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For 68 Years, one educator has helped Princeton children learn and grow · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: For sixty eight years, one educator has helped Princeton children
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  learn and grow. Written by Matthias Werner, this article is
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  being read by an automated voice brought to you by Everlett.
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  The year is nineteen fifty eight. Hitchcock's Vertigo is in theaters,
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  Tequila by the Champs is on the radio, and Eleanor
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  Walker began her career in education in the Illinois Valley.
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  For sixty eight years, Walker has been in Princeton Elementary
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  School District one hundred and fifteen, helping and guiding children.
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  Walker currently serves as the librarian for Douglas Elementary School,
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  a position she has held for twelve years. Missus Walker's work,
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  ethic and dedication to education are unmatched. Douglas Elementary School
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  Principal Mandy Hunt said she has served generations of families
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  and impact on countless lives within the Princeton community. One
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  thing has been the same across every step of Walker's career.
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  I just really love to work with children, she said.
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  I'm very glad that I ended up being able to
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  work with them. After graduating from Illinois State University, Walker
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  began her tenure in Princeton as a second grade teacher
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  at Lincoln Elementary School. Walker then transitioned to become a
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  part time teacher and part time principal before assuming the
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  role of full time principal at Lincoln. In nineteen ninety four,
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  Walker moved over to Jefferson Elementary School to become its principal.
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  Walker was in that role for twenty years before assuming
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  her current role as librarian at Douglas Elementary School, a
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  position that she said is the favorite of her career.
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  I was so fortunate to get to be the librarian,
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  she said. One of my first loves was children's literature
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  and of course working with kids. Many people change careers
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  throughout their lifetime or in retirement, but Missus Walker has
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  remained passionate and committed to support children and their love
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  of learning throughout her sixty eight year career. Hunt said
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  the students, staff, and Princeton community are blessed to have
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  Missus Walker as an example. To celebrate her ninetieth birthday
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  on March twenty sixth, Douglas Elementary School had a party
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  for Walker in the school's gymnasium in the middle of
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  the school day. Missus Walker's kindness, consistently pleasant demeanor, and
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  never ending optimism can always be noticed in our school
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  community in the Princeton community at large, Princeton Elementary School
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  District one fifteen Superintendent J. D Orwig said she has
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  kept the same steady, wonderful personality that can make anyone
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  around her smile. Eleanor is just simply a genuine and
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  sincere person. Walker said that over her time focusing on
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  children's literature, things have not stayed the same. There's been
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  a lot of changes, she said. Of course, there are
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  a lot more books for children, and they try to
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  keep up with the cartoon characters that are going on now.
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  But I'll say we have some good children's authors right now.
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  At ninety years old, Walker is unsure whether she will
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  return to Douglas as the librarian for the twenty twenty
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  six to twenty seven school year, but said that the
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  community around her makes a compelling case for her to
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  come back. We have such good teachers. I've just been
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  with them and the children for so long, she said.
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  That's another part of why it's hard to give up
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  a job. When you work with people that you really like.