For nine members of the Schuler family, Glen Oaks has greatly enriched their lives.
The father, Kenneth Schuler, taught and coached at Glen Oaks for 28 years, while mother, Viola (Vi) Schuler achieved her dream of a college degree. Children: Craig Schuler, Ann Schuler, and Marria (Schuler) Crinion; their spouses Rebecca (Hagner) Schuler and Kevin Crinion; and granddaughters Rachel and Lauren Schuler each earned Associate Degrees. Granddaughter Stephenie also attended Glen Oaks for one year. They have gone on, successfully, to pursue education, health and other careers.
The journey began when Kenneth Schuler and Viola Allen became high school sweethearts at St. Francis Borgia High School in Washington, Missouri. Though their parents worked hard, neither family could afford to send their children to college. Viola was disappointed, because she loved to learn. When she graduated from high school, she yearned to go to college. Instead, she became a Southwest-Missouri telephone operator. Later, she studied Xray technology at DePaul Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri.
However, Ken had a higher authority working in his corner. His basketball talent netted him a full scholarship to Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri, where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree. During his senior year, he and Viola were married.
Kenneth received his master’s degree at Northeast Missouri State Teachers College and pursued teaching and coaching careers in Wellsville, Missouri and Delavan, Illinois. During these ensuing years, they became parents of three children.
GETTING TO SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN
While in Delavan, Ken saw an ad in a placement bureau for the opening of a new community college in Centreville, Michigan. He applied and although the couple had never been to Michigan, they bundled up their three children and headed northeast. Upon their arrival in Sturgis, Dr. George Bowman, Glen Oaks College’s first president, interviewed Kenneth for the position of professor, coach, and athletic director.
Ken and Viola were elated when he was notified that he had been selected for the job. They both realized the possibilities for Ken’s career, but importantly, the position could also offer the opportunity for Viola and their children to earn college degrees. The couple, in turn, would become the first college graduates in their respective families.
PERSUING A LIFE-LONG DREAM
“After spending nearly ten years as a mother and housewife, I started college as an older student,” she said. “I credit Glen Oaks teachers for giving me the confidence to reach my goals. When my dream came true, I flourished.”
While Ken kept busy teaching and coaching, Viola was eagerly fulfilling her dream. She juggled the balls of motherhood, home maker, and becoming a professional educator. Within 11 years (sometimes part time; when family had priority) she had earned her Associates in Education Degree (Glen Oaks, 1969), Bachelor of Science Degree (Western Michigan University, 1971) Masters Degree in the Teaching of Reading (WMU, 1975) and the Educational Specialist Degree (WMU, 1979).
A LOVE FOR THE WORLD OF EDUCATION & TEACHING
Viola’s career began teaching first-grade at Park School in Sturgis. (1971-1977) Next, she became a traveling, reading teacher for Congress, Wenzel, Park and Holy Angels schools. (1977-1985) Then, in 1985 Sturgis Public Schools created a new, administrative position; District Curriculum Coordinator K-12. Viola was chosen for this leadership position. (1985-1996)
Her new job entailed her meeting with teachers of all grades and subject areas to ensure the instructional goals of the Sturgis Public Schools curriculum would be aligned with the State of Michigan’s Standards. “The teachers were great experts at every level,” she said. “Together we spent many hours reviewing our own curriculum for the alignment, and then, scrutinizing textbooks and many other support materials with which to deliver the lessons. We wanted the best quality of instruction for our students.”
As Sturgis’ enrollment grew, 150 fifth-graders had to be moved from Wall, Congress and Wenzel Schools. Surprisingly, Viola was asked to take on an additional role for two years. She was principal for those students, in one wing of the high school building, that was temporarily called Vinewood Elementary.
Viola was instrumental in establishing the LINK program, which is now the Boys & Girls Club, after sensing the need for an after-school program for children normally going home, before their parents were finished with jobs.
GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY THEY CALLED HOME
In the community, Viola was a member of the Sturgis Rotary Club. She served as secretary from 1994- 1997. She founded the Sturgis Writers Mill, which is still active today. In 1985 the group published an anthology of their writings, which are housed at the Sturgis Public Library and at the Old Depot Museum.
Viola’s own writings were published nationally:
Scholastic Magazine for the Classroom: Creative learning ideas, “The Magic Learning Carpet,” (1974).
Teacher Magazine. “Teacher, I Can Read!” (1979) The Kappan, a professional publication of Phi Delta Kappa (1985)
Teachers, Schools, and Society. A college textbook by Sadker and Sadker pages 93-95 (1988).
She stayed active with Glen Oaks, not only attending the basketball games of her lifetime teammate, Ken, but also chaired the Sturgis portion of a millage campaign to raise funds for the college. That year the county-wide millage passed successfully by eight votes.
In 1996, Viola retired after twenty-five satisfying years at Sturgis Public Schools. “I worked with a wonderful group of teachers, administrators, students, parents, and all of the support staff,” she added.
RETIREMENT YEARS
After Ken retired, they enjoyed a decade of traveling before his health challenges curtailed their plans. The well-respected coach, to whom many athletic honors were awarded – including a Glen Oaks Memorial Scholarship and the renaming of the gymnasium to be The Ken Schuler Court – passed away in 2014.
“We were great partners who worked together to achieve our goals,” Viola said of her husband of 57 years.
While living this new season of her life, her love of learning remains strong. In the time she splits between Sturgis and The Villages, Florida, she works in her flower gardens, takes classes in any subject she is curious about, and plays shuffleboard with two teams, plays bridge, and mahjongg. And this past year, surprising her family, she took a 16-hour class to become a certified, fingerprinted clown: Viola, a.k.a. “Chitty-Chatty.” She and the other 120 members of Clown Alley 179, in The Villages, follow the clown motto of “Smile and Make People Happy.” The clowns spread joy by visiting nursing homes, schools, parades, charities, and other events.
As Viola looks back, she recalls that her family was blessed in so many ways. “God opens doors and we have choices to walk through or not. Ken and I saw the door of opportunity, which Glen Oaks offered. We have been proud and overjoyed at how this enabled us to provide an education and to enrich the lives of our family, as well as to actively serve our community.”