Wednesday, November 26, 1997
School district honors retired educators
By BILL WHITAKER / Abilene Reporter-News
Retired Abilene educators received a hefty heaping of gratitude,
plus more than the usual holiday fixings, during a rousing Thanksgiving
salute held at Bassetti Elementary on Tuesday.
Almost 300 former teachers and administrators of the Abilene
Independent School District, some of whom traveled to Abilene
from out of state, attended the school board's annual holiday
luncheon honoring the contributions of past educators.
"It's so much fun to get back and see everyone again,"
Kathleen Joy said while catching up with fellow retiree Ernestine
Ashford, with whom she taught at Abilene High.
The notion of holding this year's retirees' luncheon at Bassetti
Elementary -- named for late, much-beloved educator Robert Bassetti
-- was especially symbolic. The relatively new school is one of
several symbolizing the district's growth in recent years.
In honoring retired educators, Superintendent Charles Hundley
thanked them for "laying a strong foundation on which we
can work today."
Speaking for fellow board members, Robert Maniss thanked former
educators for attending the luncheon. He said that from personal
experience he knew that traveling to such luncheons could be more
difficult with each passing year.
"At some point," he quipped, "everything that
still works hurts."
Maniss also took a moment to single out retiree Mable Phillips.
He said Phillips influenced him greatly, both during his youth
at Colorado High School in Colorado City and later when he was
assistant principal at Franklin Middle School in Abilene.
"Know that not all students you had turned out that bad,"
Maniss told Phillips, 85, sitting in the audience. "Of course,
that may be open to debate."
Besides hearing from the Cooper Fiddlers and Abilene High's
Pure Gold, the retirees saw 86-year-old Ellen Turner, one of their
own, honored for 52 years of teaching. Turner was joined by 85-year-old
Loretta York, honored for beginning her teaching career before
anyone else in the room.
York began teaching at Dalhart in 1930 and later taught at
Jane Long Elementary in Abilene.
"Teaching methods have changed, but the thing that has
not changed is the emphasis on teaching the individual,"
York said of a profession that has taken its lumps lately. "When
I started teaching, that was the emphasis and when I retired it
was still the emphasis."
Send a Letter to the Editor about This
Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
Send the URL (Address) of This Story
to A Friend:
Copyright ©1997,
Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
|
