Education (ACWH)

Janet Wilson - Superintendent Garrett County Public Schools

On July 1, 2012 Janet Wilson became the first woman to serve as Superintendent of the Garrett County Public School System. Prior to that time she had been employed with the Allegany County Public School system, most recently serving in the capacity of Chief Academic Officer. The article below is from the Cumberland Time-News provides some background on Dr. Wilson and her appointment:-

Wilson ready to dig in as Garrett superintendent
Board ‘excited and happy’ to hire educator

Allegany County was established in 1789, and for some period of time there were several privately operated schools, for girls as well as boys. In 1798 the Allegany County Academy, a college preparatory school was incorporated. In 1849 the Academy constructed a new facility on Washington Street, now the public library. The ladies of Cumberland held a large fair, raising hundreds of dollars for the school and the purchase of “philosophical apparatus”, things such as a color-wheel, microscope, telescope, and artificial eyes for the school’s use.

Dr. Eileen B. (Brinker) Steele, Educator: 1929-2019

The following is excerpted from Dr. Eileen Steele's obituary appearing on the Sowers Funeral Home of Frostburg, Maryland website:

Dr. Judith "Judie" Thelen, Educator and Elected Official

The following is excerpted and edited from the Scarpelli Funeral Home of Cumberland, Maryland website, which also provided the photograph:

JoAnn Stangel
September 13, 1932 - March 28, 2013

Cumberland, MD -

Margaret Wigfield, First ACC Graduate to Receive Bachelor’s Degree

She graduated from Fort Hill High School in 1961 and as noted in the Cumberland News of June 7, 1965, Miss Margaret Elaine Wigfield was one of the first four students to receive an Associate of Arts degree from Allegany Community College (ACC) in 1963. After graduating with honors from ACC (now Allegany College of Maryland) she went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Frostburg State College in 1965. She is the first graduate of the community college to receive a four-year degree.

Alta Schrock, 1911 – 2001

Born into a Mennonite family near Grantsville, Alta Schrock pursued learning all her life. Walking five miles to and from school every day as a child, she memorized the Bible, poems, biology and botany. In 1944 she became the first Mennonite woman to earn a PhD, this being in biology, and taught at various universities from 1946 to 1977. She was Professor of Biology at Frostburg State University from 1960 to 1977.

Elsie Hill Roland, 1897-1973

In 1928 the Future Farmers of America (FFA) program was established in Kansas City, Missouri. Just three years later, in 1931, Elsie Hill Roland initiated the Allegany County FFA program at Flintstone School. She was the first woman in the nation to be certified by the Federal Government to teach Vocational Agriculture under the 1917 Smith-Hughes Act and would oversee the FFA program at Flintstone until 1964.

CUMBERLAND — Mary M. Robb, 97, of Cumberland, died Sunday, Aug. 16, 2015, at The Kensington.

Born Nov. 11, 1917, in Cumberland, she was the daughter of the late Matthew and Marguerite (Marston) Robb.
Miss Robb was a graduate of Allegany High School. She earned a B.A. degree from Western Maryland College and a Master of Music degree from West Virginia University.

Mary E. Murray, 1907 - 2002

Born in Mt. Savage, Mary Murray graduated from Catholic Girls Central High School in Cumberland. She taught for over 48 years at Allegany High School, Frostburg State College, and the Catholic University of America. One of her achievements at Allegany High School was the editing of the Allegany High School Golden Jubilee Magazine 1889 - 1938.