Mrs. Curtis Retires After 30 Years Dedicated to Teaching at Grier
After thirty years of making a difference in the lives of countless Grier students, Mrs. Abby Curtis has retired from Grier School. She plans to join her husband, retired Grier teacher Mr. Charlie Curtis on their small farm outside of State College, Pennsylvania.
Anticipating the retirement of Mrs. Curtis, the Pineneedle Yearbook staff penned a special farewell, telling the story of how Mrs. Curtis joined the Grier History Department in 1990 while raising three young children. Students of Mrs. Curtis report that her classes helped them develop focus and compose research papers. They fondly recall all the special ways Mrs. Curtis brought history to life, whether that was the times she donned the habit of a medieval nun to discuss daily life or when whole classes re-enacted lives of early human hunter-gatherers.
Mrs. Curtis also loved working with fibers, including lamb’s wool and goat hair. She would demonstrate methods of spinning wool into yarn for her classes, often giving them a chance to try their hands at the art. Her passion for fiber led the formation of Knitting Club, where students and teachers met informally during Extra Help to knit and crochet. Eventually, she built a fiber arts curriculum for Grier’s Art Department, teaching classes in a wide variety of fiber arts, including spinning, dying, feltwork, weaving, crochet, and knitting.
To paraphrase the yearbook editors, Mrs. Curtis has left her mark as an intelligent and dedicated teacher, with many years devoted not only to educating Grier students about world cultures throughout history, but by building those essential learning foundations in ninth grade that would result in student success in the years to come.
The Grier community will miss Mrs. Curtis, but we are so grateful to have had her gifts and talents for so long and wish her the absolute best in retirement, where we hope she will enjoy many years reading, farming, and creating with fiber. Congratulations on your retirement, Mrs. Curtis!
RW | Photos: varied
Grier School
2522 Grier School Rd. | P.O. Box 308; Birmingham, PA 16686-0308
Phone: 814-684-3000 | Fax: 814-684-2177
Phone: 814-684-3000 | Fax: 814-684-2177
