A two-year community college a short drive from here selects a graduate to be given a Such and Such Citation Award annually.?ÿ Typically, the honoree has built a company or held some prestigious title of some sort or accomplished something noteworthy over several decades since the days in that college (junior college at the time).?ÿ This year's honoree was announced today.?ÿ There will be some oldtimers from that city saying, "Who??ÿ What?"
The honoree grew up in that city and attended the public high school and the junior college before transferring to a four-year college in 1962.?ÿ From there, she sprouted wings and flew.?ÿ She worked as a teacher, but managed to find the time to complete her master's degree in education, plus obtaining an administrative degree, to be able to apply for principal and school superintendent positions.?ÿ She stayed in the public K-12 system until she obtained her Doctorate in Education Degree.?ÿ She then moved into teaching in a university, then another, then another and then another until she found her home in the administrative side of university affairs at the University of Southern California.?ÿ She continued to teach a few classes while championing better methods for instruction.?ÿ One particular product along this line has been translated into Greek and is being used in universities in Greece.?ÿ Clearly, she has been a powerful force in the world of education.?ÿ She retired in 2018.
But, life was not easy for this woman, for when she was a child in her hometown, all of the children in "her" neighborhood had a special school just for them, with a park and small swimming pool nearby.?ÿ For you see, the Douglas School was finally closed in 1953 about the same time as the city swimming pool was finally allowed to be integrated by children from "her" neighborhood.?ÿ My grandmother lived in that same city and attended church services with several of the families from "her" neighborhood where they had been welcomed several decades ahead of some of the other denominations.?ÿ There would have been few Black students in the junior college who didn't also happen to be on the basketball team.?ÿ That's just the way things were in her youth for kids along and near Silk Stocking Lane (Appleton Avenue).
