BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (WTVF) — A 100-year-old former teacher celebrated her milestone birthday surrounded by past students, family and friends who lined up to reconnect with the woman who touched their lives.
Josephine Newbill's centennial celebration in Brentwood drew dozens of visitors eager to wish her well and share memories from decades past.
"I was in your 5th grade class," one former student said.
The interactions continued throughout the day as visitors expressed their love and gratitude.
Long before this celebration, Newbill studied how to fly planes during World War II. She later spent years researching at Vanderbilt before beginning the career she's most known for — teaching.
Newbill said she learned the value of work early in life.
Newbill's husband passed away more than 30 years ago. Together they raised two children. She now has seven great-grandchildren. At 100, she remains a social butterfly, engaging with each visitor who approaches her.
Throughout the celebration, Newbill shared the same lesson with each person who approached her.
"If you are nice and kind to people, they will be nice and kind to you," she said.
Watch the full celebration and hear more of Josephine's inspiring life lessons in our video report. Have you stayed in touch with a teacher who made a difference in your life? Share your story with reporter Kim Rafferty at kim.rafferty@NewsChannel5.com.
In this article, we used artificial intelligence to help us convert a video news report originally written by Kim Rafferty. When using this tool, both Kim and the NewsChannel 5 editorial team verified all the facts in the article to make sure it is fair and accurate before we published it. We care about your trust in us and where you get your news, and using this tool allows us to convert our news coverage into different formats so we can quickly reach you where you like to consume information. It also lets our journalists spend more time looking into your story ideas, listening to you and digging into the stories that matter.
This is a story I immediately went home and showed my boys - young athletes with big dreams. The Vanderbilt football team's success has stolen the spotlight - what I love about Steve Layman's story is he reveals the individual hardships it took to get there. As Clark Lea says, "we all have scuff marks." This team proves perseverance pays off!
- Carrie Sharp
