48 | Winter 2018 Marilyn Jones By: Jane Gutsell Forty years ago, a very special person walked into Greensboro Day School’s Lower Division as one of only three Language Arts & Science sixth grade teachers. That special person was Marilyn Jones, who until her retirement in June 2012, was instrumental in guiding hundreds of young people and the school through myriad and exciting changes. In 1978 sixth grade was still in the Lower School but soon moved out of that building and into what is now the Board Room. In 1982 it was incorporated into the Middle School. But not until Craig Head was hired in 1988 did the sixth grade have a dedicated Science teacher. Thus, Marilyn was still teaching both Language Arts and Science as Chairman of the English Department. At that time, she asked Headmaster Ralph Davison to move her to seventh and eighth grade English, which she taught for three years before deciding to return to her first love – the lucky Sixth Grade! (On a personal note, she made this change the very same year that my daughter –class of ’97 – would have had her in seventh grade. I was chairing the English department at that time and tried to talk Marilyn into staying the seventh grade teacher just one more year, but she knew what she wanted and that was that.) During her tenure in the Middle School, the Language Arts/English curriculum changed to an increased focus on grammar, literature, and expository writing. Before returning to sixth grade, Marilyn particularly enjoyed teaching students for more than one year so that she could actually experience their progress. She also enjoyed the special challenge of teaching with her eighth grade colleague, now Assistant Head of Advancement and Personnel Tommy Webb. Their teamwork involved in devising projects, writing assignments, thinking through the syllabus – all appealed to her interest in trying out new things. Later, she and another Middle School English teacher Grey Craven were recipients of a Teaching Endowment Enrichment Grant, which took them to St. Louis and Hannibal, Missouri to develop a Mark Twin curriculum. Students read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in the summer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn during the school year. Talk about a challenge! Long before we were a “laptop” school, Marilyn experimented with using computers. She began a Pen Pal club with students in other countries. They wrote about their reading and students activities every week, taking turns at the ONE desktop. No wonder that Marilyn was the third recipient of the distinguished Hendrix Award for Teaching Excellence. Never one to rest on her laurels, back in sixth grade, she completely revised the reading and writing curriculum to include more focus on “process” with journaling and allowing students to choose their own books. Each week each student would write a “letter to a friend” about their reading, and every Friday afternoon she spent reading 60 letters! In addition to teaching and chairing the English Department, Marilyn has been an integral part of the whole school. Beginning in1978 for ten years, Freddy Johnson had her coaching JV tennis, cheerleading, and boys’ golf. She served on the Middle School faculty council planning dances, and projects such as the Big Orange Drive! She was one of the teachers to initiate the IOI (Improvement of Instruction) program, serving on the steering committee for four years. In 2006, she was chairing the IOI when the faculty built a Habitat for Humanity house in honor of Dr. Davison’s 20th year as Headmaster. Somehow she even managed to keep it a surprise!