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Scholarship in memory of late teacher sends two students to Camp Fitch
By EMMALEE C. TORISK
STRUTHERS
Despite having never been away from home on their own before, fourth-graders Taylor Willmitch and Bryan Boyer didn’t seem too nervous Tuesday morning — a scant 24 hours before the 10-year-old and 11-year-old, respectively, along with most of their classmates, were to depart for Camp Fitch in North Springfield, Pa.
Instead, with their duffel bags already packed for the three-day trip, Taylor and Bryan were more focused on the things they were excited about. For Taylor, it was trying out a five-story slide. For Bryan, it was sleeping in a bunk bed, and maybe also getting a closer look at some snakes and hermit crabs.
Taylor and Bryan have the family of Charles “Cliff” Jamieson, who taught in the Struthers City School District for 30 years and most recently as a fourth-grade teacher, to thank for the opportunity. They were selected by Struthers Elementary School staff as the first recipients of the Cliff Jamieson Camp Fitch Scholarship, which will indefinitely sponsor two fourth-graders’ camp visits each year.
“[Cliff] went every year with the students,” said Marybeth Jamieson, his wife of 21 years. “He loved Camp Fitch. He loved the experience that the kids had there. It was just so important to him ... and he was right in there with them.”
Cliff died last May 11, the day before his 57th birthday, from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, and Marybeth said she felt compelled to do something in her husband’s memory.
Her thoughts then turned to some local families’ struggles to pay for Camp Fitch, which this year amounted to a little more than $100 per student. Each time this happened, it broke her heart to know that children were unable to go with their classmates on such a fun, educational trip solely for financial reasons.
Plus, three of Marybeth’s four children — 33-year-old Sara Zetts, 29-year-old Julie Zetts and 21-year-old Kevin Jamieson — also attended Struthers schools and enjoyed Camp Fitch just as her husband had. Her eldest son is 27-year-old Stephen Jamieson.
With that, the scholarship — which is driven by the family’s personal donations — was born. Marybeth said she’ll continue to fund it as long as she’s able, and one day may even begin accepting donations to sponsor additional fourth-graders’ trips to Camp Fitch.
Like the memorial garden installed last year near the fourth-grade wing, the scholarship is just another way to help Cliff’s presence remain at the elementary school for years to come. He started teaching at Struthers in 1980 and retired in 2010.
“Everybody loved him,” Marybeth said. “What I’m hoping for is that his legacy lives on with the students that he loved so much.”
Derrie Wilkes, a fourth-grade teacher at SES who is retiring this year, and Maggie Kowach, the school’s principal, said they were thrilled upon learning of the scholarship’s creation. Both emphasized that Camp Fitch is an experience every fourth-grader should take part in.
For some fourth-graders, Camp Fitch might be their first trip out of the area, Kowach said, adding that she’s seen students mistake Lake Erie for the ocean. In spending those three days at camp, though, students become markedly more independent and confident.
Wilkes agreed, noting that exposing students to this different educational setting — where “instead of sitting and reading about the lake, you actually go to the lake” — also provides a treat for teachers who accompany them on the trip.
“We love seeing our children in this environment, seeing who’s emerging as a leader,” Wilkes said. “Those are the kind of skills we may not get to see in the [traditional] classroom.”
No one loved this more than Cliff, Wilkes added. She remembers him as “such a good role model for the kids.” He was always “very, very professional,” but also had the best sense of humor — something that frequently came out, especially at Camp Fitch.
“He was so funny. With a look, he could just send you in hysterics,” Wilkes recalled. “He was such a great guy, and I wish he was with us.”