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News & Events Archive • Quick Facts • History • Contact Us • Calendar | 
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July 27, 2004 Harding University breaks ground on new $5 million education center
“This University produces good teachers, and that is what we need - good teachers,” the long-time Arkansas educator from Sheridan, Ark., told the crowd of approximately 500. Dr. Tony Finley, dean of the College of Education, extended a special thank you to Thornton, who he said “captures the spirit and love of teaching through her 41 years of teaching and a life of learning.” Finley also thanked those who have given or pledged funds to make the new education center possible. “[Those gifts] will allow us to continue to reach out to better serve the needs of our community through collaboration and partnerships with the College of Arts and Humanities, College of Sciences, K-12 schools, W.D. Mills Education service cooperative, Arkansas Department of Education, Arkansas Department of Higher Education and other colleges of education throughout Arkansas,” he said.
As a teacher, Thornton believed she had the opportunity to change lives, and she never lost sight of that responsibility. “With encouragement, patience, and a little time, one’s mind can surely be put to use,” she says. “Enthusiasm and motivation should be the key words for teachers.”
It is this type of dedicated and committed teacher that the College of Education produces. As Harding’s enrollment and that of the College of Education continue to grow, so too has the need for qualified teachers. At the local, state and national levels, Harding’s College of Education is recognized as an outstanding center for teacher education. As the largest single program on campus, the College of Education provides training from early childhood education through the secondary subject areas. A graduate program provides advanced training in several specific teaching areas as well as in both elementary and secondary administration.
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SEARCY - With
a personalized hard hat on her head and one foot on top of the shovel, 94-year-old
Wilma Stephens Thornton officially broke ground Tuesday
on the site that will house the new education building in her name at Harding
University.
Thornton talked about the honor study hall she helped promote as a teacher
and student government sponsor at Sheridan High School. The program, based
upon the
principle of student self-government and accountability, allowed more courses
to be offered with the savings that came from eliminating the need for a full-time
study hall teacher. 
Thornton retired in
1970, and the years since have brought many changes to the classroom, but current
issues such as school consolidation and ensuring that
no child is left behind were issues Thornton faced head-on long ago. Her first
class in Sheridan, for example, was composed of the poorest and most disadvantaged
students from the first and third grades, with every imaginable learning problem.
She gave them three simple tasks each day - brush their teeth, wash their
faces and hands, and bring a handkerchief to class to blow their noses. Gradually,
the students began making real progress, learning to read and comprehend.
A new facility will increase capacity for the College of Education and
build toward future growth plans. The 27,408-square-foot, three-story
steel frame with
brick veneer facility capitalizes on the existing education center, the W.
R. Coe American Studies Building, with walkways bridging the two buildings.
Existing
community service and education programs will continue to flourish in the combined
facilities. They include the Smart Step Literacy Lab, the school counseling
program, distance learning labs, the Resource Center, the Center for
Math and Science
Education, non-traditional licensure programs, graduate and undergraduate programs,
and the Diagnostic Reading Clinic. 