My Life, My Teaching: It starts with education at Illinois State

Alumni: Elise (Carlson) Johnson Lucking

Graduation Year:

'44

Major/Minor:

B.S. in Biology Education

It Starts With Education

When Dr. Lucking was about to graduate from ISNU one of her professors recommended her for a scholarship to the University of Illinois-Chicago. While she worked on her master's degree program in bacteriology she was also working for a medical laboratory. She received the master's degree in 1945. She married Bob Johnson 1945. After Elsie's first child was born in 1952, she decided to apply for a teaching position close to home. The school board was surprised to find an applicant with a master's degree. Elsie's contract for fall of 1954 was to teach 34 forth-graders at a salary of $3,700.

After a second son was born in January 1957, Elsie was offered a contract to teach 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades in a small rural one-room school. A new three-room school was being built next door. In March 1959 the staff and the students moved to the new building. They outgrew their new three-room building by fall 1959. The unincorporated farmland outside Wheaton was founded by Jay Stream in 1959. He named the growing community the Village of Carol Stream. Mr. Stream had just finished building a 72-home subdivision and was planning a 350-home subdivision. He gave sites to the school board and started building additional classrooms to existing schools and building new schools.

In the fall of 1960 Elsie became Superintendent Johnson. She started working toward an Ed.D. in Educational Administration. At that time, she was one of only three female superintendents in Illinois. Superintendent Johnson was named "Citizen of the Year" by the Village of Carol Stream in 1965, which was the first year that award was given. In 1972, the Northern Illinois Superintendents Roundtable contacted her that it was changing its by-laws to allow women to join. She joined, and became very active in that organization.

As the area continued to grow, the schools continued to grow. Elsie finished her dissertation and received her doctorate in 1978. The title of her dissertation was "Solar Energy for the Heating of Schools." In 1981 Elsie became a widow. She retired in 1982. At her retirement banquet it was announced that the most recently built school would be named the "Elsie C. Johnson Elementary School."

Elsie married Edward Lucking in 1985, and the newlyweds moved to Florida. Whenever Elsie goes to see her grandchildren, who attend school in Carol Stream, she often pays a visit to the schools.