The Past:
in Education
Johnnie Mae Mayo
Johnnie M. Mayo was the oldest of seven children. Her family increased by four when cousins were introduced following the loss of her maternal aunt.
As a sixteen-year-old high school student, she began a continuing commitment to community service. She taught Sunday school and volunteered regularly at the campaign headquarters of various political aspirants.
She attended elementary school in Birmingham. After moving to Buffalo, she graduated with honors from Fosdick Masten High School. Her lifelong dream to be a teacher was achieved when she graduated from Buffalo State College in 1959 and began a thirty-seven-year career in education.
In 1985, Ms. Mayo was one of four, and the only female, to be appointed by the Buffalo Board of Education to the position of Supervising Principal. In 1990, she became the first African American female to be promoted to the rank of Assistant Superintendent for elementary Education in the Buffalo Public Schools. She continues, in retirement, to mentor newly appointed administrators, in the public and private sector, throughout the Western New York area.
After retirement from the Buffalo Public School System, Ms. Mayo taught a graduate course in Education at her alma mater, Buffalo State College. In 1983, She also served as a Project Consultant for the U.S. Department of Education. She offered technical assistance on alternative practices related to the overrepresentation of Black and minority students in classes for the Educable Mentally Retarded. This assistance was provided to school districts throughout the country.
