Eckstein School Teachers And Parents

All the teachers from Miss Theodore Oxley, the first teacher, through to Mrs. Henrietta Conner, Viola Burr, Alice Hand, Lula Turner, and Harry Piersawl ,who were teaching at Eckstein when the school closed in 1958, influenced the learning and life of the many students who passed through their classes.

In addition to the full-time Eckstein teachers, teachers came over from the Congress Avenue School to teach specialized subjects, such as art, music and sport. Below is a list all the teachers we currently have documented as having taught at Eckstein School.

  • Henry Robert Piersawl (Principal and 7th- 8th grade teacher)
  • Mr. Wynn (coach)
  • Mr. Francis Kelly (Principal, plus 7thand 8th grade)
  • Miss Alice Hand (3rd and 4th grade)
  • Mr. Elliot (coach)
  • Miss Jo Ann Miller
  • Miss Agnes McCune (Music)
  • Miss Theodore Oxley
  • Miss Viola (Burgess)
  • Burr (Grades 1 &2)
  • Mrs. Julia Richardson Stevenson
  • Ms. Leola Shaw (3rd and 4th grade)
  • Miss Bobie
  • Mrs. Ruth Garrett
  • Mrs. Gladys Tillison
  • Mrs. Lula (Bogie) Turner (5th and 6th grade)
  • Miss Cornelia Medley (Principal, plus 7thand 8th grade)
  • Miss Theodore Oxley
  • Mrs. Gladys (McClure) Tilloiston (3rd and 4th grade)
  • Mrs. Alice Williams
  • Mrs. Frances Henderson
  • Mrs. Henrietta Connors (Kindergarten)
  • Mrs. Betty Tarver
  • Ms. Jo Ann Miller
  • Mr. Arnett Elliot
  • Mr. Walter Straub
  • Mr. Alfred Harding (Industrial Arts)
  • Miss Edith Rappold (Art)
  • Miss Mary Kuntz (Physical Education)
  • Mr. William King (Physical Education)
  • Mr. Paul Ullom (Music)
  • Miss Delores Gerhardt (Home Economics)
  • Mrs. Ann Allenswarth (Community Nurse

Some of the Eckstein teachers lived in the local community. And many of them gave their time to help with extracurricular activities. These teachers instilled their students with a love of learning, a sense of pride about their heritage, and a respect for discipline. Here’s what some of the students had to say about their teachers:

Geraldine Parrish Cheek, a pupil at Eckstein in the 1940s, says “the principal and teachers were considered family by our parents.”

Raymond Terrell, a pupil at Eckstein in the 1940s, says that the teachers gave him the message “you are smart and capable of being anything you want to be.”

We were told that Mrs. Burgess Burr “didn take any junk” and that she shut down a school party once when the children started chanting “We want food.”

Mr. Piersawl “we will always remember his bean soup.”

Miss Bogie, who later married and became Mrs. Turner, spent fifth and sixth grade “pounding us with geography and fractions.”

Miss Shaw “didn’t spare the rod.” She was noted “for her strong right arm, holding the ruler.”

In Miss Shaw’s class “readin and writin” were taught to the tune of a hickory stick.”

This poster was found in 2010 still hanging upstairs in the teachers' room at the Eckstein School. Back when the school was still operational a copy used to hang in every classroom.

DEDICATION TO THE TEACHERS

The most outstanding characteristics were their dedication to their teaching abilities and their unswerving school room discipline. They showed no partiality and no favoritism. We will always remember, love, and respect their sterling qualities of discipline and compassion. An everlasting testimony “a Hallmark of Excellence.” Which is regretfully absent in the schools today.

I will always cherish those days when the Eckstein School was favored with harmony between the students, faculty, and family, which excelled in all things.

A tribute to the teachers by Walter N. Roberts which appeared in the First Eckstein School Class Reunion booklet (1981).

Introduction
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