Champions for Education

Donald and Mary Johnson met as young teachers on the faculty at Niles High School in Skokie, Illinois, where he was a mathematics teacher and she taught Spanish. Every day, they played cards together at lunch. In the decades that followed, they earned advanced degrees from Indiana University (Don obtained a doctorate in school administration and Mary earned a master's), got married, raised three children, and traveled the world together.

Recently, their son Mark D. Johnson (BS '89, MS '91, PhD '94) and daughter-in-law Kelly W. Johnson (BS '89, MArch '91) established the Donald V. and Mary A. Johnson Scholarship Fund in memory of Mark's parents.

"Donald had a passion for education, and his commitment to teaching and leading was evident throughout his career," says Mark. After teaching mathematics, Donald went on to serve as principal at Wheaton North High School in Wheaton, Illinois and then at Princeton High School in Cincinnati. For 19 years, he was assistant superintendent at Leyden High Schools in Franklin Park, Illinois, until he retired in 1993.

In thinking about how to honor Donald and Mary's legacies as educators, the younger Johnsons turned to their own connection to the University of Michigan, where they met just three weeks into their freshman year. The Donald V. and Mary A. Johnson Scholarship Fund will support teacher education students at the Marsal School who intend to teach STEM, an area the family is passionate about.

"One of Don's biggest jobs was to find talent," says Kelly, "and teachers who wanted to stay. We were looking for a way to help a teaching intern come out of their educational training without debt that would keep them from being able to work as a teacher."

"It's also fun to think about how, if you help an educator get their degree and then they go on to teach many other people, the impact of the gift spreads out over the years," says Mark.

Kelly adds, "We both certainly remember teachers who left a profound impression. You can't remember who won the Super Bowl, but you always remember a teacher who had a huge impact on your life."

Although Jon Keller (BGS '72, MD '77, MPH '96) graduated from University High School in 1967, he has remained a "U High Cub" for life. The University School was an elementary and secondary 'laboratory school'—one of the first of its kind in the country—that existed within the School of Education from 1924 to 1968. In addition to providing education to young learners, it also served as a site to conduct research and implement new educational theory.

Last July, Keller and nearly 200 fellow U-High alumni gathered to celebrate their alma mater's centennial. Spanning two days of activities that included a tour of what is now the Marsal Family School of Education and a banquet at the Michigan League, the reunion offered many opportunities to reminisce about the unique educational experience U High had afforded them on the U-M campus. In honor of the milestone anniversary, Keller banded together with several of his former classmates to establish The University School Centennial Scholarship Fund, and invited their fellow alumni to join them in giving back to the school that had given them so much.

"We were all the beneficiaries of the talent, dedication, and dignity of our teachers, the administrators, and staff," wrote Keller in the U High newsletter when the scholarship was announced. "We made deep friendships that have lasted decades, and that helped form us as young women and men. The school's location on the U-M campus gave us a unique window into the larger world and helped set our course in life. In honor of our teachers and the phenomenal educational experiences they provided us, a special University School endowed scholarship fund has been created to provide meaningful financial assistance to a new generation of educators who will carry on in this great tradition."

The University School Centennial Scholarship Fund aims to provide need-based scholarship support to undergraduate students at U-M who are enrolled in Marsal's teacher education program or who have otherwise demonstrated interest in pursuing a degree or certificate in teacher education.

Dean Elizabeth Birr Moje, who participated in the centennial celebration, thanked the Cubs for their dedication to current students. "It was wonderful to see so many Cubs in July at the centennial celebration. It was an honor to be part of the event and experience the energy and camaraderie of the University Schools community. The University Elementary and High Schools hold a special place in the history of education in the U.S. for being among the first "laboratory schools"—a model developed by John Dewey. As the site of trailblazing research and the foundation for the robust K-12 partnerships that are still central to our mission, the U Schools legacy is still alive and well in the Marsal Family School of Education. The relationship between the University Schools and the Marsal School is further fortified by the many Cubs who have supported our future teachers through generous scholarships in recognition of the faculty you appreciated and admired. My heartfelt thanks to each of you for your support."

