StM News

Dedicated Members of the St. Martin’s Episcopal School Community

By Carolyn Wanek Treuting, MEd with Reading Specialty, MSW, Licensed Clinical Social Worker

When I learned about the deaths of Susan Pansano and Betty Bankston, retired members of our St. Martin’s Episcopal School community, memories started to stir up inside my brain about my 20 years working at St. Martin’s, especially with these two exceptional women. There is a belief that, “One is not truly dead until one is no longer remembered.” I would like to ensure that Betty Bankston and Susan Pansano will be remembered for their generous deeds, their warmth, and their love. Susan and Betty will live through the memories of all of us who remember their love for St. Martin’s, and their many years of devoted work and thoughtfulness for its students and the entire St. Martin’s community. 

For 17 years, I worked closely with Susan Pansano and her young first grade students, as the Lower School Reading/Learning Specialist, and for three of my 20 years, I was Admission Director for the school’s three divisions, and worked very intently in the Van Slate House alongside Betty Bankston and our cohort Minna Ree Miranne. 

Although Susan and Betty held very different positions, they each contributed enormously to our community; these special ladies worked tirelessly, generously, and lovingly for our school, always with warm smiles, a spring in their steps, and joy in their hearts.

Susan was not only a delightful colleague, but a kind friend, who was intelligent and professional, yet nurturing and fun! She cultivated the love of learning and provided a positive, supportive classroom, which was the setting for challenging her students, while always mindful of their varied abilities and interests. Susan was a gifted teacher, especially in her love of Reading and Creative Written Expression. She inculcated the love of reading into her students, as well as the love of learning. Susan cared about every student in her class because her goal was for each child to reach his/her potential. She was a strong evaluator of students’ needs and would promptly seek support for her students from my Reading Room, for she knew that the sooner a student received support, the sooner that child would develop the skills to build on his self-esteem. Because Susan was a lover of learning and growing intellectually, she would pop into my classroom from time to time to borrow a book or gather materials to explore something new and stimulating to offer her class. As a self-assured teacher, Susan felt comfortable inviting me to visit her class to observe her students, to observe her teaching instructions, and to welcome me to spend time teaching new skills and strategies to her whole class.  

Being a mother, Susan knew how significant it was to consider her students’ parents. She knew that parents were vital to her students’ success. Susan was an empathic teacher because, as a parent of three children, she walked in similar shoes. She knew that speaking to parents in a warm, respectful manner would help her develop an alliance with them so they could work as a team. During the school year, Susan would meet with parents during Parent Conference Days, and she also would make time to meet with parents when concerns arose. At the end of the school year, Susan welcomed conferring with parents to encourage them to “read, read, read” to and with their children to strengthen their reading skills. She also provided parents with lists of books that were appropriate for their children’s abilities. Always thinking about her students, Susan wanted to prepare them for second grade challenges.  

Susan and I shared many mutual students over the years. Several of our young students had difficulty learning to read, to write in cursive, to spell, and to express in written language form, but Susan and I worked together, in our own ways, to help our young students flourish, and in good time, they did. (Some of our alumni went on to Yale, Stanford, UVA, Columbia and Tulane.) Working together as a team was gratifying for us. Our late principal, Marge Conatser, was an exceptional educator who encouraged her faculty to brainstorm, to try new ideas and strategies, and to bring in activities to develop critical thinking skills to motivate our students. As long as Susan and our incredible faculty fulfilled the expectations for their grade levels and were appropriate in what they taught, Marge allowed us to be as creative, inspiring, inventive and innovative as we could be to encourage our students to have fun learning.

When I think of Betty Bankston, I see a lovely and gracious lady who brought vitality and energy into the Admission Office. She especially brought experience, knowledge, wisdom and “down to earth” advice. When I first entered Admissions in 1992, Betty was my guiding star, my mentor. I felt I had little experience with the admission process; however, I knew that the Admission Office was the “introduction” to St. Martin’s, and I wanted that first acquaintance to be warm and welcoming. Betty’s warmhearted spirit created an atmosphere that was inviting and friendly; she epitomized kindness, respect, and professionalism. One of my fondest memories of Betty was that she nearly always wore a smile, and she welcomed me into the Admission Office with her sweet smile and heartfelt embrace. Minna Ree, who worked with Betty longer than I, shared that “Betty’s generosity, dedication, and strong advocacy for StM stood out as her special features.” Whenever Betty encountered any difficult issue, she would never let it pull her down. She always made the best of every situation. Her positive attitude, her warmth and her generous spirit spread over St.Martin’s Admission Office. 

Working in Admission requires long hours, and Betty was often at her desk early in the mornings and late into the evenings. She was always busy - typing letters, maintaining records for graduates, serving as Registrar and Archivist for StM, as well as Assistant Admission Director. Every month there were functions for retention and recruitment that had to be planned, organized, and executed. Invitations had to be designed, and envelopes had to be addressed. There were parties given in the beginning of the school year by StM parents to welcome New Parents to our school. There were welcoming parties for new students, Open Houses for Parents interested in learning more about StM, and visits planned for prospective students from our Feeder Schools, which included lunches and buses. And, in the meantime, there was the day-to-day business that had to be addressed, such as meetings to attend, creating a New Student Application and Admission Packet, interviews with prospective parents, and much more. Unless others know the numerous tasks that make up the roles people play, they don’t always appreciate what people do to meet success. Betty devoted her time, energy, and effort to St. Martin’s, and she loved its spirit. She worked in Admission for many years and deserved the recognition she earned. Betty, Minna Re and I appreciated the very tense and stressful job we experienced in Admission, and we were grateful to have each other to work with so well.

I learned from Betty Bankston. She was not only full of vim and vigor, she was open, honest and wise, full of meaningful advice! Although we worked only three years together, I felt she was a dear, sweet, and loving friend. After my husband died in 1998, Betty gave me some memorable advice on being a widow after a 33-year marriage, and I have carried her words of wisdom in my heart all these years, and Betty’s spirit as well. I feel fortunate that I learned so much from Betty, about my children’s beloved alma mater, about life changes, about the generosity of spirit, and the zest for life, which Betty surely owned and demonstrated throughout her life.