Arlene Buckley Swihart 5266 Fredericks Stand South Lebanon, OH 45065 513-288-2638 arleneswihart@gmail.com
Spouse:
Daniel Swihart
Children:
Kathleen Swihart Edwards ‘92 Jennifer Swihart Long
Grandchildren:
Jordan, Benjamin, Gabriel, Ben and Mia
During the spring of my senior year in 1965, I was recruited to teach kindergarten by two administrators from Garden Grove, California. They came to Otterbein looking for teachers because of Otterbein's reputation. I had grown up in the small town of Belpre, Ohio, and then attended tiny Otterbein. I was anxious for travel and adventure. I drove to California with a pal of a high school friend in her 1957 baby-blue Thunderbird convertible. It was so exciting to be in California in the sixties!! Once in California, I looked up Jeannie Pfleger Sutton ‘64 and Carol Clark DeLano ‘64, who had been hired the year before. Through them and a Methodist group, I met my husband, Daniel. He had been hired at Ball State University, by the same pair of recruiters who hired me, to teach biology and coach swimming and water polo. As part of our recruitment contract, we were required to get our master’s degrees after three years of teaching. When Dan received a National Science Foundation Grant to pay for his master’s at Miami University, we decided to move back to Ohio. I taught second grade in the Princeton School District and Dan taught biology and coached track, cross country and swimming nearby while attending Miami. After two more years of teaching, I took a break to stay home with our daughters, Kathleen, born in 1970, and Jennifer, born in 1972. We spent summers exploring the United States in our travel trailer. Dan’s interest in the Civil War led us to many historic battlefield sites. Jenny had her first birthday in Zion National Park and Katie had her third on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle. When both girls were in school all day, I decided to return to teaching. I was lucky enough to be hired in the same Fairfield elementary school my girls attended. Over the next thirteen years, I taught kindergarten, first, second and fourth grades, and earned my master’s degree in educational administration. I was honored as Fairfield’s first recipient of the Teacher of the Year award. As Kathleen was getting ready to go off to Otterbein, I accepted a position as assistant principal in my district. Luckily, my salary increase matched Otterbein’s tuition!