Tharptown teacher retires following 29-year career
THARPTOWN Science teacher Marsha Inmon has retired after 29 years in the classroom, the last 10 of which were spent at Tharptown High School.
Her getting into education all started with a nudge from her mother.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” Inmon said, “so my mother, a longtime math teacher, told me to be an education major.”
She spent those first two years at Northwest Shoals Community College in Phil Campbell, where her studies were covered by a scholarship she received to be a member of the school’s academic quiz bowl team.
When Inmon found out she could get a grant to teach math or science, she made the decision to get a degree in general science.
This qualified her to teach any of the sciences. She developed a love of science, and a stepby- step teaching style designed to make difficult concepts click.
“I wasn’t the greatest math student, but my mom could always explain things, so I’d understand,” Inmon said. “That’s how I tried to teach science — breaking it down the way she would.”
Her favorite science classes have been physics and chemistry.
“I’ve taught a little bit of everything from sixth to 12th grade,” Inmon said.
Her career began at Speake School in Lawrence County, where she taught for 18 years, but it was at Tharptown that Inmon said she found the most fulfilling chapter of her teaching life.
“Tharptown is an amazing school with amazing kids,” she said. “These are the best students I’ve ever worked with — smart, respectful, eager to learn.”
Barry Laster, thenprincipal at Tharptown High School, hired her. They worked together for six years.
Marsha Inmon
“She was very dedicated to the students and the school — to education in general,” Laster said.
At Tharptown, Inmon taught a range of courses including chemistry, physics, earth science, environmental science and physical science.
She was especially known for her engaging labs, including using a projectile launcher to teach motion in physics and conducting chemistry experiments from the Alabama Science in Motion program.
“I’ve learned so much through Science in Motion,” Inmon said. “And the kids love it — it’s hands-on, it’s real. You’re not just teaching facts; you’re teaching them to think.”
Perhaps her proudest accomplishment was launching and leading the Tharptown rocketry team, which grew out of her work with the school’s robotics program.
Inspired by a parent and former Russellville team member Andrew Heath, Inmon helped form the team in 2018.
Under her leadership, the team qualified for nationals in its first year, and in 2024, they won the national competition. By that point, she had passed the coaching torch to Areanna Orozco Annslee Bottoms fondly recalls the years she had Inmon as a teacher, from eighth grade through her senior year.
“I was part of the first-ever rocketry team at Tharptown,” Bottoms said. “I was the team captain of the all-girls group that started it. We became national finalists our first year, and I can’t even imagine what it was like for a teacher to start this project in a small school and without really knowing what they were getting into and then to see it progress so quickly.”
Inmon lives in Franklin County, near Russellville, with her husband, Billy. Between them, they have two children and five grandchildren.
As she begins her retirement, Inmon said she’s looking forward to long morning walks and waiting to see what comes next. Tutoring may be on the horizon, but for now, she’s simply grateful.
“I’m just listening and waiting for the Lord to tell me what’s next,” she said.
