at the Write to Learn, Early Learning, and Interface (STEM) Conferences in Missouri and nationally for the International Literacy Association, National Council of Teachers of English, National Network for Educational Renewal, and the American Educational Research Association.

Internationally, Porter-Walls has provided professional development in Iceland, Germany and Senegal. She presented her noted “Literacy is a Family Affair Project” at the Hawaii International Conference on Education.

She has received numerous honors/awards, including those from the governor of Missouri, Harris-Stowe State University, University of Missouri-Columbia, B’Nai B’rith and the St. Louis American newspaper.

The St. Louis Fed’s Econ Ed at the Fed offers more than 400 free educational resources about economics, personal finance, money and banking. In addition, the St. Louis Fed’s Econ Lowdown™ teacher portal allows teachers to create a syllabus of resources and assign the syllabus to students. The St. Louis Fed’s lessons, videos, online courses and more are free and available for pre-K through college, as well as for parents and other consumers.

Final Thoughts

I know that for Betty, of all the roles she has taken on over the years, the one she likes best is that of teacher, and teacher of teachers. Ever since the First Grade Studies were published, we’ve known that teachers make more of a difference than programs. Over the years, Betty has consistently made the most of every program she has been involved in. She is always open to new ideas. We would all do well to follow the advice she gave in the interview (tape position 22:27). She says, “Education is about the Big R, relationships. It’s about treating people with respect. You must remember that you can’t be a leader in an instructional program unless you understand that you’re not just teaching reading, writing, or social studies. You’re actually teaching people. You must respect the child, the person sitting in front of you. Only then can you respect the material.” These are words that can guide us all as we begin the new school year.  

Happy Reading and Writing,

Dr. Sam Bommarito (aka, the guy in the center taking flak from all sides)

Copyright 2025 by Dr. Sam Bommarito. Views/interpretations expressed here are solely this author’s views and do not necessarily reflect the views of any other person or organization.

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