Colby Eagles Alumni Association
Elsie Graber Sears, Kindergarten Teacher

Copyright Colby Eagles Alumni Association @ 2014
Nominated by Susan, Steve, David, Jerry, Ruth, & Stanley Molstad.
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 I nominate Elsie Anne Graber Sears, kindergarten teacher extraordinaire, for The High-Flying Eagle Award.  She was born in 1901 near Moundridge and attended Mennonite School throughout her primary grades and graduated from Moundridge High School.  Her college credits were earned at Bethel College in Newton, Colorado State University, Emporia State University, and Fort Hays State where she was awarded a bachelor's degree in elementary education. 

She began teaching kindergarten in a rural school south of Colby in 1926, met Fred Sears, married, and started a family.  In 1941, she resumed teaching by conducting private classes in the basement of her home located at 220 N Garfield, one half block east of the current Colby Elementary School building.  In the fall of 1948, Colby Public Schools hired her as a kindergarten teacher.  She taught for 30 years and retired in 1970 - with almost 50 years in the classroom and continued as a substitute teacher for several years.  Her teaching career spanned three generations of students.

Mrs. Sears presided over a magical kindergarten classroom.  It had a fish pond with turtles, a playhouse with a hitchen, big wooden blocks about 19 inches square one could pile as high as a small mountain, sinks and toilets that were child-sized, plenty of room for reading groups, seat work and crafts - including finger painting.

Mrs. Sears was low key, patient, & kind.  When my classmate, Decky, told me that Mrs. Sears was Decky's mom's kindergarten teacher, I couldn't quite believe her story - as Mrs. Sears was ageless.  The story is told that in 1 952, one young student decided to run away fr om school and ran out the front door.  Mrs. Sears ducked into the office, asked Kenny Rogers to please watch her classroom, and she ran after the child.  The child ended up on 4th street near the Dairy Queen when she took the child's hand and returned him to the classroom.  She was 51 years of age......

Thank you, Mrs. Sears, for the best start to the excellent education we received from Colby Public Schools.

Respectfully submitted by Susan, Steve, David, Jerry, Ruth, and Stanley Molstad.