Originally pubished in Saint Leo University News - June 2009

Alumna Connie Wright ’73 serves as role model for middle school students and university faculty

A group of 30 middle-school students from Dade City were able to visit the main campus recently to see and hear about the educational possibilities available to them through hard work and perseverance. Having a mentor and support system of friends with like-minded goals can help young people get through tough times and reach their goals, education professors Candace Roberts and Shelli Barton and recent graduate Karen Mapp-Yard told the group.

In fact, the Saint Leo hosts told the students they have a wonderful role model in one of their administrators at Pasco Middle School, Ms. Connie Wright, who happened to be accompanying the students on their visit to campus.

Ms. Wright is from Dade City and graduated from a local high school. She enrolled as one of only three young African Americans at Saint Leo in 1966, a difficult time for her. She even left school for a time after she married. But things changed when she got a job on campus through the help of a mentor, Father Dennis Murphy. “Bless him, I will never forget him,” she recalls. She decided that since she was working on campus she should continue her studies and finished the coursework for her degree in business in 1972. She took the additional courses needed to get a teaching certificate from Pasco Hernando Community College, which allowed her to start a teaching career at Pasco Middle School in 1973. “I’ve been here for 35 years.” She has taught business and math, and has helped education students from Saint Leo who completed student-teaching at Pasco Middle. Connie Wright

Ms. Wright is officially retiring from Pasco Middle School, so Saint Leo wanted to recognize her for her dedication to education. The School of Education and Social Services took the opportunity of the Pasco Middle School trip to campus to surprise Ms. Wright with an award, in front of the students, as Dr. Barton related the story of Ms. Wright’s educational journey. The award reads, in part: “We value your commitment to our partnership with Pasco Middle School and to the success of your students and the future generations of Pasco County.”

Saint Leo and the education faculty have invited Ms. Wright to stay involved in school partnership programs after her retirement. Pasco Middle School also hopes Ms. Wright will continue her mentorship of students as a volunteer and guest speaker.