Nancy Klippert Parker - 2002
MHS 1955 Graduate
Nancy I. Klippert Parker, Class of 1955, was nominated by her brothers, Dr. John Klippert, and Frederick Klippert, M.D. Nancy has had an outstanding career as a secondary school teacher of English for thirty-five years, culminating in her selection by the Maryland Council of Teachers of English in 1995 as Maryland's English Teacher of the Year. In his nomination John, included over thirty pages of material extolling Nancy's abilities not only as a teacher, but also a caring human being who gives freely of her time and abilities to her students as well as her favorite charities.
After graduating from Minerva High School, Nancy received a bachelor's degree from Mount Union College. She taught English in schools in Ohio, Florida and Virginia during the next few years. Nancy earned a master’s degree from Marshall University where she met her husband, Kenneth Parker. They were both hired at South Carroll High School in Sykesville, Maryland. Nancy was an English teacher and Kenneth as a football coach and physical education teacher. They taught there from 1966 until their retirements in 1995.
Nancy said that she always adopted a strong approach to teaching, "probably because the English teacher who influenced me was always this way. In high school, Cornelia Whitacre taught me how to write a term paper and, ultimately, how to teach English by demanding the best from my students."
Nancy is a member of the National and Maryland Councils of Teachers of English, Delta Kappa Gamma International Society of Professional Women Educators, and Marks Twain Circle. She is passionate about the writings of Mark Twain and assigned term papers to her expository writing classes on the subject of “Huckleberry Finn" which meant she graded 90 term papers on the subject each year.
Nancy served her community by volunteering for the Leukemia Society, participating in the Walk for Life as a breast cancer survivor, and through Delta Kappa Gamma helped provide scholarships for women majoring in education. She sponsored South Carroll High School cheerleaders for 21 years; volunteered as secretary for the football team, monetarily helped a deaf student through college; arranged for dental care for a needy high school student and helped a student who was paralyzed in an automobile accident through his rehabilitation.
“Nancy Parker is the kind of professional one wishes could be cloned and turned out to fill every vacancy in a school. She loves to teach and conveys her enthusiasm for both her subject and her students in every lesson. Her wit and humor balance a serious determination to draw the best from her students.
Mrs. Parker’s experience, expertise, service to her school and dedication to the principle that all students can succeed have served as inspiration to teachers throughout our school system for nearly three decades,” said Barry D. Gesinger of Carroll County Schools.