Peggy Anne Royston '58

Peggy Royston wanted to give something back to her alma mater. It was Towson State Teachers College that enabled her to pursue her passion—teaching. Although her daughter, Amy Schildwachter, was an only child, her mother would say that each year she had 25 new children to add to her family.

"I hope that the recipients of this scholarship experience the joy that my mother did from teaching," Schildwachter says, "always making learning a creative and fun process for students."

Peggy was an elementary school teacher for more than 26 years. "This scholarship is a way of paying it forward, something my mother always talked about," says Schildwachter. "As the oldest child in her family of 10, she would never have been able to even hope to attend college without the financial help she received from TU."

Peggy attended then Towson State Teachers College tuition-free in exchange for a promise to teach for four years in a Maryland public school.

"If it wasn't for the progressive side effects of her Parkinson's, she would have remained in the classroom longer," according to Schildwachter. "My mother went all out as a teacher. She was the first to arrive and the last to leave the school. Her mission was to make teaching fun. When she could not be in the classroom for a six- to seven-hour day, she returned as a volunteer. Giving up being a classroom teacher was so hard for her.

"My mother and I had a conversation a number of years ago," says Schildwachter. "She told me it was important to pay it forward and help students at Towson University to become teachers, just as she was helped when she attended Towson."

Peggy was determined that her students would not just learn things; she wanted to be the kind of teacher that instilled a love of learning for her students. "Because of TU, she was able to realize that dream and so much more," says Schildwachter.

An estate gift is a great way to ensure the programs you care about continue at TU. To learn more about your giving options, contact Kathleen Hider at (410) 704-6287 or khider@towson.edu.