METHUEN — Shirley Callan, founder and supervisor of the highly respected Methuen Adult Learning Center, died Monday at the age of 73.
Callan had cancer and continued to work from her hospital bed, said Ann Marie Krusell, chairwoman of the Methuen High English department.
"She's the personification of what every educator should be," Krusell said.
Callan, who leaves behind three sons, started the Methuen Adult Learning Center with grant money in February 1991. The school at 36 Boylston St., which is part of the Methuen public school system, has about 130 students who are learning English as a second language and receiving GEDs, according to her colleagues.
The state considers the learning center to be the best adult education program in Massachusetts, said Superintendent Jeanne Whitten.
State Sen. Steven Baddour, D-Methuen, brought then Senate President Robert Travaglini to the school discuss education on Sept. 17, 2003, Krusell said.
"Shirley's model program was used to encourage additional funding of $5 million for adult basic educational programs across the state for the senate's economic package," Krusell said.
"Dr. Callan helped facilitate the American dream for countless adult students throughout the Merrimack Valley by giving them the basic tools they needed to succeed and prosper," Baddour said yesterday. "She instilled in her students the importance of education and hard work. Dr. Callan was an amazing women whose impact will be sorely missed and felt for generations."
Whitten met Callan 30 years ago when they both worked in the Lowell schools, where Callan ran a dropout prevention program and Whitten was a principal.
"I feel like I've lost a really good friend and colleague," Whitten said.
Debbie Thomas, math coordinator for grades 7 to 12 in Methuen, was friends with Callan for 25 years. Callan had been ill since September, but she kept working, Thomas said.
"Her main concern was always the program, the budget, the teachers, the students... and what was going to happen to her pride and love there," Thomas said.
Thomas is a single mother with four children, and she fondly remembered how Callan used to help her kids with their vocabulary work.
"Shirley was always giving to others. She was never too busy to help anyone," said English teacher Johanna Fawcett.
"Beside her friends and family, I believe this program was her life," said GED teacher Ruth Byrne. "What she created here was a home away from home because we all felt like family."
The school is a place where immigrants learn English. Susan Prior, an English as a second language teacher, said students were sharing stories about Callan yesterday.
"One after another, they talked about how warmly she greeted them at the door, always with a smile on her face," Prior said.
"They felt like this was their family. Many of them come here and they have left family behind (in their home country), so it's very important for them to feel that somebody cares about them."
