Oral history interview with Beth Duncombe conducted by Jennifer Kalas on December 12, 2004 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In this interview, Duncombe reflects upon her 30-year career as a teacher and administrator in Las Vegas, Nevada. She describes the process by which she became a special education teacher, and life experiences that she feels best prepared her for the principalship, such as teaching in England and working in both public and private education. She also discusses her approach to school administration, and her efforts in creating certain learning environments.
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On February 20, 1979, Keith Thomas interviewed Dr. Holbert H. Hendrix (born 1914 in French Lick, Indiana) about his life in early Las Vegas, Nevada. The interview takes place at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in Room 312 of the Education Building. Dr. Hendrix first discusses his personal background and interests, as well as his occupational background in teaching. The two discuss changes at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, including construction, when the university began awarding degrees, and Dr. Hendrix’s reasons for moving to Las Vegas. Dr. Hendrix then describes changes to the Strip and how the hotel industry has changed since he first arrived in Nevada. The two briefly discuss how problems with prostitution may have increased since Dr. Hendrix arrived in Nevada. The interview concludes with Dr. Hendrix contemplating new problems that may arise in Las Vegas as a result of an expected population boom and his hopes that the Nevada state government would invest more into funding for education.
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Born and raised in Las Vegas, Ann Clark Kanie, elementary teacher, exemplifies the love of teaching in Clark County. Her mother, Marie Larson Clark Dane, taught elementary school at Lincoln Elementary School for 35 years. Ann attended Lincoln Elementary with her mother, Jim Bridger Junior High, Rancho, and then graduated from UNLV in elementary education. She also began teaching, like her mother, at Lincoln Elementary in North Las Vegas but later changed to Wasden Elementary which she obviously admires. Ann recalls growing up in Las Vegas and the fun that she and her friends enjoyed: participating in Helldorado Week, renting horses at Tule Springs or Old Nevada, riding bikes to the Meadows Mall and the Black Hole at the Springs Preserve, sliding down Becker’s Super Slide on Decatur Avenue, watching Disney movies at the Huntridge Theater, playing miniature golf and ice skating at Commercial Center, and going to Lake Mead and investigating the Potosi Mines. Ann married, continued teaching at Wasden. Her only son has chosen to follow his mother’s footsteps, graduated from UNLV in English education and teaches and coaches at Cimarron-Memorial High School. Even though she admits that teaching has become a very difficult, time-consuming job, it is obvious that Ann Kanie loves educating students and has passed this love on to her son.
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Oral history interview with Kathleen Harney conducted by Claytee White on July 19, 2010 for the Voices of the Historic John S. Park Neighborhood Oral History Project. In her interview Harney discusses her and her husband's move to the historic John S. Park Neighborhood in 1975, about ten years after moving to Las Vegas from Ohio. Kathleen also discusses her career as a high school teacher and teaching English and journalism.
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Oral history interview with Francie Summers conducted by Stacia Luigi on October 14, 2009 for the Public School Principalship Oral History Project. In this interview, Summers reflects upon her 35-year career as a teacher and principal with Nevada’s Clark County School District (CCSD). She describes her experience teaching at different private and public schools, how she later became a principal, and how her philosophy of education changed throughout her career. She also provides her opinion on contemporary topics such as standardized testing, student ethics, No Child Left Behind, and teacher grievances.
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