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 By JENNIFER TANGEMAN
Staff Writer
Few people exhibit an enthusiasm about historical artifacts as Jim Bowsher does.
When crews working for G.A. Wintzer and Son Co. started working to build new office space on West Auglaize Street, they came across some interesting finds where a rental home had previously sat.
Jim Kent and others of Kent Surveying began finding pieces of artifacts. They called in local history buff, Bowsher, to try to figure out what the bits and pieces meant.
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School hails those retiring |
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Friday, 15 May 2009 |
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Assistant Managing Editor
For two teachers saying goodbye to teaching careers in the Wapakoneta City Schools, it’s been more than that.
Kay Wellington and Priscilla Elshire started kindergarten together in the district more than 50 years ago at Centennial. They shared memories of bringing their own rugs to class for naps and receiving live baby chicks for Easter from a teacher in the second grade.
They lived across the street from each other, were members of the same Brownie troop and went door-to-door selling rocks as children.
As they got older, they joined band together and in 1965 graduated. They ended up in the same dorm at Miami University and the education majors pledged the same sorority.
They were in each other’s weddings and their daughters were in each other’s weddings as well.
At first they were stay-at-home moms running playgroups and serving as Brownie leaders but they found their way back to teaching together.
“It was only fitting for us to end this chapter together, too,” Wellington said, as the pair toasted empty glasses to friendship.
Four Wapakoneta City Schools teachers were recognized this week by the Wapakoneta Education Association during its annual Retired Teachers Tea. The teachers included, Elshire and Wellington, Penny Cummings and Gregg Luthman.
Superintendent Keith Horner said Cummings, whom he worked with while he was at Wapakoneta Middle School, cares so much for children and is a great cheerleader for them. The math teacher manages her classroom well, providing for group and individual instruction.
“You enter her classroom and kids are doing math,” Horner said. “I sincerely appreciate all she has done for kids, all the time she has given kids over the years.”
Wellington, a language arts teacher, was one of the first people Horner said he noticed at Wapakoneta Middle School.
“Her care for kids is so genuine, it’s an inspiration,” Horner said. “She reaches all kids and loses sleep worrying about them. She does whatever extra she can.”
He said she expresses her opinion, but she doesn’t lose respect for those who have to make the tough decisions.
“I’ll certainly miss you,” Horner said. “The kids will miss you.”
Elshire is a dedicated, professional teacher, always working hard to prepare her students for the task ahead, Horner said.
He said he is in awe of the depth at which she knows the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT), taking a great deal of pride in the test and helping students prepare for it.
More than that though, Horner said Elshire, an English teacher at Wapakoneta High School, prepared students not only for the test, but for life.
“We could be confident students would leave Wapakoneta High School and be successful if hey had Priscilla as a teacher,” Horner said.
Horner said a true testament of Elshire as a teacher is high school senior Kenneth Long credited her with pushing him to be more than OK academically. He received the Franklin B. Walter Scholar award as the top student in the county this year.
Luthman, a special education teacher at Northridge Elementary School, has spent many years working with the most difficult children, Horner said.
“He is patient and diligent,” Horner said. “He is a sincere advocate for kids.”
He said Luthman works to get each student back in the classroom and prides himself in it when a student does so successfully.
“He takes time to teach other students about his students and keeps parents, often who have their own difficult situations at home, informed about their child’s progress,” Horner said.
Northridge Principal Mark Selvaggio said he thought Luthman was born to take on the role of a special needs teacher.
“He loved working with the students and it will be difficult to replace him,” Selvaggio said.
Colleagues also took turns speaking about each of the teachers.
Wellington was described as a role model, an unparalleled teacher and even a legend, who runs her classroom in a way that every student knows what is expected and there isn’t a minute of wasted teaching time.
She treats each of her students as she would her own child. She wanted the best for each of them and never gave up on them so they wouldn’t give up on themselves. She gave them all the tools they needed for success.
Elshire was described as the passion in the high school English department, someone who ran with new ideas and voiced her opinion with a no-nonsense approach to getting things done.
The former tennis and swimming coach worked tirelessly to help sophomores pass the OGT. Awarded best secondary teacher of the year by the Wapakoneta Daily News, Elshire is truly irreplaceable her colleagues said.
Cummings, whom fellow teachers described as nurturing and organized, was always in tune, always exploring new and better methods. Her traits got results in the classroom and those same traits are going to be missed by coworkers.
Luthman was described as a dedicated teacher and champion for what’s right for children, who was always the first to volunteer, but upon retirement plans to spend more time with his family, including his first grandchild.
School Board President Laura Frame thanked each of the teachers for their service and dedication to students as she celebrated their work at the tea held in their honor.
She wished them much joy as they left their teaching lives and moved on to their retirement lives and an opportunity to reach new life goals.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 19 May 2009 )
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