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Pages past, Oct. 27: Portales High teacher honored after 28 years

On this date …

1971: Helen Stark, Portales High School's business education teacher for 28 years, had been named the school district's teacher of the year.

The award had been presented annually since 1956, when it went to Debra Smith.

Stark, whose teaching duties included classes for typing and shorthand, had come to Portales from her native Missouri.

“She has good rapport with both students and faculty and when her students leave Portales High School they go out well-founded in typing and shorthand,” said PHS Principal Russell Knudson.

In an interview with the Portales News-Tribune, Stark said she recently had visited England in hopes of tracing her family tree. She said she liked to read, watch sports and play tennis. She said she came from a “teaching family.”

Pages Past is compiled by David Stevens. Contact:

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