S. Isabella Sanders

Class of 1904 S. Isabella Sanders graduated from Ottawa High School in 1904 at the age of 16. She continued her education with two years of undergraduate studies at Northwestern University and then graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. degree. She then attended the University of Illinois and received her M.A. from Columbia. She began teaching at Ottawa High School in 1919 but took several leaves of absence for post-graduate studies at Oxford University in England, Breadloaf in Connecticut, the Art Institute in Chicago, and the University of Mexico. She was a member of the Ottawa High School faculty until 1959 and declined opportunities to teach at the university level in order to stay at Ottawa High School. She challenged and inspired her students, encouraging them to begin publishing the Pirateer which is a supplement to the Buccaneer. After her retirement the 1960 Senior Yearbook was dedicated to her and in 1962 the S. Isabella Sanders Chapter of the National Honor Society was established at Ottawa High School. She was instrumental in the founding of the art collection at Ottawa High School and many of the oil paintings that she created continue to be on display.