During “I Love the Smyrna School District Day” on Saturday, the district honored former teacher, principal, and superintendent Mary Maloy Scott as a role model of integrity.
Current Superintendent Debbie Wicks presented Mrs. Scott with the gift of a Smyrna Eagle watch on behalf of the district.
Wicks detailed Scott’s career in education:
In 1965 she became the first minority teacher at the Smyrna High School, where she taught English. Until 1978 she held concurrent positions as an Assistant to the Principal/Human Relations Counselor at Smyrna High School. From 1978 to 1985 she was the Director of the Title I Program/Supervisor of the Early Childhood Education Center. In 1985 she was appointed Principal of North Elementary School and held that position until her promotion as the District’s Supervisor of Education in 1988. From 1991 to 1994 she was the district’s Assistant Superintendent. Mrs. Scott was appointed Superintendent of Schools in October 1994 and held that position until her retirement in July1998.
“She was the first of her race and/or gender in all the positions she held in the Smyrna School District,” said Wicks. “She firmly believes, as her beloved elementary teacher and mentor, Mrs. Lola Tue, taught her in the two-room school, to keep learning and to ‘stay focused on the mission, not your position.’”
Wicks added, “This award has special meaning for me as Mary has been my mentor as I took over for her in 1998. Her wise advice and her dedication to the Smyrna School District set the standard for me and for all other administrators who followed her. Patient and kind but morally strong she led by example. Thank you, Mary, for those monthly meetings, for always taking my phone calls for help, and for your constant ‘you can do this job’ encouragement.”
More honors
Just as the students wrote about their role models of integrity for the district essay contest, Scott’s daughter, Rachel, wrote an essay tribute to her mother’s integrity and read it at the ceremony.
Kent County Levy Court President Brooks Banta presented a proclamation from Levy Court, declaring Saturday, Feb. 28, 2010 as “Mary Scott Day.”
She was also honored in resolutions from the State Senate and State House of Representatives, and in a proclamation from the Town of Smyrna and New Castle County Council.
U.S. Senator Tom Carper announced that he was going to read a tribute to Mrs. Scott on the floor of the Senate so it will be put in the Congressional Record, on permanent file in the Library of Congress.
Scott also received flowers and gifts from several groups during Saturday’s ceremony.
