Ethel Hawkins, who taught in and around Clay County for 25 years, died on April 25th at the home of her daughter in California at the end of a long illness. Her teaching career spanned 50 years. In the 1930's, as a young woman, she taught in one room schoolhouses on the prairie of western Canada and during the 1940's at the Government High School in Nassau, Bahamas. Starting in 1957, she began her long career as a Clay and Putnam County educator teaching mostly math and some science classes at Reinhold Junior High School, Orange Park High School, St. John's River Community College, and Clay High School.

Ethel's passion was helping students who were anxious about math and who thought they "couldn't do it" to become more systematic in their thinking process leading them to better math performance and less anxiety. She tried to find ways to make math practical for those students so they could see how it could benefit them.

Friends, colleagues, and former students are invited to attend a memorial service at 11 am on May 22nd at the First Presbyterian Church in Green Cove Springs. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Clay High School Hawkins Math Scholarship at 2025 Hwy 16-W, Green Cove Springs, FL 32043.