Nancy Best Wright
From our Co-founder, Caitlin:
I didn’t know much about my grandmother’s job when I was little. I knew she was Principal Hays to some, much of my mother’s family had been in education, and she was good at what she did. To me though, she was Nana. She loved to laugh, gave great hugs, put orange marmalade on toast, and was a bit of a firecracker. As I got older, I learned she was an award-winning administrator with a student-centered approach and an unparalleled ability to inspire educators to explore new educational philosophies. Her journey to, through, and with education was unique, as is all of ours.
Nana started university at 16 years old at the University of Oregon. She left school at nearly 19 to marry and start a family. With four children aged five, six, eight, and ten she returned to the classroom as a student, finishing her undergraduate degree at 32, and beginning a career as an educator. At 45, she finished her Master’s Degree and Administrative Credentialing in order to begin her time in education administration as an elementary school principal.
What made Nana so gifted as an educator was her care for everyone involved. She was known widely as an advocate for students, and she had a reputation for pushing the teachers to be stronger educators. Having taken her own path, Nana knew that each student’s experience with education is different, and she wanted to help them define their own success. With that spirit in mind, Wright University is named for her.
I hope you find inspiration in her journey. I hope we spark motivation from our outpouring of support for your success. Nana was a non-traditional student, female, parent of four, working graduate student who blasted through gender barriers. She was the student we would want to enroll. She embodied the success we want you to enjoy. She was the advocate we promise to be. She would be so proud of each and every member of this community who enriches themselves throughout their relationship with learning.
Highlights of Nancy’s Life
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1931
Born Nancy Best Wright in Portland, Oregon during the early years of the depression
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1937
Began elementary school in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood
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1939-'40
During Nancy’s year in second grade her gamily moved to Burlingame, CA mid-year. This was the first experience that showed her education could be different and fluid for each child as she was moved ahead a grade mid-year.
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1947
She graduated high school at 16 and began her college career as a Journalism major. She was allowed to attend the University of Oregon that fall under her parents’ condition that she pledge a sorority.
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1948
Named Alpha Chi Omega’s Outstanding Freshman
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1950
Nancy left school when she married. They would begin their family in 1952 when their first daughter, Jean, was born.
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1962
The youngest of her four children, Tom, entered Kindergarten, and Nancy returned to school, this time at Portland State University.
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1964
Completed her BA and began her teaching career in Portland’s David Douglas School District, followed by a move to the Parkrose School District
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1975
Nancy’s first grandchild, Kristen, was born.
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1976
Earned her Master’s Degree and Administrative Credentialing from Lewis and Clark College
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1977
Stepped in as the temporary principal at Parkrose Shaver Elementary
Hired as Principal at Stafford Elementary School
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1979
Married the love of her life, John Eichorn, known affectionately by many grandkids as “Grandpa John”
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1980s
Continued her administrative career as principal of Sunset Elementary and Middle School
Planning Principal and Personnel Director prior to the opening of Boeckman Creek Primary School
President of the Oregon Elementary Principal Association
Education Consultant to the Oregon State Department of Education
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1991
Served the Joint Task Force on School Mandates, Oregon Legislature 1991
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1992-'93
Served on the 21st Century Schools Task Force: The Non-Graded Primary School 1992-93
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1993
Received the Oregon Distinguished Principal of the Year Award at the White House
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1994
Nancy retired following 11 years as a classroom educator and 19 years in Education Administration.
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2003
Nancy’s first great-grandchild, Lillian, was born.
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2012
She and John celebrated 33 years of marriage.
Nancy passed away in September.
The Wrights, Harriet and Richard, parents to Nancy and her two siblings.
Newspaper clipping, 1940.
Nancy on the front porch of her home at age 8 in December of 1939.
Alpha Chi Omega Fashion Show Fundraiser, Fall of 1948. Nancy was 16 and a freshman at the University of Oregon.
Nancy, her first husband, Bill, and their eldest three children, Jean, Sally, and Jim in 1955.
Nancy (center in white), with family.
Nancy in a teacher yearbook photo.
Nancy in 1973 at her eldest daughter's, Jean's, wedding.
Spring 1977. Nancy graduated with a Master's Degree from Lewis and Clark College. She was 45.
Principal Hays in 1978.
Nancy and the love of her life, John, married in 1979 and are pictured here the same year.
Black Butte in May 1979.
Receiving the Oregon Distinguished Principal of the Year Award in Washington, D.C., 1993.
Nancy and John took their retirement as an opportunity to travel. This photo was taken by John in Versailles, France in 2001.
Nancy, John, and their granddaughter (our co-founder), Caitlin, in Palm Desert, 2002.