Family thanked for new school features

Outdoor Classroom and Wall of Fame at North Elementary named in honor of Mary Lou McCracken

Students at North Elementary School in Madison Township spent part of their day on May 24 learning about a longtime teacher who worked for nearly four decades in their building.

Memories of Mary Lou McCracken were shared during North Elementary’s annual awards ceremony for students and staff on the last day of the 2018-19 academic year. During the program, North Principal William Mayer also thanked the McCracken family for donating money to add two new features to the school.

Those contributions funded the creation of the Mary Lou McCracken Wall of Fame inside the building and the Mary Lou McCracken Outdoor Classroom in the school’s courtyard.

The building that today stands as North Elementary, at 1941 Red Bird Road in Madison Township, used to serve as Red Bird Middle School. Mary Lou taught eighth-grade American history at Red Bird for 39 years, teaching three generations of families, said her sister, Judy McCracken of Mentor.

Mary Lou also served 12 years as a Madison Township trustee. She died Oct. 6 at the age of 84.

Judy attended the awards ceremony along with two other sisters: Sandy McCracken Gurgovits of Sharon, Pennsylvania; and Joyce McCracken Bortner of Sharpsville, Pennsylvania.

Although Judy declined to reveal how much the McCracken family contributed for the Outdoor Classroom and Wall of Fame, Mayer said North Elementary is grateful for the donation.

“It’s awesome,” he said.

“We can’t do this kind of stuff on our own. We’ve wanted to do this for some time, and these ladies made it possible.”

The wall of fame, not far from the building’s front entrance, features framed photos of outstanding students with their last names prominently shown beneath each picture. These photos are displayed on a white and blue mural with text identifying the space as the Wall of Fame.

The outdoor classroom features small tables that convert into benches, two canopies and a large whiteboard that allow classes to take place outside in good weather.

Mayer, when he honored the McCracken family at the awards program, noted that Mary Lou was one of his middle-school teachers.

“She was a no-nonsense teacher,” Mayer recalled. “When you talk about high expectations and rigor, that’s what you remember about her.

“If you weren’t paying attention, she would get your attention in a hurry. She demanded the very best out of you, no matter what that was.”

Mary Lou’s 2018 obituary that appeared in The News-Herald said she considered one of her greatest

“She was a no-nonsense teacher. When you talk about high expectations and rigor, that’s what you remember about her.” — North Principal William Mayer on teacher Mary Lou McCracken’s legacy

accomplishments to be “instilling the love of history in her young students, using innovative techniques to have them experience and ‘live’ history.”

Mayer’s wife, Beth, who attended the May 27 awards program, said Mary Lou was her favorite teacher in middle school. She said Mary Lou had a knack for breathing life into her lessons.

“You played a part in history as a student,” Beth said. “There was no way a student couldn’t learn in her classes.”

Judy said that she believes the outdoor classroom and wall of fame are fitting tributes to Mary Lou, based on her long and distinguished career as a teacher.

“She deserves this,” Judy said.

BILL DEBUS — THE NEWS-HERALD From left: Joyce McCracken Bortner, Judy McCracken and Sandy McCracken Gurgovits sit at tables in the Mary Lou McCracken Outdoor Classroom on May 24. The learning area is located in the courtyard at North Elementary School in Madison Township. They are all sisters of Mary Lou McCracken, a former teacher in the building when it was Red Bird Middle School. The McCracken family donated money to create the Outdoor Classroom in memory of Mary Lou, who died in October at age.