Lewisville ISD Teacher, an Octogenarian, Still Makes Impact on Students’ Minds
Dale Swall; a teacher, turned 80 on Wednesday, February 3, 2010. His colleagues in the teaching profession surprised him with a party to celebrate his birthday. He has been a classroom teacher for more than half a century and yet, has no plans to leave the service.
Mr. Swall began teaching in 1954. At present, he is a fourth-grade teacher at Hebron Valley Elementary School in Carrollton, Texas. According to him, he will stay in the service as long as the school will allow him. He joined the Lewisville Independent School District (LISD) in 1997.
He also taught in Germany and Hawaii before joining LISD.
During his career, he has been a headmaster in Chile, and a principal in Colombia and in Peru. It was also in Peru where he was assigned a school superintendent.
During all those days, he has influenced the lives of many children. One of his former students came from Austin on Wednesday to thank him.
In 1968, when Swall was principal at an elite private school in Cali, Colombia, he created a scholarship program to give students from poor families a chance for a better education.
Pedro “Pete” Pelaez was one among the scholars. He attended college in the United States and is now a businessman in Austin.
His fellow teachers say that Mr. Swall is still active and strong. According to them, he is the first person to get to school every day, and he’s the last one to leave.
He follows a regular schedule. He gets up at 4:30 every morning to jog and gets to school by 6:30. He even goes the school during weekends, doing paperwork.”
But, most of all, they say that the octogenarian is dedicated to helping students succeed.
He said, “It sounds trite, but I love working with kids. Helping and working with people is the best thing you can do.”
From a report by Ms. WENDY HUNDLEY / The Dallas Morning News
A native of Cavinti, Lucila C. Oblena spent all her working years as an educator, beginning as a classroom teacher in 1944, then a Guidance Counselor and retired as a school Principal. She is also the founder of CLOTA (Cavinti Laguna Overseas Teachers Association). She is the Editor of Tipakan.com (Cavinti Diaspora).
