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Dale Walter
Maple Heights, OH
Photos - 1969 & 1994
Information - 1999
High School Activities - JV Basketball, Intramurals, Gym Leader, Student Council, Hall Guard
Occupation: Teacher at Maple Heights High School
Spouse: Cynthia (deceased, 12/92)
Children: Kristen (18)
In 1973, I met Cynthia Hanzak (Maple Class of 1973) and we were married in 1974. In 1981 our daughter, Kristen, was born. Unfortunately in 1992, Cindy was diagnosed with a rare disease, amyloidosis, and died six months after it was found. Kristen graduated from Maple this year and will be a freshman at Case Western Reserve University where she will be enrolled in Pre-Med and playing on the volleyball team.
I have just finished teaching for the twenty-sixth year at Maple and things have changed since our graduation. After graduating from Maple I attended Kent State University from which I received my B.S. and M.S. in Education. I have been teaching at Maple, coaching, class advisor, student council advisor, and National Honor Society advisor. This year I'm only doing volleyball and teaching, so I do not get total burnout.
As for me, I'll be teaching away and carrying on the tradition of the Class of 69 at our alma mater.
Here's a newspaper article (submitted by a classmate other than Dale):
Top Citizen Award Shocks Teacher
Not much surprises Dale Walter.
After all, he works with teenagers every day as a Maple Heights High School teacher, so he's learned to expect the unexpected.
But, being named Maple Heights' 1994 Citizen of the Year, "caught me completely by surprise," Walter said.
"This really means a lot to me," the lifelong city resident said of the honor bestowed upon him last week.
Walter's 13-year-old daughter Kristen accompanied him to the Jan. 4 City Council meeting where the award was presented by Mayor Santo Incorvaia and Council President Jeffrey Lansky. Kristen is a student at Milkovich Middle School.
A single parent since widowed a few years ago, Walter has been a high school social studies teacher for 21 years. He teaches psychology, history and government. And he loves it, he said.
"It's more like a hobby than a job," he said.
One of the greatest things about being a teacher is watching kids progress, mature and grow from the time they start high school in the ninth grade through graduation, Walter said.
Some of his students even keep in touch and he finds out what's happening with them 10 years after they've graduated, he said.
A graduate of Maple Heights High School's class of 1969, Walter, 43, also attended Stafford Elementary School and East Junior High School (now Milkovich Middle School). At Kent State University, he obtained a bachelor's degree in education in 1973 and achieved his master's degree in education in 1985. Among his students and his colleagues, Walter's reputation as an educator is outstanding. Under his direction as advisor, the Maple Heights High School student council has achieved the status of All Ohio Student Council for 10 consecutive years.
Walter is though of as a dedicated, devoted and caring teacher, Incorvaia said.
The educator said it was an elementary school teacher, Pauline Murphy, who mainly steered him toward becoming a teacher. She was such an enthusiastic teacher, he said.
"She definitely had an influence," Walter said.
Now retired, Murphy was still teaching when Walter joined the Maple Heights teaching staff a year after he graduated from college.
Walter said the atmosphere in the district today is one of excitement of what is to come.
Incorvaia said it is tough to pick out the Citizen of the Year.
"There is no doubt he deserves the recognition," Incorvaia said of Walter.
"Dale has enriched the lives of so many individuals in Maple Heights and is a model of what is good about education," Incorvaia said.
"This award is a symbol of our respect and admiration for all his efforts in educating our future leaders," the mayor said.
Walter received a plaque and a key to the city along with a proclamation from the city's legislature. His name will be added to the Citizen of the Year plaque which has a permanent home in council chambers.
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