PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — When Frances Wilson first started teaching in the School District of Philadelphia, Gerald Ford had just taken office as president and Frank Rizzo was Philly’s mayor.
After 47 years, the district’s longest-serving teacher is retiring.
Wilson started as a teacher's aide in 1974 at the Middle Years Alternative School, housed at the Philadelphia Ethical Society at the time. Her career later extended to Albert M. Greenfield and Henry H. Houston elementary schools.
In 2013, she moved to Chester A. Arthur School at 20th and Catharine streets, where she is the dean of students.
Wilson actually didn’t plan on becoming a teacher, let alone being an educator for nearly five decades.
“I didn't really expect to go into teaching,” said the 65-year-old. “I was a business major in college, and I evolved. Everybody told me I should teach and I'm like, ‘I don't think so.’ But at some point, I guess I woke up and said, that just might be something I should look into.”
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She had wonderful role models in her own education and believed she could be that for future learners.
“There's a lack of people of color in teaching, so that was another kind of revelation that came to me that I could make a difference and being a person of color,” she added.
Over the years, some of her students graduated to become her colleagues or the parents of her current students.
“Wilson and I have been joking — I was born in 1976,” said Dr. Mary Libby, principal of Chester A. Arthur. “I was born two years after she officially began working with children in the school district!”
Libby will miss Wilson’s “subtle, sarcastic sense of humor,” which got her “through many moments and many days and many reflections.”
Libby also admires Wilson’s dedication to her students. If they’re having a problem and need help, she’s the one they reach out to.
“The smile that is on Wilson’s face when that happens is the moment that crystallizes her relationship with the school and the school community,” she said. “Her ability to really reflect and see the bigger picture, to see people in situations for what they are and not what others want them to be or what others assume them to be, is really amazing.”
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Young teachers turn to her for guidance, too.
“I spend time with three newbies every week, just open to conversation with them about whatever it is they want to talk about,” Wilson said.
Over the years, she’s seen countless ways that teaching math, reading and language arts have evolved. The coronavirus pandemic, though, proved to be a revelation. She never thought she’d be teaching from home or watching her students through a Chromebook.
After 47 years, she felt this was the right moment to step away.
“Just felt the time was right,” she added. “There are some things that have gone on in my personal life. COVID’s taken a family member, and that made me think.”
Wilson’s last day is June 15.
“Rome is on my bucket list,” she enthused. “I’d like to travel to Rome and hang out with some friends that live there.”
Until then, she’ll spend time reading and volunteering with her church.
“I’ve pretty much stayed true to myself in terms of who I am and how I interact with teachers and colleagues,” Wilson continued. “Not much has changed that way. Education? There’s always something new or something that’s evolved into something else.
“There’s been transitions, but it’s still — to look at the child that’s in front of you and to do the best that you can for them.”