Former Marshall teacher says spell school’s name correctly
The new Marshall Elementary School, just like the old one, is named for Maud Marshall, a long-time teacher in the Talawanda School District, who retired in 1954 and died in 1970. She spelled her name “Maud,” without an “e.”
September 10, 2021
To the Editor:
About the recent article, “Marshall Elementary School is named after Maude or Maud?”
This question is easy to answer but apparently (easy) to ignore.
When I taught at Marshall School years ago, this discrepancy was recognized but remained unresolved.
An acceptable compromise might be simply calling it Marshall School or is that a cop out? If her full name is going to be used to honor her memory then it should be spelled as she did.
Perhaps the time has come to set it right. The school may be Maude Marshall but her name was Maud F. Marshall.
Names matter! When I began to teach kindergarten years ago, I soon came to understand the importance to even young children of their name. Children quickly take possession of the name as it was given to them. They own it. For most it is the first word they learned to read, spell and write.
In a time when parents often invented unique or alternate spellings and pronunciations of names for their children, it was a challenge to keep some of my student’s names pronounced or spelled as they demanded. But I respected their right to correct my pronunciation or spelling of their name which deviated from the traditional.
Most of us are quick to point out or ask for a correction when our names are misspelled in print.
In her classroom, Miss Marshall had a reputation for holding students to strict standards. I imagine spelling was taken seriously too. I imagine that Miss Marshall would have been reaching for a red pencil to correct this mistake if she were alive. So why did the error continue to go uncorrected?
It’s a time for new beginnings at Marshall School and I propose this would be a good time to make a correction. There is plenty of evidence to support the spelling as Maud.
— Rosemarie Gutowski, Oxford
Editor’s note: The newly rebuilt Marshall Elementary School opened earlier this month. Finishing touches are still being applied to the new school. The masonry sign out on the driveway, for instance, is still missing the letters that will spell out the school’s name.
