Mother Nature says the beginning of summer isn’t official until Wednesday, June 21, but to many, the close of the school year across Lawrence County last week is the real signal that summer is here.

Sunday, June 04, 2000

Mother Nature says the beginning of summer isn’t official until Wednesday, June 21, but to many, the close of the school year across Lawrence County last week is the real signal that summer is here.

While students most likely are relieved to put another school year behind them, few probably realize the importance of the lessons learned at the hands of their teachers ­ lessons that will stand them in good stead the rest of their lives.

From the perspective of adulthood, most of us have strong memories of our teachers ­ people who not only taught us textbook learning, but people who taught us self-respect, good manners and an ability to use common sense.

These are the people who shaped and molded our lives, people who helped define our characters and people who made an irrevocable difference to each of us.

Many of us look back and offer a silent thank-you every day to the teachers from our youth. Unfortunately, time and distance usually prevent us from expressing that to the individuals who made such an important difference in our lives.

Lawrence County is blessed with an abundance of caring classroom professionals. The graduates that marched down the aisle recently owe each a huge debt of gratitude for the wisdom teachers imparted to each of them.

Of course, living clean, upstanding lives is often the best thank-you that most students can give their teachers, but now is still a good time to tell the teachers who made a difference in your life how much they meant ­ and continue to mean ­ to you.

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Lawrence County students lost two dedicated professionals this week when Kingsbury Elementary principal Charlie Walters and third-grade teacher Diane Lewis retired.

Together, they have been in and around classrooms more than 50 years ­ a tremendous achievement.

Kingsbury students, PTO members, faculty and staff honored them for their many years of service by planting two flowering purple plum trees in front of the school. These living reminders will flower and grow for generations, much like the educational values Mr. Walters and Mrs. Lewis gave so selflessly to their students through the years.

After the ceremony, Mr. Walters reflected on the happy times that made his educational career so joyous. His reminiscences should warm everyone’s hearts:

"I remember returning to my old elementary school (Lawrence Street) as principal," Mr. Walters said fondly. "And, I remember having my childhood second-grade teacher, Catherine Falls, work with me in a principal-teacher relationship."

Other poignant memories include trips to Washington, D.C., as well as the science exhibit COSI and King’s Island with students and fellow teachers, working with primary students and teachers and hearing from past students.

He smiled at the memory of teachers who worked with him during his tenure as principal and who called themselves "Charlie’s Angels." During a ceremony honoring him, many sported wings in honor of being part of that group.

The memories go on and on, including his first two classes at South Point, with class sizes of 45 and 40 students. Even though the class size was huge by today’s standards, 16 of those students were proudly inducted into the National Honor Society when they were high school juniors.

He recalled history-making events he shared with teachers and students, ranging from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan and the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger.

Mr. Walters cherishes his years as a teacher as well as many past teachers, who have retired, and the "old schools" of Campbell, Central and West Ironton and the faculty and staffs at each school.

He and Mrs. Lewis epitomize all that is good about education and schools today. They and countless other teachers across Lawrence County have been the inspiration for thousands and thousands of us.

We are indeed blessed to have such dedicated professionals in our midst.

Jennifer Allen is publisher of The Ironton Tribune.