Published: October 03, 2008 11:30 am      

Sue gets her school

Former Duncan teacher has school named in her honor

DUNCAN — A former Duncan Public Schools elementary teacher has had a school named in her honor in one of the nation’s fastest growing school districts — Frisco, Texas.

Sue Wilson Stafford taught in Duncan from around 1969 to 1979, before moving to Frisco, which at that time was a rural farming community with a population of about 1,860.

“There was one elementary school, one middle school and one high school,” she said.

Now, there are four high schools with two more to be added in the next two years, nine middle schools and 30 elementary schools.

The dedication of the Sue Wilson Stafford Middle School was Sept. 21, and Duncan residents Joyce and Les Hallock were among those who attended, Stafford said. She said it was the largest attended school dedication in Frisco history. Everyone from former students to staff, friends and family attended the dedication. Stafford is the first working teacher to have a school named for her in that district.

“The dedication, having a school named after you, it is absolutely the most humbling feeling,” she said. “You immediately think of 200 other people who should have a school named after them.”

Frisco Independent School District’s Media Specialist Jane Whitledge said that by naming a school after a living, working teacher, it really honors every working teacher.

“Sue is an angel. When she moved here, she did not stop in the classroom. She got to know the parents and her garage really became the benevolent center in town. We had people living in poverty, but Sue’s became the place where people could donate items and also go and pick up what they needed,” Whitledge said.

Frisco, at that time, had a large segment of its population as migrant workers. Clothing, furniture and food were basic needs and Stafford helped to meet those needs, Whitledge explained.

“She’s a fourth generation Oklahoman. Even though she lives in Texas now, she’s very proud of her Oklahoma roots and her connections to Duncan.”



Red Dirt roots

Stafford was born in Madill to Otis and Evelyn Wilson. Her father was a funeral director for 52 years. Her great-great-grandparents are buried in Marshall County. Her mother died in 1987. Her father, 90, who still lives in Madill, was at the dedication.

Stafford has two children — Kari, a math teacher at Gunter, and son Brooke, a coach and teacher in Lufkin, Texas. Her daughter attended Horace Mann Elementary through fourth grade and her son was a kindergartner at Emerson in Linda Craig’s class.

Stafford’s first connection to Duncan came when she entered kindergarten. Her teacher at Madill was Katrina White. Eventually White came to Duncan and taught at Woodrow Wilson Elementary. When White’s former student (Stafford) ended up in Duncan in 1969 as a school teacher, it was White who became mentor — again.

Stafford said she taught two years at Horace Mann and eight at Emerson Elementary.

“I taught second grade the whole time,” she said. “My oldest tie to Duncan is Don Hodge. He taught me in junior high in Madill where he was a young teacher and coach. Then I came to Duncan, which is 90 minutes from Madill, and I worked for him.”

“I loved Duncan. It was a great little town, very progressive,” Stafford said. “The students, many of them, were children of Halliburton employees.” She noted that education, not testing, was emphasized, including going to college.

Her husband’s job called for a transfer to Dallas. “Or, I’d still be in Duncan.” Shortly after the move, she and her husband divorced. She stays in contact with Jeff Dixon, Sheila and Richard Dixon, Brian Russell and others, including the Hallocks.

Though she spent only 10 years in Duncan, Stafford was active both in the school district and community. She was the recipient of the Duncan Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Young Educator Award, and served as president for the Stephens County Reading Council. She also was inducted in Delta Kappa Gamma, an honor society for educators.



A passion for teaching

Stafford, who has 40 years of teaching experience, sees herself always teaching. She teaches middle school English and social studies at the alternative campus in Frisco. She also teaches English as a Second Language and in the evenings, and GED classes for adults. She also has 11 years of teaching English at the high school level. Her list of accomplishments are lengthy for both education and civic involvement.

Stafford said she enjoys teaching the students who are academically challenged. Many times, she said, the teacher is the only person in whom they can confide.

Pressure to push kids through testing can hamper the passion and she said it’s difficult for the newer teachers.

“These teachers are under so much pressure to pass these tests. Back when I taught in Oklahoma, we would test them at the end of the year. It was unethical to hold a student back based on a test. Children deserve to learn so much more than a minimum skills test. It’s sad to teach that,” she said.

As Stafford explained, it’s an unnecessary pressure on teachers and even students.

“Teachers are professionals. They want their students to excell. You don’t have to put extra pressure on them to do their job.”

She’s also against failing students at the elementary level because of the potential self-esteem damage that it can result.

“School should be a safe haven,” she said.



How Frisco does it

Teaching in Frisco is more than just a job for Stafford — hence the reason for the school naming committee choosing her, Whitledge said.

The school named in her honor was funded at $29 million. Stafford said the progressive school district gets its funds from sales tax.

“The industry here is retail. We have a big mall that people come from all over, even Oklahoma to shop. It’s the sales tax from all the retail around that mall. It’s what that mall brings in — hotels, complexes, more retail,” she said.

It’s that type of progressiveness that builds a community’s school district, she believes.

Four referendums in the past eight years have passed — allowing a total of $1.692 billion (the last one was for $798 million) for the school district, she said.

“Each referendum passed easily, showing the strong support of the community for education of its children. The last referendum will allow Frisco ISD to serve the needs of up to 52,000 students — a total of 44 elementary schools, 14 middle schools, and seven high schools,” she said.