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Mary
Alice Skaggs Celebrates
97th Birthday with School Guests
May 9, 2005
Legendary Plano Teacher Mary Alice Skaggs, namesake of Skaggs Elementary
School, celebrated her 97th birthday recently with
friends, family, school guests and a host of proclamation
presenters, during an afternoon party at the Celina
home of her sister, Benny Cox.
Pictured are Celina Mayor Corbett
Howard, Mary Alice Skaggs Elementary School Principal
Len Stevens, Nellie
McCall, Mary Alice
Skaggs and County Commissioner
Jerry Hoagland. (Photo courtesy of "The Dallas Morning
News")
Mary Alice Skaggs was born in Celina, Texas. She grew up in Dallas,
where she attended elementary school. She later graduated
from Gunter Bible College High School and earned her
bachelor's and master's degrees at Austin College in
Sherman. She completed graduate work at Texas Woman's
University and Southern Methodist University. Her teaching
career began in Gunter where she taught
English and Latin. Her remaining 31 years as a teacher
were served in Plano ISD where she taught English,
journalism, and economics.
During her teaching career in Plano, Ms. Skaggs served as the senior
class sponsor for 31 years, sponsored the Junior Thursday
Study Club (a club for high school girls) for 50 years,
and became the first teacher in Plano ISD to hold a
master's degree. She was a member of the National Council
of Teachers of English for 25 years, sponsored a NCTE
chapter in Plano and conducted a senior English workshop
for NCTE in Honolulu.
Wendy DeSpain, Skaggs Elementary
School principal intern, with Sue Holland, Benny Cox,
Penny Rathbun and JoAnn Botts, former Plano ISD teacher
and administrator. (Photo courtesy of "The Dallas
Morning News")
Her awards are many and include being named 1958 Teacher of the Year
for the Texas Federation of Women's Clubs, receiving
a Career Achievement Award from the Plano Business
and Professional Women's Club in 1968, earning a Special
Award of Merit in 1984 from the Plano Chamber of Commerce
for Sustained Exceptional Service to the Citizens of
Plano, and a Special Merit Award from the Texas Joint
English Committee.
Ms. Skaggs has maintained active memberships with the Plano Retired
Teachers Association, Delta Kappa Gamma, Kappa Gamma
Chi-Austin College, the Thursday Study Club, and the
Pitman Creek Church of Christ.
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