Marla Marsh

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPH:

I arrived in Middletown Ohio in the summer of 1984, and I taught for six years. Going into the seventh year, I had the opportunity to become an assistant to the principal at McKinley Elementary, and that would have been the fall of 1989. I spent six years at McKinley, and then I went to Taft, and then so on and so on. I absolutely loved McKinley. When I first arrived, we were a grade three through six building. I believe we were just shy of about 300 kids, and it was probably one of the best experiences of my entire career. I just absolutely loved it. I'm in touch with so many of the staff and families today.

Lots of districts will say, once whatever your mascot is, always that. But it's very true in Middletown, once a Middie, always a Middie. My entire career was in the Middletown City Schools. My career was here, my civic work was here, and is still here today. I've been retired for 11 years, and I have continued to be a member of the Kiwanis Club of Middletown. I believe in this community. I've seen it go through many changes, economically, culturally, and it is still thriving. And I see Middletown on the upswing, and I think that's because so many people have invested so much time and energy in this community for our kids.