Opinion

Remembering Rogers: Grace Hill remembered as leader of Rogers schools

Grace Hill pauses with some of her former students at the Rogers History Club meeting May 19, 2011. (Courtesy Photo/James Hales)
Grace Hill pauses with some of her former students at the Rogers History Club meeting May 19, 2011. (Courtesy Photo/James Hales)

Last month the Remembering Rogers column featured Grace Hill, an educator who began teaching in 1946 and continued until she retired from the Rogers school system in 1981. Hill spoke to the Rogers History Club on May 19, 2011, and was introduced by one of her former students, John Wayne Ford. She told about her childhood in Kansas, how she became a teacher in Springdale, and fell in love with a man from Rogers. Hill recalled how Birch Kirksey hired her in 1946 as a sixth-grade teacher at Central Ward Elementary, and then teaching at the new Southside Elementary in 1951. Here is the rest of her talk, edited for clarity and space:

"At this time, they were building an elementary school on the north side of town. Mr. Kirksey called me into the office and asked me to be principal of the new Northside Elementary School. I responded that I didn't have any experience being principal. He said, 'Why do you think that I sent you to Southside? I wanted you to observe how a new school was set up.' It would have been nice if he had told me that at the time.

"In 1954, Northside opened with the same floor plan and furniture as Southside. It was out in a field, and the field had not even been mowed. Everything north of Persimmon Street was to go to Northside. At this time, they completed the consolidation of Rogers schools by closing Avoca, Sunnyside, Rocky Branch and Cottage Hill (east of Clifty). Most of these were one-teacher schools, and all of those students and teachers came to Northside. At this time, the busing policy was changed; before, if you lived within two miles of school, you had to walk, but because students would have to walk across highways and the railroad track, they were bused.

"Duties of a principal included always being on campus as long as a teacher was there. Another duty was to set up a PTA organization. To do this, I called on Kay Calvin (Sanford), who came in and organized the PTA and explained their duties.

"In 1954, our superintendent, Mr. Kirksey, was in ill health and had a hard time remembering things. His secretary, Mrs. Ford, John Wayne's mother, became responsible for many duties including receptionist, bookkeeper, secretary to the school board, attending all of the meetings, and drawing up the contracts for the teachers. ... People didn't realize the difficult time that she was having because Mr. Kirksey was unable to make the decisions and do the things he needed to do.

"In 1955, Mrs. Peyton, the principle at Central Ward, resigned. Then two weeks before school started, Mr. Kirksey resigned. We were in a real bind with no superintendent. A school board member, Mr. Porter, with the Callison Funeral Home, recommended a man from Ozark named Greer Lingle. The school board interviewed him and hired him on the spot.

"Sad to say, Mr. Kirksey passed away in October of 1955, just two months after Mr. Lingle arrived. With Mr. Lingle, the Rogers Schools were well on their way for the future.

"About 1957, when I was principal of Northside, the Chamber of Commerce wanted to have a big banquet to try to persuade the executives of Daisy to come to Rogers. They wanted to have it at Kirksey gym. Can you imagine having a banquet at the gym with no food facilities? The president of the PTA said that it could be done, so they took on that project. They borrowed ovens from all over town to cook the chicken. They borrowed dishes from all of the lunchrooms. It was a big occasion because Cass Hough, the president of Daisy, was there. Winn Rockefeller was there, and Orville Faubus, the governor of Arkansas. We were in high cotton, for all of the important people in Arkansas were there.

"I did not go; I was required to stay at Northside for that was the center of operations for the whole thing. Afterwards, all of the dishes were brought back to Northside. Can you imagine how many dirty dishes were involved? We did not have a dishwasher -- we had three washtubs -- one with soapy water, one for rinsing, and one with hot water. It took us until midnight to get things organized. Everyone said that the event was very successful. Most of the work was done by the fathers at that time – carrying the food back and forth in their pickups. You can't imagine how much work was involved.

"After 12 years at Northside, we were experiencing big growth. A new school was built on the west side of town, Westside School. Central Ward on Elm Street was converted into a junior high, and classrooms were added. A new dividing line was created with everyone north of Walnut going to Northside, and we were overcrowded. Mr. Lingle always had a building program going, and since Westside was the first new school that he built, we always thought that he was partial to it. I was only envious of one thing at Westside; they had a beautiful library. After that, every elementary school had a library.

"One day in the fall of 1966, I was called into Mr. Lingle's office, and he told me that he had hired a new principal for Northside. I asked in a meek voice, what am I going to do? He said that I would come to the administration building and help run the elementary schools. My new position had no job description; it was up to me to do what was needed. During this time I helped start the kindergarten program. At first it did not work well, because it was only for half a day, and the rural kids who really needed the program could not come for they had no transportation.

"We had a great relationship with the University of Arkansas and had some wonderful student teachers. This was a great opportunity to acquire new teachers, and some of those student teachers taught in Rogers for 40 years.

"For the first time in Rogers, teachers and administrators were asked to work with the architects to help design a new school, Eastside Elementary. We were asked what we wanted, and the two most important items were short halls and more bathrooms. So Eastside was built, and then in 1979 a new school (Grace Hill Elementary) was built on Dixieland.

"In 1981, my husband was retiring after 48 years with the Coca-Cola Bottling Company. It was time to retire. As time went along, two things stuck with me: They don't remember what you teach, but how you teach. The other is that each person must educate themselves. Books and teachers are just helps. I hope that I am remembered as being a help to those who were in my classroom."

We were very fortunate to have had this remarkable educator give her account of the history and expansion of Rogers' schools. Sadly, Grace Hill passed the next year.

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