Learning The Three R's With Miss Norton

As part of Allen ISD’s centennial year, The Flipside has been highlighting the people whose names appear on our school buildings. This week we feature the story of Frances Norton.

The impact that a good teacher has on students is hard to measure. That is especially true when the teacher works with small children who grow to be successful adults. Miss Norton started many of those students on that road to success.

Frances Elizabeth Norton was born in Renner, Texas on March 17, 1906. She graduated from Plano High School in 1925 and earned her permanent teacher's certificate from Denton Teachers College (now University of North Texas) in 1936.

Miss Norton began her career in Renner and then came to Allen as an elementary grade teacher in 1939. She retired from Allen in 1972 after thirty-three years of service to children.

For many years there was no mystery about who your teacher would be. Miss Norton and her colleague Gladys Watson were the only first and second grade teachers in Allen so every student, for several generations, passed through their classrooms. Norton taught a combination of first and second for many years while Watson taught second and third. A coat closet and door separated the two classrooms and students frequently changed classes through there.

I had the opportunity to speak with Miss Norton in 1996 shortly after a new elementary school was named in her honor. The following are excerpts from that interview.

Norton's entered the profession during the Great Depression and felt fortunate to have a job at all.
"I received no pay for that first month but since jobs were few and far between, I continued to teach. Today I can look back and say I loved every minute of it."

Norton felt that teaching brought her closer to the children. The more she taught them, the more she loved them. "Things may change," said Norton, "but children will always need guidelines and will always need to learn the three R's."

Looking back almost seventy years, Norton recalled her first day of teaching in Renner. "It was a four teacher school and I had the first and second grade. I wanted the day to be perfect. As students filed into the room I sat first graders on one side and second graders on the other. When things quieted down I heard a funny noise coming from a locker in the room. I opened the door and a dog jumped out. I asked the class about it and finally a little boy stood up and confessed he had found his dog on school grounds and put him in the locker."

Norton had many stories to tell figuring that she taught more than 2,000 children during her career. One year she had two sets of twins and a set of triplets in her class. To remember them all, she kept a scrapbook of every class from the 8 student class in 1932 to her last class in 1972.
One special story occurred late in Norton’s career. A farm worker and his family moved to Allen.

The family enrolled seven children in the first grade, since they had never received formal education but left an eighth child at home because she had a malformed foot. Miss Norton and a member of the PTA persuaded the father to enroll the eighth child and then she made arrangements with Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas to perform corrective surgery. During her recovery, Norton allowed the girl to stay at her own home.

“Miss Norton was strict but compassionate when necessary,” according to former student Bob Curtis. “Since there was no kindergarten, first grade was a kid’s first experience in school. Miss Norton made sure each kid was made to feel welcome and she also made sure they learned the basics.”

Like Gladys Watson, Frances Norton devoted her life to children and her church. She never married and rarely missed a day of school. For many, it was hard to think of the Allen School without thinking of Watson and Norton.

Frances passed away in 2002 at the age of 96 but there are several generations of Allen kids who will never forget their first year of school with Miss Norton.

Allen's Number One Fan - Gene Reed

As part of Allen ISD’s centennial year, The Flipside has been highlighting the people whose names appear on our school buildings. This week we feature the story of Gene Reed.

If a movie were made about Gene Reed, I would pick Fred McMurray to play the part. I never met the man but each person who described him could have been talking about McMurray in the 1961 movie Follow Me Boys.

Gene Reed was born in his parent’s home in Collin County, Texas on May 31, 1925, the son of Gennie and Ruby Reed, one of the earliest families in the Allen area. He graduated from Allen High School in 1942 with a senior class of five students and then attended the North Texas Teachers College at Denton, (now UNT).

He taught for several years in the Tioga School District in Denton Country before becoming a career auditor with the Insurance Company of North America.

Reed was active with youth at the First Baptist Church in Allen and for many years served as a Sunday school teacher and Royal Ambassador counselor. He never married but through his involvement with the schools and church, it sometimes seemed like he had adopted every kid in town.

Although he travelled extensively, he could be found each weekend in the bleachers at an Allen HS football or basketball game cheering his beloved Eagles on to victory.

One of the highlights each year, according to his nephew Bob Acker, was Reed taking his Sunday school class, RA’s, and even children from the Buckner Orphan’s Home to see his “other” favorite football teams, the Baylor Bears and the Dallas Cowboys.

“Gene was always there for the kids,” recalled longtime Allen resident, Bob Curtis. “He would take us all out to a ballgame and then to eat. He’d have us involved in service projects and outings all the time. It was a big deal for us kids.”

Another member of Reed’s Sunday school class in the late 1950’s was George Stratton.
“He always drove a 1955 Pontiac convertible which was really something in that day,” said Stratton. “We would pile into it and head off to a ballgame or the orphan’s home. He was the nicest guy you’d ever meet.”

As the newest and “flashiest” car in town, Reed was always willing to make his bright red convertible available for community events, or homecoming parades. The same convertible was also used as a “reward” for young people getting special recognition. A student getting good grades, doing a good deed, or even memorizing his/her Bible verses could claim a ride in the red convertible as a special treat!

In the early 1970’s, Reed became stricken with Multiple Sclerosis and was eventually confined to a wheel chair. Not being one to allow his personal situation to stand in the way of his support for students, Reed continued to attend Allen games for many years and could be seen on the sidelines cheering on his Eagles! Many players knew him personally and after game, would come by to “high five” him and thank him for his support.

Gene Reed was recognized with the naming of a school in his honor on Sunday, April 12, 1981. The building first housed middle school students while Ford Middle School was under construction and then opened as an elementary school in 1983.

Reed died in January 1986 but like his contemporaries, Walter Curtis and Alvis Story, Gene Reed made an impact on the future of Allen – one kid at a time.

