Nellie Shepard spent 30 years teaching physics and chemistry at Southington High School before her retirement in 1989, years she calls the most rewarding of her life. “You know, I never had children, so my students were my children – and I had just the best kids in the world,” said Nellie, a Southington native who still resides in town and is revered throughout the community as an active, compassionate friend who continues to care deeply about Southington’s children. Those who had Nellie as a teacher know the impact she has had on their lives. And thanks to Nellie’s generosity, that impact will continue in perpetuity with her establishment of the Nellie F. Shepard Scholarship Fund at the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain. The first Shepard scholarship will be awarded in 2015 to a Southington High School student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in one of the fields that Nellie loves dearly – biology, chemistry, materials science, physics (including astronomy), earth science or interdisciplinary studies in natural science. Nellie’s choice to extend the impact of her teaching career – and her legacy – far into the future does not surprise one of her closest friends, Pastor Victoria Triano of Southington. […]
Nellie Shepard spent 30 years teaching physics and chemistry at Southington High School before her retirement in 1989, years she calls the most rewarding of her life. “You know, I never had children, so my students were my children – and I had just the best kids in the world,” said Nellie, a Southington native who still resides in town and is revered throughout the community as an active, compassionate friend who continues to care deeply about Southington’s children. Those who had Nellie as a teacher know the impact she has had on their lives. And thanks to Nellie’s generosity, that impact will continue in perpetuity with her establishment of the Nellie F. Shepard Scholarship Fund at the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain. The first Shepard scholarship will be awarded in 2015 to a Southington High School student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in one of the fields that Nellie loves dearly – biology, chemistry, materials science, physics (including astronomy), earth science or interdisciplinary studies in natural science. Nellie’s choice to extend the impact of her teaching career – and her legacy – far into the future does not surprise one of her closest friends, Pastor Victoria Triano of Southington. […]