Francis Pirotte Zink – Elementary Education, 1962; M. A., 1967; Ed. S., 1969

Frances Pirotte Zink

1962  BA Elementary Education

1967  MA Administration and Supervision

1969  Ed.S. Administration and Supervision

                I consider that I have been a part of USL since 1959.  Perhaps I should say since 1951, because I live in Arbolada surrounded by the USL campus. I officially came to Southwestern Louisiana Institute in 1958 with a Bachelor of  Science degree ( Marymount College, Salina, Kansas, 1945) seeking to certify as a teacher. After consulting  with the acting Dean, I elected not to certify in Secondary Education/Home Economics and Science but to certify in  Elementary Education instead.  Job opportunities were much better for Elementary Education majors.  Being somewhat undecided and feeling that I had plenty of time, I planned to start a program taking only nine hours a semester.  I did not plan to teach until my youngest child started  school.

                When the evaluation of my transcript was completed, I was somewhat dismayed to find out that I needed 53 undergraduate hours to complete a second degree, this one in Elementary Education.  I started my program, still taking only nine hours a semester and found it a delightful experience being on campus and again being a student.

                My memories of that period in the late 1950s include some interesting ones.  The library was in Stephens Hall with a good part of the education holdings and newspapers in the basement.  Hamilton was a lab school, and all the elementary education students did observations and student teaching  in the classrooms there.  There were two sections of grades 1 through 6, with one section of kindergarten, seventh and eighth grades.  Elementary education methods courses were taught by the faculty of Hamilton Elementary School.  Because they also taught the K-8 grade students, methods classes were held at 8 AM in the Lab School. The classes were very large, often with forty students.

The Lab School was not air conditioned, and still looked like it did when it was built in the late 1930s.  Each classroom had a row of adult size chairs along the back wall and college students and parents could observe at anytime, simply walking into the class and being seated.  Students were so accustomed to this that they paid no attention to the visitors.

The Student Union was in what is now the bowling ally.  Between classes one could expect to see students and professors, often at the same table in the Student Union, having coffee or cokes.  During many semesters, the students, especially the mature students taking comparatively few courses, spent time in the union studying and/or visiting.  The long utility tables were conducive to this type of student interaction.

If you had classes in history, in all probability they were in Little Abbeville, an area near where HLG is now located. Classes were held in an old war surplus building. The Shack, which was a short distance away, supplied coffee, cokes and snacks in between classes.

After finishing my undergraduate studies, I taught in an elementary school for three years.  I then decided to return to USL to work on a graduate degree. Now a full time graduate student I, again, thoroughly enjoyed  being on campus.  The College had grown, the University had become larger and the graduate enrollment gave a new dimension to the College.  After finishing my Master of Arts degree I again taught, this time fourth grade in the public school system.

In the fall of 1968, I joined the faculty of Teacher Education at the University of Southwestern Louisiana.  Although I was assured that a terminal degree was not necessary, I sensed that it was only a short time until it would be, and enrolled in a doctoral program at LSU.  I commuted to LSU and taught at USL for several semesters and then took a sabbatical leave to complete my studies and dissertation.  I was awarded a Ph.D. in Education in August 1973.

The last twenty five years have gone very quickly.  For several years I taught elementary education methods classes; then, in January 1979, I  became Director of Graduate Studies in Education, a position which I held for eight years. In 1987, I returned to the classroom,  teaching methods courses and supervising student teachers.  The last three semesters, I am again in administration as Acting Head of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.  I have found each position to be a challenge and I have enjoyed my work.  I have seen the University grow from about 6,000 students to over 17,000.  I have seen computers introduced then become indispensable.  I have heard distance learning talked about and then become a reality in our University and in our College.  May USL’s next hundred years be as memorable as the first hundred years.