|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 SC will lose two of its veteran teachers at the close of the school year
when Miss Bessie May Allen, head of the Home Economics department, and Miss Helen Meston, instructor
in the department, retire. Announcement of their retirement was made today by President William C.
Hansen. Miss Allen, who has been at CSC for 39 years, will retire in June and Miss Meston, who has
been here for 32 years, will leave at the end of summer school. In 1913, when the home economics
department here was in its infancy Miss Allen came to CSC as head of the department. Since that time,
under direction, the department has grown until it has become one of the outstanding departments not
only here, but in the state. Its graduates are teaching in schools all over the nation.
Knows All Graduates
 iss Allen knows all her graduates-not only where they are teaching but
what they are doing after they are through teaching. Each married student invites Miss Allen to her
wedding and she ahs many snapshots of their children and families. They all have a deep appreciation
for what she has done for them and a genuine affection for her. To her many students, she has always
been considered an excellent teacher and adviser and a real friend. Ever since the home economics
cottage was built, Miss Allen has made her home there. This has helped her to know the girls much
better since each home economics student lives one semester at the cottage. They are just like
members of a family group and she takes great interest in them. Miss Allen�s home town is Postville,
Iowa. She started her education in a rural school and then went to a school in Castalia, where she
later taught. Her high school work was completed at Dubuque, Iowa. She later graduated from Iowa
State Teachers college where she took a three year course. She received her B.S. and M.A. degrees
from Columbia University and she has done additional study at the University of Chicago and the
University of Hawaii.
Rural Iowa Teacher
iss Allen first taught in a rural school in Iowa and then in a high school
in New Hartford, Iowa. She was made principal of a small school in Castalia, Iowa. She got her first
start in teaching home economics in Canada at a private school for girls in Whitby, Ontario. After this
she taught at the Illinois State Normal University at Normal, Illinois, before coming here in September
of 1913. Miss Allen belongs to all the educational organizations including the Central Wisconsin Teachers
association, the NEA, the Wisconsin Home Economics association, and the American Home Economics association.
She was state president of the Wisconsin Home Economics association for three years. At Central State, she
was the first woman to serve as chairman of the faculty. She also was president of the Business and
Professional Women�s club in Stevens Point and served on the state council. She belongs to the Stevens
Point Women�s Club, of which she is a past president, the PEO and Sigma Zeta, which she helped organize.
A charter member of the local chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, she helped organize chapters in Wisconsin, was
the first state president, and also served as national parliamentarian. The most traveled of all the
faculty, Miss Allen has visited every state in the union, every province of Canada, has been to Europe
twice, and also to South America, Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico. Recently she has started
taking pictures of the places she has seen and those that have heard her lectures on these places say she
gives you the feeling of having been there yourself. Miss Allen has no definite plans for the future, except
that she will do what she likes. The first thing she wants to do is throw away her alarm clock which has
wakened her every morning. She would like to stay in Stevens Point if she can find an apartment. After
32 years of quiet and efficient work in the Home Economics and English departments here at Central State,
Miss Meston is planning to close her teaching career after this year�s summer session. Although she is not
yet of retirement age, Miss Meston is leaving in order to devote more time to her many interests and
activities. Miss Meston has always been well liked by both students and faculty here. Some of the reasons
for her popularity among students are her friendliness, her understanding attitude and her excellent
teaching. It would be difficult to measure the results of her very fine teaching. Although she is
interested in the subjects she teaches and is very proficient in presenting her subject matter, her major
concern centers around her students as individuals. She uses subject matter as a means of developing her
students.
Nebraska, Home State
iss Meston was born in a little village called Spring Ranch, Nebraska. After
the death of her father, her family moved to Hastings, Nebraska, where she attended both grade and high
school. After graduating from high school, she attended Doane college at Crete, Nebraska. Receiving her
B.S. degree in education there, she immediately accepted a teaching position at the college. She later
received a second B.S. degree in home economics from Columbia University. She then returned to teach at
Doane college where she was also Dean of Women. In 1920 she came here to Central State to teach in the
Home Economics department. In 1928 she took a leave of absence and received her masters degree in home
economics at Columbia University. In addition to her home economics classes, Miss Meston has also taught
English. She particularly enjoys teaching English not only because of her interest in the subject, but
because it broadens her acquaintance with students outside the home economics department.
Active in Organizations
iss Meston has been active in many community and professional organizations.
She has been a member of the Council of Wisconsin Home Economics association, in
which she has served on
various committees. She has also been active in the district, state, and national Home Economics associations
the district, state, and national Educational associations, Delta Kappa Gamma, honorary education society,
and Sigma Zeta, honorary science fraternity. She has been secretary of the faculty, a member of the Home
Economics club, where she was assistant adviser, and adviser of Tau Gamma Beta, social sorority, for eight
years. She has been a member of PEO, having held the offices of president and state treasurer and has also
been a member of the Business and Professional Women�s club. Now that Miss Meston is retiring she will have
more time to spend on her many interests. She enjoys reading and is an accomplished pianist. She is very
fond of cooking and particularly likes to entertain. Miss Meston has no definite plans for the future, but
her many friends here in Stevens Point are hoping that she will make her permanent residence here.
*The Pointer, April 1952, p.1, 4
|
 |
|
|
 
|
 |
|
|
