Wallace Harris '57 first made his mark at Lyndon Teacher’s College by becoming the first person to receive varsity letters in three sports for three years. He achieved this in 1957 when he completed his senior year, during which he made significant contributions to the soccer, baseball and basketball teams, earning him the Men’s Athletic Award for that year.
Harris also made an impression in other ways. He served as Junior Class President (1955-56) and as president of the Delta Psi Omega fraternity (1956-57). Among other things, his positions as Senior Class Representative to the Athletic Association (1956-57) and Assistant Sports Editor of the Lyn News (1955-57) precipitated his being chosen Student of the Year (1957).
After graduating, Wally wasted no time in putting his skills to work. At Leland & Grey Seminary in Townshend, Vt., he served as a faculty member in addition to coaching baseball and basketball and directing the intramural program (1958-1962). He went on to hold positions at the Brattleboro Junior-Senior High School in Brattleboro, Vt.; the Eastern Point Elementary School in Groton, Conn.; the Ledyard Center School in Ledyard, Conn; and the Great Neck School & Quaker Hill School in Waterford, Conn. During those years, he earned a Master of Science degree at Eastern Connecticut State College, awarded in 1969.
In 1972, he accepted a position as vice-principal at the Halls Hill K-5 School in Colchester, Conn., where he stayed until 1976 when he became principal of the Central Middle School in Colchester. During his tenure at Central Middle, he created and directed the “Learn to Ski” Club for Colchester students in grades 6-8. In 1988, he was awarded a Ph.D. in Educational Management from the University of Bridgeport.
Since his retirement from Central Middle School in 1992, he has most recently served as a Supervisor of Interns and Student Teachers for the Instructor Intern Training Program at the University of New Haven in West Haven, Conn., and as an Adjunct Instructor at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield.
Throughout all of this, Wally has kept intact his relationship with his church and home community, as well as his affiliations with numerous academic groups. It is easy to understand that Lyndon Teacher’s College helped Wallace Harris learn and exercise the tools needed to become the respected educator and community leader that he is. However, we shouldn’t forget that Wally, in turn, gave Lyndon three years of unparalleled athletic excellence and campus leadership.
