Longtime teacher known for interest in progressive methods

By her own estimation, Nancy Manos taught more than 600 children to read during her 25 years as a first-grade teacher in Arlington Heights.

She didn't stop there. After retiring from Arlington Heights Elementary District 25, she volunteered to teach native and nonnative English speaking adults to read as a literacy tutor.

Mrs. Manos died Saturday after a long battle with cancer. The 56-year resident of Arlington Heights was 84.

"When I think of Nancy, I think of someone who was gentle, calm, gracious and kind," says Kathy McQuillan, a former colleague at Olive-Mary Stitt Elementary School, where Mrs. Manos taught the last nine years of her career.

"I can only assume she was that way with the children too," McQuillan adds, "very accepting, nonjudgmental and always accentuating their talents."

Mrs. Manos turned to teaching in the mid-1960s, when she found herself a single parent of four young children and a recent breast cancer survivor.

She began her career at Greenbrier Elementary School in Arlington Heights before moving to Olive-Mary Stitt, in part to be part of its progressive teaching approach, including its pioneering of multi-age classrooms in the area.

Mary Stitt, former principal of the school, says they debuted the multi-age or open classroom concept in 1969.

"It was a more individualized approach," Stitt says, "recognizing that everyone wasn't on the same page, on the same work sheet, on the same day. Before that children sat at their desk all day.

"This was one way of getting teachers to look at each child," Stitt added, "and where they were at in their development."

Art was a big part of Mrs. Manos' classroom and instruction, her colleagues added.

Having earned her undergraduate degree in fine arts from Wittenberg University, Mrs. Manos incorporated painting and drawing in her teaching, as well as in her home, which was located in the historic neighborhood of Arlington Heights.

Members of the Arlington Heights Historical Museum featured it in their first house walk, describing it as a "Victorian cottage."

One of the few times where Mrs. Manos drew any attention to herself was in 1963, when she was named the Suburban Homemaker of the Year in a contest sponsored by the Daily Herald and which resulted in a feature length profile of her in the paper.

"It was kind of extraordinary," says her daughter, Margaret Manos of Arlington Heights. "I am certain no one expected a divorced woman to win the top Homemaker of the Year prize, but my mother was an extraordinary person."

Besides her daughter, Mrs. Manos is survived by her sons James (Fran), John (Leah), and Tony (Kate), as well as three grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. July 3 at the First United Methodist Church, 1903 E. Euclid Ave. in Arlington Heights, where Mrs. Manos was a 55-year member and long-serving chairman of its Missions Commission.