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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A veteran Arkansas educator whose first day as a teacher started in a two-room schoolhouse in 1945 is retiring after a 69-year career.
Joyce Vaught, 87, retired on Tuesday as the superintendent of the Lakeside School District based in Lake Village, a position she has held for the past 23 years, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported Sunday (http://bit.ly/1Ce1DjK ).
Even though Vaught has packed up her nearly seven decades of educational experience, she leaves behind a legacy untouched by most educators. Thousands of students have learned under her. The Lakeside district is filled with her educational innovations. And hundreds of teachers and administrators view her as their favorite instructor.
Billy Adams, who took over on Wednesday as the new Lakeside superintendent, spent the past 23 years as assistant superintendent of the district, which is spread out between Chicot and Ashley counties in the far southeastern corner of the Arkansas Delta. The 59-year-old Adams has worked closely with Vaught through the years, gaining "a wealth of knowledge" from her.
"Vaught is an icon in public education, and even though she has taught me a lot, I am not nearly the school administrator she is," he said. "She has been my mentor, friend, mother and my angel. She will always be a part of my life."
In 1970, the district started one of the first kindergarten programs in the state for 5-year-olds. It began a school-based health clinic in 1979, which reduced the district's teenage pregnancy rate, and initiated an alternative school that same year. In 1980, Lakeside opened a day care for students' children.
A districtwide building program in the mid-1990s replaced school buildings dating back to the 1920s and 1940s. An allergy clinic for students was set up in 2006.
"We did all kinds of programs," Vaught said. "Anything to help our students. If there was a program out there to help the students, we took advantage of it."
In 2011, Vaught's dedication to Lakeside students was recognized with the Superintendent of the Year Award from the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators.
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Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, http://www.arkansasonline.com
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