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ZEBRA FEATURE
Elizabeth Ireland Retires after Thirty-Six Years in Education
By Mary Clay Allen
Poise, p-o-i-s-e, poise. That’s what
Elizabeth Robinson Ireland has. Blend
ed with friendliness and intellect, one sees
how and why Elizabeth advanced to the
positions she held before retiring in June,
1993. After 36 years in education, she
decided to turn the reins over to someone
else.
Elizabeth started her educational
career teaching at East Athens Elemen
tary School, a school no longer in ex
istence. After teaching ten years in Col
umbus, Georgia, she returned to Athens
and accepted a teaching position at
Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle School.
In the late ’70s, Elizabeth received a
call from Dr. Charles McDaniel,
superintendent of the Clarke County
School System, at that time, offering her
the principalship of Chase Street Elemen
tary School. She asked Dr. McDaniel to
give her two weeks to think about it. She
felt that monitoring 30 pupils was much
easier than being principal to 350 pupils.
With God’s guidance, she accepted the
challenge to lead Chase Street School.
She was warmly received by parents,
students and teachers. Working together,
they made some major changes which
really turned that school around.
Discipline and structure were first
priorities. Pupils were asked to show
respect for all adults, from the principal
to the janitorial staff and to address them
as Mr. or Mrs.. Pupils at Chase Street
had to abide by a dress code. Short
shorts were not allowed and teachers
could not wear blue jeans. These rules
were not well received by some pupils
and teachers. However, Mrs. Ireland
held firm and the dress code was adhered
to by all.
In 1984, Elizabeth was called again to
the offices of Dr. Carol Purvis and
Howard Stroud. Dr. Purvis was
superintendent and Mr. Stroud was the
associate superintendent at that time.
They told Elizabeth that they were in the
process of reorganizing the Central Of
fice and had created three positions, one
ZEBRA VOL. 2 ISSUE 7
of which they wanted Elizabeth to
accept.
The position was Coordinator of
Elementary Instruction for the Clarke
County School System. The job descrip
tion was to unify elementary instruction
in the schools. It was a major undertak
ing, but it was badly needed. The Coor
dinator’s duty was to make sure that
pupils in each elementary school were
taught the same things and at the same
time. Many pupils change elementary
schools two and sometimes three times
during a school year, so if a pupil
transfers to another elementary school in
the Clarke County System, he would en
counter the same unified curriculum at
the new school.
Mrs. Ireland held the position of
Coordinator of Elementary Instruction
in Clarke County Schools until her retire
ment in 1993. She had originally plann
ed to retire in 1992, but Dr. Balentine,
the present superintendent of Clarke
Schools, asked her to stay on.
When asked what her feelings were
about the closing of the Burney-Harris-
Lyons Middle Schools, Elizabeth said
that she regretted the proposed closing,
but she could understand the board’s
urgency - the state’s regulations about
adequate acreage and finance. Confusion
could have been eliminated if the com
munity had been thoroughly informed
and could have had input on the final
decision. However, given the time limit,
the board had to make its decision
quickly.
Mrs. Ireland approves of the stance
that the board has taken on making the
schools safer. Metal detections used at
the high schools could also be used in the
middle schools. Banning book bags
which sometime conceal weapons and
resorting to school uniforms may also
deter criminal activity. Parents, however,
must be supportive of the efforts made
by schools to make for a safer
environment.
Blacks comprise 58% of the Clarke
schools’ population, but many black
youths are dropping out of school before
the 10th grade. Mrs. Ireland thinks that
with more minority teachers hired,
especially black male teachers, black
students would be encouraged to stay in
school and graduate. Quite a few
students drop out of school because of
economic reasons and academic failure.
It became a policy of the school district
that students must earn a certain number
of Carnegie units to become a sopho
more, and so many units to be con
sidered a junior. The students who fail
ed four out of six courses just gave up
and quit school. If there had been other
options such as evening school or special
tutors, some students would have re
mained in school.
Mrs. Ireland said she enjoyed her
career in teaching and supervision, but
now she can concentrate on activities
which she has not had the leisure to do.
She wants to travel extensively. She
bowls once a week and attends church
regularly.
Elizabeth Ireland believes that there is
life after retirement and she plans to live
her life to the fullest.
Happy Retirement, Liz.
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