Henderson County Education Foundation, Inc.

Kay Siewert Williams was bookkeeper and secretary for 17 years at East Henderson High, where her husband Tom was basketball coach, starting in 1966 before she was Hendersonville City Schools’ main secretary for then-Supt. Charlie Byrd and Asst. Supt. Dr. Mary Margaret Ingle. Williams, now 74, helped with student transfer records and ordering textbooks. She [...]

(1951-2004) was a technical whiz, fixing VCRs and other audio-visual equipment in the Nineties to help teachers amplify lessons. The multi-instrumental string musician taught music, in private lessons. “He could easily explain what to do,” said his widow Debbie Reemes Ford, a former school board member. She said he nurtured “self-esteem, to tackle what they [...]

Bill Whitmire, 76, coached for 30 years starting in 1963 and mainly at Edneyville. He and Tom Pryor were the school’s only coaches for years, with Pryor handling the defense and Whitmire the offense. His quarterbacks included Don Dalton and David Jones, now the school superintendent. Whitmire’s motto for his hard-hitting good sports was “knock [...]

’s local 32-year football coaching career included leading West Henderson’s first junior varsity from 1963-77, then 16 years in Flat Rock Junior High football which fed East High. He coached such future NFL players as West lineman Mickey Marvin and East back A.J. Greene. Link also coached at Rugby Junior and North High. He taught [...]

Anne Whitmire, who turns 67 on March 26, as a Balfour Elementary physical education specialist, implemented state model programs in child conditioning and activities starting in 1977. She taught in her final year, 2002-03, in then-new Clear Creek Elementary. She also taught classroom teachers about leading PE class. When a child’s self-confidence emerges first in [...]

Anne Smith, 79, was a remedial reading specialist for 15 of her 21 years teaching elementary school locally. She taught in Mills River for 15 years starting in 1967-68, also in Rosa Edwards and Fletcher. She taught 31 years overall. When reading a story to the class, she sparked imagination by asking what would happen [...]

Dan Pace (1934-2010) taught literature and composition  in Edneyville High School starting in 1969, and in West Henderson High from 1979-86. He was a minister before finding his truest calling in the classroom and leading field trips to such historical sites as Colonial Williamsburg, Va. There, students “made connections between the development of the country [...]

Elmetta Linder, 75, taught for 42 years starting in 1958, mostly in third grade in Hillandale Elementary. Her “times table race” had students challenge each other in pairs. The first of the two to answer a multiplication question correctly kept or took that seat, trying to advance across the room. She playfully teased students, to [...]

Dean Ward (1904-1991) was a teaching principal at Tuxedo, a feeder into Flat Rock High. Many of Ward’s students went on to academic and professional distinction. Robert Morgan, the famed writer and Cornell professor who is to attend the banquet, wrote his first short story in 1957 as a sixth-grade assignment from Ward. Ward instructed [...]

Elizabeth G. Rogers is the oldest inductee at age 93. She taught in Flat Rock from 1948 until 1960, when it was absorbed into the new East High. She then taught at East for its first two decades, until 1979. She recalls Flat Rock High as the epitome of a close-knit, well-behaved school. Her pupils [...]

Gary C. Rhodes taught in Mills River Elementary for 28 years, from 1976 to 2004. For two pivotal years in the ’70s, he was a physical education instructor and mentor to classroom teachers in a half dozen schools. His main message was to try one’s best, have fun with fitness and be a good sport [...]

Pearl King LeVar taught over a span of 40 years, including overseas and in four local elementary schools. At Tuxedo, she was media coordinator and a teacher in 1980 to 1993. She reorganized the school’s central library. She read stories from the Bible to “Curious George,” the mischievous monkey, opening horizons for students.

Richard L. Brown taught from 1970 to 1995 in Hendersonville city schools at all three levels — elementary, middle and high school. His specialty was special education. As an orphan often moving, he later related to those students feeling like an outsider. He made them feel at home in order to better realize potential in [...]

Jereline B. Sexton was more than a custodian to students. She was a very dependable friend to all. Known as a thorough, meticulous worker, she helped keep the school spic-and-span for a clean, safe and healthy learning environment.

Barnwell mobilized emergency classes after arson fires in 1971 and 1973. He saved money with more efficient school energy use and purchase orders. He extended reading and other help for low-income students to kindergarten, in 1978, in a state pilot program. Barnwell taught for a decade, starting at Dana in 1957 and as among East [...]

Dr. Kohlan Flynn crafted the school reassignment selection process for transfers out of zones, precautions against intruder violence and handicapped bus radio communication to boost safety. Earlier in the early ’80s, as West Henderson High principal, he innovated in-school suspension and computerized student scheduling. Flynn is identified with West Henderson High history. As its first [...]

