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Hilltop gym teacher to retire this spring
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Neighbors | Abby Slanker.Dolores Saunders (back center) stands with a class of third-grade students in the gym at Hilltop Elementary School. She will retire at the end of this school year after 46 years of teaching.
By ABBY SLANKER
At the end of this school year, Hilltop Elementary will have to give up its longtime physical education teacher to retirement.
With 46 years in education under her belt, Dolores Saunders has decided it is time to hang up her whistle.
Saunders is a lifelong Mahoning Valley resident. She attended Taft and Adams schools and moved to Boardman in 1950 and graduated from Boardman High School in 1958. She competed in freestyle and dance roller skating during her youth.
Saunders graduated from Youngstown State University in 1964 with a bachelor’s degree in Education and worked at Villa Maria High School from 1964 to 1969. She began teaching at Canfield High School in 1969 and coached the girls gymnastics team from 1969 to 1985. Saunders was the Girls Athletic Association adviser, as girls sports were not supported by the school until Title 9.
She transferred to C.H Campbell Elementary School in 1985 and then to Hilltop Elementary School. She has introduced bowling to the elementary students with the help of Camelot Lanes, which loaned the schools bowling equipment for a month.
When asked what kept her teaching physical education classes for so many years, she replied, “I get to play games all day. What is better than that?”
Saunders has also introduced and hosted cup stacking tournaments and introduced and hosted the Jump for Heart-a-thon. She has also incorporated line dancing and square dancing into her lesson plans for the elementary students.
She commented that one of her favorite class to teach at the high school was self-defense. She felt it was very important for the high school girls to be able to defend themselves and took it upon herself to teach them how to do just that.
Saunders also enjoyed teaching ballroom dancing to her high school students. She stated she would tell the boys, “Girls love guys with dance skills!”
Saunders married John Saunders Jr. in 1960 and together they have three sons and five grandchildren ranging in age from 11 to 19. The couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary earlier this year.
Saunders is an officer in the Youngstown Power Squadron where she teaches safe boating and is also an honorary Rotarian. She enjoys water skiing, dancing, sewing, cross stitch, gardening, crocheting, quilting and crafts.
Saunders has enjoyed all the students she has taught and has many great memories that will last her a lifetime. She is currently planning many activities to keep her busy after she retires this spring.