1958 Award Winners

Biographies below were included in the program for the year listed here and were current as of that time.

Mildred Cunningham

Social Science Teacher

Parsons Junior College

For twenty-five years Miss Mildred Cunningham has taught social science in Kansas schools. She is completing her eleventh year on the faculty at Parsons Junior College, where she serves also as Chairman of the Guidance Committee, Foreign Student Advisor, and Student Christian Association Advisor.

Miss Cunningham started teaching at Edna High School in 1932. Nine years later she returned to her home town, Parsons, and spent the next nine years teaching mathematics and social science at West High School. She joined the junior college staff in 1946.

A graduate of Parsons High School and Junior College, Miss Cunningham received her A.B. degree from Baker University in 1931 and her M.A. degree from Northwestern University in 1940. Since then she has done additional graduate work at American University, Michigan State College, and Kansas State Teachers College of Pittsburg.

Besides her professional activities, Miss Cunningham takes part in church and civic work and is a member of a Parsons bowling team. She holds memberships in many professional and honorary organizations.

Myrrl Houck

Librarian

El Dorado Senior High School

USD 490 El Dorado

In her 45-year career in Kansas education, Miss Myrrl Houck, El Dorado Senior High School librarian, has established an excellent reputation not only as a librarian but also as a sponsor of class reunions, an aide to students seeking college scholarships, and an authority on the transition from high school to college. This year is her thirty-eighth in the El Dorado school system.

Miss Houck taught for seven years in her native Greenwood County: one year in a rural school, three years in Eureka, and three in Reece. She joined the E1Dorado faculty in 1919 as a teacher of history and civics, but went into library work in 1922.

Miss Houck earned an A.B. degree at the University of Kansas in 1928 and an M.A. degree at Wichita University in 1937. She also has done graduate work at Columbia University, University of Colorado, and Friends University. In 1956 she was invited to attend the College Entrance Examination Board's fourth Colloquium on College Admissions, in New York. Radio Station KANS, Wichita, honored her in 1955 for meritorious service to others.

Julian A. Johnson

Vocational Agriculture Teacher

Buhler Rural High School

USD 313 Buhler

One of two native Missourians receiving Master Teacher Awards this year is Julian A. Johnson, a vocational-agriculture teacher for thirty-one years, twenty-two of them at Buhler Rural High School. At Buhler he also teaches adult evening classes and veterans' classes, and serves as advisor for the Future Farmers of America and sponsor of the Junior Class.

Before taking his present job Mr. Johnson spent nine years at Kiowa High School. There he taught vocational agriculture, industrial arts, and adult evening classes, and also coached the track team.

Mr. Johnson received his diploma from New London (Mo.) High School in 1922. He received a B.S. in Agriculture degree from the University of Missouri in 1926, and an M.S. in Vocational Agricultural Education degree from Kansas State College in 1940. He has done additional work at Kansas State College.

Active in church and civic affairs, as well as in professional work, Mr. Johnson was a member of the Buhler City Council for six years. He belongs to a large number of honorary and professional groups and has held offices in many of them.

Edward D. Kroesch

Superintendent

USD 431 Hoisington

Excluding a year in military service during World vVar I and a year as superintendent of schools at Barnard, Edward D. Kroesch has been associated with the Hoisington public schools ever since he embarked on his career forty-two years ago. He has served as superintendent of schools there since 1925 and was principal for the preceding five years.

Mr. Kroesch, a native Missourian, is a 1911 graduate of Lorraine High School. He received an A.B. degree from Ottawa University in 1915 and an A.M. degree from the University of Kansas a year later. He also has attended the University of Chicago and the University of Colorado.

Mr. Kroesch has earned numerous honors, among them a Senior Fellowship from Ottawa University to the University of Kansas in 1915-16 and a Junior Chamber of Commerce Certificate of Recognition in 1949.

Dr. Minnie M. Miller

Chair, Department of Foreign Languages

Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia

Dr. Minnie M. Miller, Chairman, Department of Foreign Languages at Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia since 1929, has been a teacher and administrator for thirty-eight years. She has traveled extensively and has been twice decorated by the French government for distinction in the teaching of French.

Miss Miller, a native of Olpe and a graduate of Council Grove High School, holds a B.S. in Education degree from Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia, and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Chicago. She also has studied at the University of Paris, France, the University of Grenoble in Paris, and Centro de Estudios Historicos in Madrid, Spain.

Before accepting her present post, Miss Miller had taught at Gardner High School, Rosedale (Kansas City) High School, Upper Iowa University, and Southwestern College. At the Emporia school, she has served as Chairman of the Foreign Students Committee and as a member of the Endowment Association and the Scholarship Committee.

The Emporia linguist was named a "Kansan of the Year" in 1956 by the Topeka Daily Capital. She belongs to a number of honorary and professional groups.

Elsie N. Parrish

Special Education Teacher

Concordia Junior High School

USD 333 Concordia

A special-education teacher at the junior high school in Concordia, Mrs. Elsie N. Parrish has served Kansas education for forty-one years. She is completing her twenty-ninth year in the Concordia schools.

Her present assignment began in 1951, when Concordia established its special education program under the administration of Dr. Carl James, now superintendent of schools at Emporia. Mrs. Parrish joined the Concordia staff in 1929 and spent her first twenty-two years there as an elementary teacher and principal. Earlier, she had taught in schools in Woodson, Coffey, and Osage Counties.

Mrs. Parrish received her B.S. in Education degree from Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia in 1940 and her M.S. in Education degree from the same school in 1954. Her undergraduate major was primary education and her graduate major, special education.

In 1953 Mrs. Parrish was named "Woman of the Year" by four civic clubs in Concordia. She belongs to several honorary and professional organizations.

Maude Thompson

Principal and Teacher

Bown-Corby School

USD 408 Marion-Florence

This year marks the forty-second year of service to Kansas education for Miss Maude Thompson, principal and teacher in the Bown-Corby School at Marion. She started her career in Sedgwick County, where she taught three years at Valley Center Elementary School and four years in a rural school before moving to Marion. Her service in Marion includes seventeen years at Hill Grade School, three at the high school, and fifteen at Bown-Corby.

A native of Valley Center and a 1917 graduate of the high school there, Miss Thompson holds a B.S. degree, magna cum laude, from Wichita University and an M.S. degree from Columbia University.

Like all Master Teachers, Miss Thompson has been active in many professional and community groups. She has held offices in a number of the professional and honorary organizations to which she belongs.