Jeanie Goddard

[Brooks Goddard, Wilbury Crockett, Jeanie Goddard, and fellow WHS English teacher Ronnie Bretholtz]

     Jeanie Goddard received her AB in English and BS in Education at Simmons College in 1966 and her MA in English from The Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College in 1971. During the fall of 1965, she completed her student teaching at Wellesley High School and began her life long devotion to her mentor, Wilbury Crockett, WHS, and her students. She even met her sweetheart Brooks when he joined the department during her third year of teaching. Jeanie taught sophomore and senior English classes, Shakespeare, and, for many years, Humanities with her great friend Gerry Murphy. Jeanie and Brooks’ son, Peter, is in his 24th year as an English teacher at Newton North HS, and their daughter-in-law Natasha taught English and was department chair for many years at the Wellesley Middle School. They make us proud. Almost all of their friends are either former students, former parents, or former colleagues. After her retirement, she ran the English Education department at BU for 4 years, worked as a Museum Teacher at The Gardner Museum for 7 years, and now volunteers at the Needham Public Library.

     Jeanie has always been in awe of the creativity and fearlessness of her students, and she attributes the stunning number of writers to the independent spirit that informed their WHS English classes. She is delighted to be working with Beth Hinchliffe, one of her favorite former students, on this project.