George Anderson: Practicing What He Preached

As part of Allen ISD’s 100th anniversary, we have been looking back on the school district’s namesakes. The school board bestowed that honor on Rev. George Anderson in 1997 for his career of service to the children and families of Allen.

George Anderson was born in Collin, Texas in 1920. Following high school, he worked with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) before enrolling at Wylie College in Marshall.

“I had hoped to study engineering but college opportunities for blacks were very limited in the late 1940’s, said Anderson in a 2002 interview.

“Teacher education programs were more accessible so I headed off to Wylie College with a lot of hope but no money.”

Anderson met the college president and successfully proposed three months of work at the college in exchange for three months of tuition. As a football walk-on the next fall, he earned an athletic scholarship and was able to attend school full time.

He traded his football uniform for army khakis in 1942 and was eventually stationed in Cairo, Egypt until 1945.

Following the war and with help from the G.I. Bill, he returned to Texas College in Tyler and earned a teaching degree in 1949. He began teaching in 1950 and went on to earn a master’s degree from Texas Southern University in 1959.

Anderson told the story once of his persistence in getting a job in Allen. He visited with Allen Superintendent W.H. Moseley who had no openings. Each week Anderson would appear at Moseley’s office until the superintendent “gave in and hired the ambitious young man.”
He taught grades 5 through 8 at Allen’s segregated school until 1964 when the school district was able to educate all students under one roof. Anderson briefly worked for Collins Radio before returning to Allen as a middle school and high school social studies teacher and football line coach until his retirement in 1975.

Anderson’s wife Hazel taught school in northern Collin County most of her career and then joined George at St. Mary’s shortly before the school closed.

In addition to his teaching role, Anderson was ordained in 1969 and became pastor of Allen’s St. Mary Baptist Church in 1978 when Rev. H.W. Howard retired. He also served as pastor of the St. Paul Baptist Church in Melissa.

“Mr. Anderson was an easygoing teacher but could be tough if you got out of line,” remembers Charles Hall, who attended both the segregated school and Allen High School. “He was a good teacher and the kids looked up to him.”

Billie “Rabbit” Robinson also attended both schools and spent many days in class with Anderson.
“He was nice but the kids knew to listen in class or they would pay the price. He was a ‘straight A’ teacher and you knew you were going to learn in his class.”

Robinson also lived across the street from Anderson on Coats Drive growing up.
“The black community at that time was small – only a few blocks – and he was “the man.” As the teacher at the black school and pastor of the church, he knew every kid and every family. You knew he was watching over us and I was glad he lived across the street.”

George Anderson was a teacher, pastor and community leader at a time when many towns in the south were struggling with the fact that segregation was wrong and integration was inevitable. Working with other community leaders like high school principal Max Vaughan and Superintendent D.L. Rountree, Anderson helped make that transition a smooth one.

“There’s one pattern I’ve tried to set for myself my whole life,” said Anderson in a 2002 interview about a school being named in his honor. “I try to follow the 13th chapter of St. Matthew every day teaching myself that the seeds I sow are the plants I will reap. You have to put your community first and be the best you can in helping your community thrive.”

Rev. George Anderson died in 2003 but the seeds he sowed in Allen, Texas have deep roots.

Learning Lessons From Grandma: Flossie Floyd Green

Flossie Floyd-Green never ran for school board or taught in a classroom but that didn’t make her any less worthy when the Allen ISD Board of Trustees named a school in her honor in 1995.

In simplest terms, Flossie was a farmer who overcame many hardships to raise a family and touch the lives of many children in the small town of Allen. There’s more to the story of course.

Flossie Floyd was born in 1886 and raised on a farm in west Allen north of the current Green Elementary School that bears her name. The farm was given to her parents, Robert and Lena, as a wedding present in 1872 by her grandparents who had settled in Collin County shortly after the Civil War.

One of nine children, Flossie attended a one room school house near the current intersection of Custer and Highway 121. She later attended college at what is now called Mary Hardin Baylor in Belton, Texas.

Flossie married John W. Green who was born and raised on a nearby farm where Green Elementary School stands. The couple raised two children, John and Leonard, in Allen and Albuquerque, New Mexico before returning to McKinney. John died unexpectedly in 1932 leaving Flossie to manage the 132 acre family farm at the height of the Depression. Despite the challenges, Flossie maintained the farm and provided a college education for her sons. Both grew to become highly successful businessmen with one becoming executive vice-president for Texaco and the other serving as president of the Dr. Pepper Company.

Church was an important part of the family’s life, according to Flossie’s grandson John Green who, with his wife Georgie, managed a Morgan horse farm on the original Floyd family property for many years. “She rarely missed a service at the First Baptist Church in McKinney and was active in that congregation for over 50 years.” “She loved children and especially enjoyed working with the GA (Girls In Action) group at the McKinney church,” he added.

Years later, Flossie and her lifelong friend Lucy Rasor helped raise funds to rebuild the church from their childhood, the Rowlett Creek Baptist Church. The structure, which is the oldest recorded church in Collin County, still stands near the intersection of Custer Road and Highway 121.

John spent many summers at his grandmother’s farm and remembers her as strict but kind. “I learned more than a few good lessons about telling the truth but it was a wonderful place to visit.”

“My grandmother was a good steward of the land,” said John. “She had many opportunities to sell the property over the years but instead kept it as a working farm. She later saw the changes coming to Allen and hoped that her land would someday be used for a school.”

To that end, her grandson donated land in 1993 and worked with the developers of the new Twin Creeks subdivision to accommodate a new elementary school in her name.

Flossie Floyd-Green passed away in 1976 and Comanche Drive hardly resembles the old dirt farm road but we can be sure that she would be pleased to hear the sounds of children who visit her farm each school day.