It Happened in Crawford County: Linda Schulze retired, but is still answering a calling

Linda Schulze is the daughter of Harold and Marsades Mast . Linda’s brothers are Kenneth, Thomas and John. She attended Lucas schools in Richland County and loved it, especially science and math. She played French horn and trombone in the band and was in Girl Scouts grades two thru 12 and graduated in 1968.

After graduation, Linda went to The Ohio State University at Mansfield and then the main campus, majoring in occupational therapy. She dropped out when her husband, Tom, got out of basic training and was stationed in Colorado. When they returned home, they got jobs and started a family. Linda returned to college in 1986 when their two daughters were in grade school.

This time, Linda enrolled at the OSU Marion campus to pursue a degree in elementary education. She began teaching at Buckeye Central in the fall of 1989, feeling “blessed to get a job right away.” Linda taught fifth grade in the Buckeye Central system for 23 years then switched to teaching seventh and eighth grade English the last three years before retiring in 2015.

She especially enjoyed teaching across the curriculum, blending all the subjects together in units. For a few years, she teamed with two other teachers − Jennifer Shaver, the sixth grade teacher, and Kathy Wurm, special education. They developed a program of teaching math and science for the fifth and sixth grades. Linda’s part was teaching with an emphasis on flight. The unit ended with a Young Eagle plane ride for each youngster.

The students were bused to Tom and Linda’s home. To occupy students waiting for their ride, there were speakers teaching them about aviation. Tom was a pilot for each outing, but some groups were so large they recruited a few other pilots to volunteer time and expense.

The program was unique with only one or two schools in the nation providing a flight project like theirs. The program lasted about five years, but it got so big and cumbersome it just fell apart, especially when Bloomville School was added.

For eight years Linda ran a mentoring program at Buckeye East and Buckeye West elementary schools with volunteers from the community. They helped the kids with homework, then enjoyed a snack and doing crafts and other activities. The after-school programs were scheduled on Thursdays at Tiro and Tuesdays at Chatfield. The group of volunteers was large enough that each child had a volunteer of their own to work with them.

A life centered around faith

Focused on service, Tom and Linda, along with another couple, John and Sue Kalb, were youth leaders at Nazareth Lutheran at Chatfield for 18 years. They volunteered when their youngest daughter was 3 months old until she graduated from high school. They held monthly meetings with Bible study and did many activities including camping trips, service projects and fundraisers to finance the teens attending the national conventions.

A few years after their children left home, Tom and Linda joined the Nazareth Praise Team. Linda played bass guitar while Tom played the acoustic guitar. Tom now plays his guitar in the praise team at the Evangelical Pietist Church at Chatfield.

Linda got involved with Crawford County LifeWise when she was invited by Pam Kalb to attend a meeting to start the program at Buckeye Central. Pam is the director of the Bucyrus, Colonel Crawford and Wynford LifeWise programs. Linda learned they needed a director for the Buckeye Central program, but they couldn’t find anyone. It was natural for her to say yes.

“It’s a lot of work but so important," Linda said.

The students, who are signed up by their parents, are picked up during school hours and taken off campus to St. John’s Lutheran Church in New Washington. After their nondenominational lessons about Jesus, the students are returned back to school in a privately funded bus. The work is all done by volunteers who have background checks and training. A top priority is to keep the kids safe as they learn about Jesus.

Tom and Linda are members of the Evangelical Pietist Church in Chatfield where, along with being on the praise team, Tom is the treasurer on the Church Council. Linda is chairman of the Classic Car Show. The God & Country Car Show will be starting at 9 a.m. Aug. 10. The show features free registration, food, live music, children’s activities, including a sample LifeWise lesson, and door prizes.

Tom and Linda have two children. Sarah (Michael) Cavin teaches 3- and 4-year-olds at St. John Lutheran School in Defiance. Dora (Michael) Inskeep is an occupational therapist in the Marysville school system. The Schulzes have four grandchildren.

Go online for more of Mary Fox’s stories and photos on bucyrustelegraphforum.com . If you are interested in sharing a story, write Mary Fox, 931 Marion Road, Bucyrus, OH 44820 or email littlefoxfactory@columbus.rr.com .

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: It Happened in Crawford County: Linda Schulze retired, but is still answering a calling