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Letters from Friends

Kurtz gift to create more unforgettable teachers

Linda and Charlie Kurtz (seated), children Charles L. (Chad) Kurtz and Catherine Kurtz Vrenna (fourth generation Ohio State alumna), and family pet Jack Benny.

"Linda was one of those unforgettable teachers," said Charles Jewett Kurtz III ('65 JD) recently of his wife Linda ('69, '72 MA), who taught third grade for 30 years. "I spent a great deal of time in her classroom, saw her interact with the children and saw their love for her. She touched their lives, and we want to ensure that other young teachers have this opportunity."

The Kurtzes, of Gahanna, OH, and Scottsdale, Ariz., have designated their new bequest so it will one day support more teachers by augmenting the Linda Rhoads Kurtz Scholarship Fund in Elementary Education. Charlie, who had an illustrious law career with Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur, first presented the scholarship to Linda as a surprise Christmas gift in 2004.

"Charlie gave me an Ohio State box with a beautiful glass apple in it. At first, I couldn't think what it meant," Linda says. "When I learned it represented an endowed scholarship in my name for students studying to be teachers, I was overwhelmed."

Today, the scholarship supports one or more students each year. The Kurtz gift will one day do even more to help budding students have careers as fulfilling as Linda's was.

Teacher instills early love for education

A passionate teacher first lit a spark in Linda to follow in her footsteps. "My third-grade teacher, Anna May Slemmer, made learning fun. Her love for us and the time she devoted to each of us made me feel excited about learning," Linda said of her experience at Linden Elementary, a Columbus City School.

Always definitive in her choices, Linda knew very early that she wanted to attend Ohio State. Eager to enter the classroom, she became comfortable very quickly while student teaching at Maryland Avenue Elementary School, a Bexley Public School. One day, Linda's cooperating teacher had to miss a few weeks because of illness. Linda took the helm, leading the class without hesitation. Principal and alumna Sue Scatterday ('48, '51 MA) listened in via the public address system, presumably in case Linda needed help, but Linda never did. Sue praised the student teacher for her success, and Linda set her course for a teaching career with full confidence.

After graduating in spring of 1969 with a BS in Education, Linda joined Whitehall City Schools and enjoyed her first full-time teaching experience. No sooner had she signed a contract for a second year than the principal of Maryland Avenue Elementary invited her to return as a permanent teacher.

Although Linda had loved student teaching at Maryland Avenue, she felt duty bound to honor her Whitehall contract. Sue said she understood. A short time later, the Whitehall principal surprised Linda with a call. "I understand that you have a job offer from Bexley."

Linda admitted this was true but emphasized her intent to honor her contract.

"That's okay," he said. "If you want to take the job, you can. I'm going to put in your file that if you ever want to return to Whitehall, you can have a job here any time."

The second-year teacher was already in high demand.

A philosophy of sharing and learning from others

With a master's degree in education from our college in 1972, Linda honed her expertise in creating a teaching community that shares knowledge in a collaborative style. She credits the generous mentorship of others for her success, often mentioning current Professor Barbara Thomson, Isabelle Miller, professor emeriti; as well as deceased faculty emeriti Charlotte Huck and Martha King, all in the School of Teaching and Learning.

"Every child was very important to me," Linda says. "I never tired of teaching or wanted to do something else. My goal was to be a positive influence on all children and to individualize the curriculum to fit all needs."

At the beginning of each year, Linda would sit with the parents and the student and set goals for the child to achieve at school and at home. Each grading period, she and the child would conference to discuss progress. "You develop deep, enduring relationships with each child and each family," she says.

Those relationships are undoubtedly why Linda still hears from many of her students. "And now that we have Facebook, students stay connected or reconnect to tell me that our time together was very important to them and that together, we made a difference," Linda says.

Linda also served as a cooperative teacher for many years, generously mentoring others, just as she was mentored as a student and beginning teacher. "I've even had two student teachers a quarter," she explains. "Because I individualized the curriculum, we would have several small groups working at the same time. Each student teacher stayed busy."

Actively engaging home, school, community

Linda's emphasis on the intersection of home, school and community is one reason why she applauded the joining of the colleges of Education and Human Ecology. "I felt that for every child, expectations for home and school must be incorporated because they both impact lifelong development," she says. "Life skills are as important as academic skills. The subjects complement each other."

Some parents, Linda found, had been told their children could not learn. She never accepted this prognosis. "We supported them, and they did succeed," she says. In fact, one year, she conducted a project with funding from The Columbus Foundation that placed 12 children, many with special needs, in her class. Another year, one of the children had Tourette's Syndrome. All of the children had a successful year. Inclusion and mainstreaming proved to be a positive tool for success, helping decision making and time management and making learning fun.

Linda emphasizes that she actively engaged the community in her classroom to enrich the learning experience. "I engaged parents, grandparents, community members, student teachers, participating students from Capital University, everyone I could as volunteers," she said. "Everyone contributed."

Linda also credits Barbara Thomson for teaching her how to create a community of involvement that engaged children outside the classroom. "I took them to Kensington, a local independent living retirement community, four times a year," Linda says. "We assigned each student to a resident, and they became fast friends. They would bake cookies for their friends. They would take their slates and have their friends dictate sentences to practice spelling. On one visit, they would do an art project together. Many students stayed in touch with their residents until their passing."

Retirement: Time to sit still? Never!

Linda is as busy in retirement as she ever was while teaching. In 1999, immediately after her retirement, she was elected to serve on the board of Edlums, the alumni society of the College of Education. She served a year as chair of the society.

"One of our goals was to institute a mentoring program," Linda says. "Each board member volunteered to mentor a new teacher who had graduated from the college or a new staff or faculty member at the college. Those people expressed such appreciation for the support."

After Linda's board term, Dean Donna Evans appointed her to serve as the college's representative on Ohio State's Alumni Association Advisory Council. In this important role, alumni advise the president and alumni association board of directors on subjects that promote the general welfare and interests of the university.

Linda and Charlie are both active in the Ohio State Alumni Club of Phoenix. Linda and Charlie have been trained for student recruitment and are continually encouraging potential students to choose Ohio State. "Teachers are doers," she says. "We never stop. We want to continue to invest in tomorrow and expand the opportunities for excellence. We want to help students remain at the university to enhance their education and achieve their goals."

Linda and Charlie chose to augment the scholarship, saying they understand how difficult finances are for college students. "I feel very blessed by my teaching career and all the children and parents I met along the way," Linda says. "Seeing children succeed, having a child thrilled by the outcome of a teaching moment, is what made it worthwhile. I want those studying to be teachers to know that if they're willing to work for it, we're here to help them."

View other letters from our friends.

Send us a letter! We welcome news from our alumni and friends. Feel free to update us on your latest work, both professional and personal. Send letters to Sean Thompson, Director of Alumni Relations, College of Education and Human Ecology, 185 Arps Hall, 1945 N. High St., Columbus, OH 43210.

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