CCC Hero - Elsie Pyne
May 3, 1930 – March 13, 2007
A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops. -- Henry Adams (1838 - 1918), The Education of Henry Adams
When Elsie Pyne stepped into the river that is career training, she altered its course, along with the courses of the lives of those she touched. We don’t always think about it, when a student is in front of us with a complaint about a grade. We don’t always see beyond the classroom or today’s exams and meetings, and the new computer software that we have to learn. The truth, however, is that Elsie’s influence reaches far beyond even her 20 years at Central Coast College. For every student she touched, an entire family’s life was changed. The graduates she inspired often received their diplomas in the presence of their children – who began to see that something more was possible in life, if only they dedicated themselves and worked for it. It was a great compliment to Elsie that some of those children grew up and attended Central Coast College themselves when they finished high school.
It was often easy to tell when Elsie got a new batch of students. At least one or two would be in the office, complaining about how “hard” she was. It was also easy to tell when they graduated, because they would call us a few weeks after starting a new job and say, "please, thank Elsie for me – everything she taught me was right on."
Maybe it was because no one ever handed Elsie anything she didn’t earn. Maybe it was because she had cleared her own path on a journey similar to those her students walked – single parent, working mother; she understood the world in which her students lived. Whatever the reason, she was determined to equip them and help them avoid as many pitfalls of that pathway as possible. She never carried them, because she knew from experience that after they walked out of our doors, no one would carry them – they had to be able to walk on their own. And they have walked proudly – they have worked for corporations, for members of the State Assembly and members of Congress. They have worked in charitable organizations and they have gone on to management.
Elsie also taught all of us who had the privilege of working with her. She taught us about dignity, about grace under pressure, about courage in the face of illness, and about maintaining a sense of humor. She taught us how to care for and serve our students so that their lives and the lives of the families could be more fulfilling for generations to come.
Those generations are Elsie’s legacy. Beyond her own family, she has deeply touched our family at Central Coast College and will be greatly missed. But she will live on in our hearts, and in the hearts of the students she taught…and in the hope she brought their families.