Saturday, May 19, 2007

1959-1960: RUTH PARKER, KUSER PRINCIPAL

They couldn't have chosen a better replacement for Emily C. Reynolds than this lady! She was cut from the same cloth as Miss Reynolds. Both were fair but very strict disciplinarians and at the same time loved and respected by her students.
Betsy Scott Fitzmeyer said...

Ruth Parker was one of the two best teachers I had at Kuser during 8th grade. The other was Irene Gaydos.

I began school at Kuser, which was supposed to be named after my great, great grandfather Henry Lawton who donated the land for the building of the school. In any event, I still cherish my memories of my days at the school, and of Miss Reynolds and Mr. Shockey, the scool's custodian.

BETSY SCOTT FITZMEYER SAID:

Fascinating! I very much liked the same two teachers, although Mrs. Carnochan (spelling?) was my all time favorite. I recall Miss Parker lecturing us to keep the collars on our blouses down. The latest fashion was to wear them up in celebration of be-bop. Miss Parker would not allow us to use ball-point pens. They were pretty messy when the first came out, but so, too were the ink wells we were asked to use. I loved to watch Miss Parker write. She had a way of "winding up" in a circular motion before she let the pen hit the page.
Henry Lawton was my great grandfather, and William Henry Lawton, my father, was the oldest of Henry Lawton's grandchildren (born 1900). Dad told me that his grandfather wanted the school named after the Civil War Camp because it was on that very land that the soldiers had camped. I would like to talk withBetsy Scott Fitzmeyer to find out what our relationship is. I had not known she existed until I read the article. It would be fun to talk to her if she is agreeable.

Tom's note to Betsy: I changed the spelling of Miss Carnochan's last name to a closer semblance of the actual name, but I can't say that my spelling is correct.

3 comments:

Betsy Scott Fitzmeyer said...

Ruth Parker was one of the two best teachers I had at Kuser during 8th grade. The other was Irene Gaydos.

I began school at Kuser, which was supposed to be named after my great, great grandfather Henry Lawton who donated the land for the building of the school. In any event, I still cherish my memories of my days at the school, and of Miss Reynolds and Mr. Shockey, the scool's custodian.

Unknown said...

Fascinating! I very much liked the same two teachers, although Mrs. Carnigan (sp?) was my all time favorite. I recall Miss Parker lecturing us to keep the collars on our blouses down. The latest fashion was to wear them up in celebration of be-bop. Miss Parker would not allow us to use ball-point pens. They were pretty messy when the first came out, but so, too were the ink wells we were asked to use. I loved to watch Miss Parker write. She had a way of "winding up" in a circular motion before she let the pen hit the page.
Henry Lawton was my great grandfather, and William Henry Lawton, my father, was the oldest of Henry Lawton's grandchildren (born 1900). Dad told me that his grandfather wanted the school named after the Civil War Camp because it was on that very land that the soldiers had camped. I would like to talk with betsy scott fitzmeyer to find out what our relationship is. I had not known she existed until I read the article. It would be fun to talk to her if she is agreeable.

Helen Lawton Wilson, Ph.D. said...

Tom, I wrote what appears above that is attributed to Betsy Scott, and to the subsequent comments. William Henry Lawton was my father, and Miss Parker my teacher. Helen Lawton Wilson