Remembering...

ANNA FONTANA

-

Anna Fontana is considered a pioneer in the field of business education. In 1932 she was tapped by William Strong, the supervisor of rural education in southern Connecticut, to teach business courses at Old Saybrook High School. Three years later he called on her again when he became the superintendent of schools in Southington, encouraging her to come north to fill a vacancy at Lewis High School. After an absence of nearly 10 years in which she left the classroom to raise her only daughter, Mrs. Fontana returned to Lewis in 1949. She would retire 27 years later as the chairperson of the SHS Business Department.

-

Under her guidance, Southington was one of the first towns to incorporate electric typewriters into its business curriculum. She was advisor to the Senior Secretarial Club and in 1959 started the Southington High chapter of FBLA. She is credited with helping to design the business department wing of the Pleasant Street high school. Mrs. Fontana retired in 1976, two years after the new SHS opened and three years before her husband, legendary coach and athletic director Joseph Fontana, called it a career. She stayed active in the community for decades after she left SHS and just prior to her death at age 89 in 1999.

-

So what are your memories of Anna Fontana? Her style, personality and how she made an impact on you in the classroom? Click on Comments below and share your recollections. And don't forget to scroll through our archives to see the other teachers we have honored in our "Remembering..." feature - Anna Miley, Lawrence D'Angelo, Raymond Joyal, Lawrence Mucci, Carol Cope and Edward Feeney.