Principal Leaving Bach Post

At "Bach School, Mrs. Margaret Matteson took some of the fearfulness out of having to go see the principal. When a child had been sent to her for misbehaving, Mrs. Matteson encouraged his teacher to sènd him again when he did something positive. Mrs. Matteson's walls were papered with drawings, poems and spelling tests. This month, after 13 years as principal of Bach, she will retire. It will be 21 years since she began teaching the sixth grade there, going next to Eberwhite, the first new school to open here after World War II. After a year in England, she returned to Ann Arbor, obtained an MA degree in administration at the University and assumed her present position in 1955. "T used to miss the children terribly when I started this," she admits, "but after a while, they would come to the office to talk over problems as well as for discipline." She hasn't noticea any difference among the children within 21 years, adding "change is more evident on the secondary level." But she does feel children begin school more knowledgeable because of televisión, "if they watch the right programs." Mrs. Matteson actualïy earned her first degree in music, at Iowa Simpson Conservatory. Her first job was at Central Michigan; teaching piano and music theory. Locally, she served as president of the Ann Arbor Teachers' Association in 1952-53. She will be giving up her home at 1527 Arborview to build a year-round residence on Grand Traverse Bay, since her two sons and six grandchildren, live outside of Ann Arbor. Her immediate plans for a round-theworld trip by freighter have been postponed, she said, "since most of the places I want to visit aren't too comfortable right now." While teaching in England, Mrs. Matteson saw most of Europe, but hasn't been to Greece, Thailand, Egypt or the Holy Land. She plans to return often to Ann Arbor. "The people who make up the teaching profession are ver y challenging to work with," she said. "Just being around children is very rewarding and what I will miss most.