Five Dollar Shoes

Prices may change, but some things stay the same. Cincinnati principal Elizabeth Guilfoile wrote of the importance of human relationships to school climate in "Human Values Take Priority," which appeared in the March 1948 issue of Educational Leadership. Among those values? A teacher helping a young student with an overstretched family purchase new shoes at lunchtime.

Read the article: "Human Values Take Priority" (PDF)

The teacher received a note, along with a five dollar bill, from Mrs. Green: "Can you take Willie on Fifth Street to Jack Spratt's Shoes?" This wasn't an easy decision for the teacher: "Of course, I planned at noon to go home and dress up in my new spring print for that tea at 4:15. But what is a bath as compared to my responsibility for the fit of Willie's shoes?"

Guilfoile's school is short on resources while serving an underpriveledged population. The efforts of staff to create a positive school environment, in her view, are critical to the school's success. Beyond shoe shopping, staff across the school share their talents and concern for the kids' well-being. The physical education teacher recruits student leaders to make recess more orderly and fulfilling. A janitor organizes swimming outings at the local community center. In this decades-old article, an on-a-shoestring outline of today's full- service community schools begins to emerge.

Decades on, Guilfoile's story serves as a reminder of the power of educators to influence students' lives—even in the face of dwindling budgets.

In "My Back Pages," we look at important issues through the historical lens of the Educational Leadership archives. ASCD members can access to EL issues from 1943 to the present by signing in at www.ascd.org.