The move was different yet familiar to the former Maureen Cullen, a first-generation American born of Irish parents who called New York's Long Island home.
"It reminded me very much of the British Isles," she remembered, making note of her parents' homeland. "I felt very much at home, and the people were wonderful ... warm and friendly."
In addition to the new environment, the teacher also had to grow accustomed to her students calling her by a new name:
Mrs. Hodges.
No doubt, the new bride probably found the title intriguing and exciting.
Nowadays, Mrs. Hodges is a familiar name to many a Cumberland County family. As teacher, nursery school and summer program director and, most recently, principal of Crossville Elementary School, she used her time and talents to make things better for generations of Cumberland County children.
That era ended Tuesday, when Cumberland County Board of Education officially acknowledged Mrs. Hodges' retirement from the school system.
The decision, she said, was not one she made lightly. Many accomplishments had been made in her 21 years as principal of Crossville Elementary, referred to in the community as "City School."
"The time had come when you've accomplished what you want to," Mrs. Hodges said simply in the new Fairfield Glade home she and her husband have shared since last October.
"I've thought about it on and off since Christmas. It's not an easy decision, but it's time."
Teaching, for Mr. and Mrs. Hodges, was more than a profession. It was a passion the two of them embraced separately when they met in Locust Valley, a Long Island community brought to notoriety in the Harrison Ford film Sabrina.
After teaching in New York for four years, Mr. Hodges decided to go back home to Cumberland County. His mother's family, the Taylors, were among the plateau's earliest settlers, and he believed sharing his penchant for art and writing would be of benefit to the area's children.
"I was beginning my work at New York University on my doctorate degree," Mrs. Hodges related with a smile, "and Joe proposed the 'MRS' degree."
Mrs. Hodges' first job with the Cumberland County system was teaching first-graders at Pleasant Hill Elementary School. She recalls the generosity of community residents, who openly volunteered to share their experiences with the children. And she is particularly grateful to Dan Tollett, who was principal at the time. It was Mr. Tollett, she said, who first allowed her the freedom to try new teaching techniques she had longed to try in New York.
The Hodgeses' only child, Katie, was born two years later. Though she left her public teaching job, Mrs. Hodges opened her home to other children while devoting time to Katie's formative years.
She and her husband opened Byrd's Creek School, a humanities-based nursery, dance class and summer school operated from a studio in their Byrd's Creek home. Children from Cumberland, Fentress, White and other counties attended the classes, and the couple's mothers assisted in the day-to-day operations of the nursery.
When Katie started school, her mother returned to teaching, this time at Crossville Elementary. Because children were not permitted at that time to attend schools in which their parents taught, Katie was remanded to Homestead Elementary for a year until the edict was changed.
"She hated every minute of being the principal's daughter," Mrs. Hodges laughed. "I'd see her in the hallway, and she'd look the other way."
Things didn't get much better for Katie at Martin Junior High School, where her father taught. "Then she was Mr. Hodges' daughter," Mrs. Hodges explained.
Katie, who now manages all advertising and research for Chemical Manufacturers' Association of America, "took it pretty well, though," he mother said. "We laugh about it now."
Among the many programs introduced under Mrs. Hodges' leadership at Crossville Elementary was the artist in residence. That responsibility went to Mr. Hodges, whose unique artwork still prominently invokes splashes of color to the interior walls of the school. In addition to his Martin stint, he had taught at Cumberland County High School and would go on to teach art students at Crossville Elementary, Pleasant Hill, Pine View Elementary and Roane State Community College until his health forced him to retire more than three years ago.
One of Mrs. Hodges' most exciting times as principal was when former Gov. Ned McWherter chose Crossville Elementary to receive his prestigious Governor's Award in 1988 and 1989. She and members of her faculty were invited to a luncheon in Nashville to accept the awards. She remembers as she socialized with state officials, her faculty members kept trying to draw her attention to her place setting. Eventually, she looked down and saw what was causing the stir: a check for $10,000, made payable to the school. "I could hardly speak," she said. "It was such a great day."
Under Mrs. Hodges' leadership, Crossville Elementary blazed the trail for the first school volunteer program. She also calls the Parent Resource Center "a dream come true," and praises Rural Cumberland Resources for supporting the center and other programs for the benefit of children, teachers and parents.
She has nothing but praise for the faculty and staff she leaves behind. She said their courage to try new and innovative teaching techniques makes learning fun and exciting to the students.
"You couldn't have had a better staff, even if you had hand-picked them," Mrs. Hodges added. "(They are) a caring group about kids and each other and the community."
Now that she's retired, Mrs. Hodges hopes to have time for exercising, swimming and gardening, the latter being a task she had formerly left to her husband. She also hopes she and Mr. Hodges will have opportunities to visit their daughter in Arlington, Va., as well as taking short excursions to historic sites in Tennessee, such as the recent day trip they took to Cordell Hull's birthplace near Byrdstown.
But the people and responsibilities connected with heading up a school never stray far from her mind.
"I love the children that's always been a pleasure," she said. "But I hope we don't get so politically correct that we lose our sense of humor.
"Enjoy it it's one of the noblest things you can do is work with children."
Cheryl Duncan/Chronicle
Maureen Hodges hopes to spend more time with her husband, Joe Ed, since retiring from the Cumberland County school system. She has been principal of Crossville Elementary School for 21 years.
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