Kay Siewert Williams was bookkeeper and secretary for 17 years at East Henderson High, where her husband Tom was basketball coach, starting in 1966 before she was Hendersonville City Schools’ main secretary for then-Supt. Charlie Byrd and Asst. Supt. Dr. Mary Margaret Ingle. Williams, now 74, helped with student transfer records and ordering textbooks. She [...]

(1951-2004) was a technical whiz, fixing VCRs and other audio-visual equipment in the Nineties to help teachers amplify lessons. The multi-instrumental string musician taught music, in private lessons. “He could easily explain what to do,” said his widow Debbie Reemes Ford, a former school board member. She said he nurtured “self-esteem, to tackle what they [...]

Bill Whitmire, 76, coached for 30 years starting in 1963 and mainly at Edneyville. He and Tom Pryor were the school’s only coaches for years, with Pryor handling the defense and Whitmire the offense. His quarterbacks included Don Dalton and David Jones, now the school superintendent. Whitmire’s motto for his hard-hitting good sports was “knock [...]

’s local 32-year football coaching career included leading West Henderson’s first junior varsity from 1963-77, then 16 years in Flat Rock Junior High football which fed East High. He coached such future NFL players as West lineman Mickey Marvin and East back A.J. Greene. Link also coached at Rugby Junior and North High. He taught [...]

Anne Whitmire, who turns 67 on March 26, as a Balfour Elementary physical education specialist, implemented state model programs in child conditioning and activities starting in 1977. She taught in her final year, 2002-03, in then-new Clear Creek Elementary. She also taught classroom teachers about leading PE class. When a child’s self-confidence emerges first in [...]

Anne Smith, 79, was a remedial reading specialist for 15 of her 21 years teaching elementary school locally. She taught in Mills River for 15 years starting in 1967-68, also in Rosa Edwards and Fletcher. She taught 31 years overall. When reading a story to the class, she sparked imagination by asking what would happen [...]

Dan Pace (1934-2010) taught literature and composition  in Edneyville High School starting in 1969, and in West Henderson High from 1979-86. He was a minister before finding his truest calling in the classroom and leading field trips to such historical sites as Colonial Williamsburg, Va. There, students “made connections between the development of the country [...]

Elmetta Linder, 75, taught for 42 years starting in 1958, mostly in third grade in Hillandale Elementary. Her “times table race” had students challenge each other in pairs. The first of the two to answer a multiplication question correctly kept or took that seat, trying to advance across the room. She playfully teased students, to [...]

Dean Ward (1904-1991) was a teaching principal at Tuxedo, a feeder into Flat Rock High. Many of Ward’s students went on to academic and professional distinction. Robert Morgan, the famed writer and Cornell professor who is to attend the banquet, wrote his first short story in 1957 as a sixth-grade assignment from Ward. Ward instructed [...]

Elizabeth G. Rogers is the oldest inductee at age 93. She taught in Flat Rock from 1948 until 1960, when it was absorbed into the new East High. She then taught at East for its first two decades, until 1979. She recalls Flat Rock High as the epitome of a close-knit, well-behaved school. Her pupils [...]

Gary C. Rhodes taught in Mills River Elementary for 28 years, from 1976 to 2004. For two pivotal years in the ’70s, he was a physical education instructor and mentor to classroom teachers in a half dozen schools. His main message was to try one’s best, have fun with fitness and be a good sport [...]

Pearl King LeVar taught over a span of 40 years, including overseas and in four local elementary schools. At Tuxedo, she was media coordinator and a teacher in 1980 to 1993. She reorganized the school’s central library. She read stories from the Bible to “Curious George,” the mischievous monkey, opening horizons for students.

Richard L. Brown taught from 1970 to 1995 in Hendersonville city schools at all three levels — elementary, middle and high school. His specialty was special education. As an orphan often moving, he later related to those students feeling like an outsider. He made them feel at home in order to better realize potential in [...]

Jereline B. Sexton was more than a custodian to students. She was a very dependable friend to all. Known as a thorough, meticulous worker, she helped keep the school spic-and-span for a clean, safe and healthy learning environment.

Barnwell mobilized emergency classes after arson fires in 1971 and 1973. He saved money with more efficient school energy use and purchase orders. He extended reading and other help for low-income students to kindergarten, in 1978, in a state pilot program. Barnwell taught for a decade, starting at Dana in 1957 and as among East [...]

Dr. Kohlan Flynn crafted the school reassignment selection process for transfers out of zones, precautions against intruder violence and handicapped bus radio communication to boost safety. Earlier in the early ’80s, as West Henderson High principal, he innovated in-school suspension and computerized student scheduling. Flynn is identified with West Henderson High history. As its first [...]