When Caryn Mamrack Hsu (AB '95, TeachCert '95) graduated from the University of Michigan with a major in performing arts and a teaching certificate, she had hoped to take her passion for theater into the classrooms of Detroit. For four years, she taught English and speech, but the schools she worked in often lacked the resources to support the arts. And then, while teaching at Cooley High School, a U-M class called Theatre for Social Change, taught by Buzz Alexander, partnered with her school. The class brought together U-M students and high schoolers, using improv techniques to explore and unpack social issues.

"Together, they would write a play to explore issues that the kids were facing at the time. It gave them a chance to address different topics and talk through them. It was an amazing program," recalls Hsu. Although she left her work in the classroom to pursue a career in film and television in Los Angeles, her time in the Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) remained important to her. Recently, she and her husband Matthew H. Hsu established the Mamrack Teaching Scholarship Fund to provide support to undergraduate and master's teacher education students in the Marsal School, with a preference for students who complete their training at The School at Marygrove or another DPSCD school.

Last fall, Hsu toured The School at Marygrove with Dean Elizabeth Birr Moje. "It was such a treat to tour the Marygrove campus and hear about the ambitious and groundbreaking work being done by U-M in Detroit," she says. "It is very exciting to see programs set in motion that are based on theories and ideals that I remember discussing in my own education courses 30 years ago."

Just as her gift will have an impact on Marsal School teaching interns and their students for years to come, Hsu's own experience in the classroom continues to inspire her writing and film projects.

Growing up in Saginaw, Michigan, both of Lyn McHie's (ABEd '68, TeachCert '68) parents were educators. Her mother, Ilah Parker Huyghe, taught primary grades for 28 years. Her father, Oscar Huyghe (AMEd '54), served in the profession for a total of 40 years. Starting as band director, he became dean of students, assistant principal, and eventually high school principal. As a young child, tagging along to various activities that were part of her parents' jobs as educators, McHie came to see that teaching was a way of life. She remembers climbing the creaky stairs with her sister up to their father's directors' loft to listen to him play with the band during rehearsal. They also joined in alongside the student musicians to march in their town's Fourth of July parade.

"It was always a part of who I was, so I just decided teaching was the perfect thing for me to do. Plus, I love kids," says McHie. She proudly followed in her father's footsteps, attending the School of Education at the University of Michigan where she graduated with distinction. She then went on to teach fifth grade for 24 years. Over that time, lessons McHie learned as a student at U-M stayed with her, including those on topics like geology and linguistics that served her in unexpected ways as a classroom teacher. The example her parents set—that teaching was a way of life—also continued to guide her.

One year, when she expressed concern to her students about safety due to the increased school bus traffic at their school, the class decided to write letters to their congressional representative. She told her students that the congressman was a busy person, and not to set their hopes too high on receiving a response. But the power of 35 young voices not only yielded a reply—their school got a traffic light!

"My dad was so proud to be a University of Michigan person. That was a delight to him. It was just part of who we were," says McHie. In turn, McHie's own commitment to the profession and affinity for the university inspired her daughter, Jessica McHie (BS '97, TeachCert '98), to carry on the family tradition for a third generation and attain her degree in teaching from U-M. She hopes that the establishment of the Lyn McHie Education Scholarship Fund, which provides scholarship support to teacher education students in the Marsal School, will help generations of teachers to come.

"My parents were proud of their profession and what they accomplished, as am I and as is my daughter. I am honored and excited to encourage future educators by giving back."

Michael Speigl (AB '03) fondly remembers the many teachers who had a positive influence on him when he was growing up on the west side of Michigan, in the Coopersville Area Public Schools district. There were those who were nurturing, as well as those who held him accountable. They were members of the community—they showed up at football and basketball games, their kids attended school with Speigl, and they helped prepare him for his eventual acceptance at the University of Michigan.

"The teachers that I had were incredibly impactful to me as a young adult and now as an adult," he says.

Speigl went on to found PrepandMe, a nonprofit that provides resources and preparation for hard-working students from disadvantaged backgrounds to access higher education. He also married a teacher. Education is a shared value for Michael and Ashley Speigl, who are now raising five children of their own.

"Teachers are interacting every day with the loves of our lives. They have the biggest influence on our kids, and that's the same for every household in the country," says Speigl. "So whatever we can do to support teachers in getting excellent training to prepare them to teach the next generation is critically important to us."

Their establishment of the The Michael and Ashley Speigl Education Scholarship Fund will provide support to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the Marsal School's teacher education program.