1975 - Archives, Krannert Memorial Library, University of Indianapolis

Hal Cole '54, principal of Southport
Middle School and husband of IC
staffer Joyce Cole, works closely with
Keith.
classes, a student may find that one
class will last for as little as 30 minutes
while another may continue for up to
21/4 hours.
Moreover, since at this time of life
student interest and attention some-
times lag after a few weeks of study,
classes are not all scheduled to run
for full semesters.
The middle school at Perry Township
has even incorporated an activity period
into the day's schedule to help stimu-
late students. This class allows students
a voice in their education, since they
very nearly run this hobby-oriented
period themselves.
But once the curriculum for this new
middle school had been designed, the
school system was still left with the
problem of finding the right kind of
teacher for the school. Few universities
actually train undergraduates to teach
in the middle school. Because of this
Keith had to choose his teachers from
the ranks of those already teaching in
high school or grade school, or in the
traditional junior high school. He makes
no bones about the fact that he drew
many of his teachers from the ele-
mentary level. The infusion of these
teachers gave the middle school, in his
words, "a shot in the arm," because
these teachers were often more ade-
quately prepared to deal with students
of the middle school age and their pe-
culiar demands. Teaching, good teach-
ing, is of course at the heart of any
educational system.
Keith himself began his career in
education as an elementary school
teacher in Perry Township. When he
first began teaching, his one goal in
life was to become an elementary
school principal. Just four short years
after he began to teach he realized his
dream and became principal at the
Glenns Valley Elementary School. He
stayed in his work at Glenns Valley for
4 years before moving laterally to be-
come principal of the new Abraham
Lincoln Elementary School where he
worked for the next 6 years.
It was in 1970, though, that his
rise continued upward. In the autumn
of that year he was asked to head up
Perry East Junior High School while at
the same time moving into a position
as an assistant superintendent for Perry
Township. From this perspective he
formulated his views on the middle
school and later became seriously in-
volved in the NMSA.
That's the story of his rise in the
field of education, but how Keith be-
came an elementary teacher through
his work at Indiana Central is an in-
teresting story in itself.
Young Keith Brown, a boy whose
relatives both close and distant had at-
tended Indiana Central, found himself
arriving for classes at ICC in the fall
of 1947. He was too young to have
served in World War II (though he later
served a two-year "hitch" in the serv-
ice in Hawaii and Germany), and came
to college with not too many ideas
about what he wanted to do in life.
On registration day he ended up
being processed as a music maior, with
his schedule programmed for all four
years. He wasn't happy with this and
sought council from his older sister,
Lucille, who was also a Centralite. She
counselled him not to accept what
others told him to do, and rather to
search out what was right for him.
He did.
He spent his first year at Central
taking liberal arts courses, the broad
ones that give an individual a sampling
of what each area of the humanities
has to offer.
After that first year of observation,
Keith made the momentous decision to
declare an elementary education maior.
Though such a declaration seems rather
tame by today's standards, according to
Keith, his announcement of an "el ed"
maior made him something of a rare
breed among male students, many of
whom were worldly, battle-hardened
veterans. Keith was one of perhaps
only 3 or 4 men with an elementary
education maior at that time.
"While at Central," said Keith, "I
worked at anything and everything to
earn money. I worked in the kitchen
at Central, at the Southern Circle Res-
taurant (the south side's one night spot),
and at West's Bakery." About his edu-
cational experience at ICC he said,
"What I learned there in the classroom
now helps me, though indirectly, to
solve problems as I draw from my
experience ."
Today, Keith lives near the college
with his wife, Effie (Buchanan) '54,
who had studied English and home eco-
nomics at ICC, and who now works
as a librarian. The Browns have 4
children ranging in age from 12 to 17.
Keith seemed rather puzzled when
asked if he had any time for hobbies;
he is active in Phi Delta Kappa, the
Association for Supervision and Cur-
riculum Development, the Indiana Mid-
dle School Association, the American
Association of School Administrators,
and organizations for elementary prin-
cipals, secondary principals, and super-
intendents. He does manage to have a
few non-professional interests, though.
He keeps up a fixit shop in his base-
ment where he, like thousands of other
Americans, tinkers. He also reads vora-
ciously (and he said with mock guilt),
too much, especially in magazines and
newspapers.
What are the plans for the future of
a man who has already achieved more
than his original hopes? "The only
maior plan I have," he said, "is to stay
on the board of the NMSA after I re-
tire as its president. I truly believe
our organization is going to have an in-
creasingly important influence on Amer-
ican education."
With men like Keith at the top, it
should.
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