A pencil may not seem like a big deal, but for some students, it can make a real difference. Through the annual Estelle Dickens Drive, Greenhill students donate school supplies to George H.W. Bush Elementary School while continuing the legacy of a teacher who spent decades helping students both inside and outside of Greenhill.
The drive has been a Greenhill tradition for more than 20 years and is named after Estelle Dickens, who worked at Greenhill for 44 years and served in many roles, including fourth-grade teacher and Head of Lower School.
Associate Head of School for Mission, Community and Culture Tom Perryman knew Dickens both as a student and later as a colleague. Dickens was Perryman’s fourth-grade math teacher and he remembers her as someone who was strict with students but also deeply cared about them.
“Estelle Dickens was a force of nature,” Perryman said. “She was amazing. She was loud. She loved kids. She was strict, but she was like the consummate lifelong learner.”
According to Perryman, Dickens was always looking for ways to improve education. In the 1990s, she became interested in research about how children’s brains develop and used what she learned to think about how younger students should be taught.
Her dedication to Greenhill also went far beyond the classroom. Perryman remembers Dickens doing whatever needed to be done for the school, even making curtains for the Lower School windows and cleaning bathrooms when there was not enough money in the budget for maintenance.
“She just did anything and everything to make this school work,” Perryman said.
Dickens’ commitment to helping students did not stop at Greenhill. According to Perryman, she worked with the Lions Club to collect used eyeglasses for children who could not afford them and helped provide supplies to students at other schools in the Dallas area.
That focus on helping people beyond Greenhill is one reason Perryman believes the Estelle Dickens Drive represents her values so well.
“She reminded her faculty and her kids that there was a world outside of Greenhill,” Perryman said. “She wanted to make sure we never thought that this was all there was out there, that we had other people to help.”
Director of Service Learning and Community Engagement Jessica Chu says the drive continues that idea by helping Greenhill students recognize that things they may consider normal are not available to everyone.
“It might be something that some students take for granted, but to some people, that’s not something they have,” Chu said.
During her first year as Director of Service Learning and Community Engagement, Chu brought a group of students with her to Bush Elementary to deliver about 10 boxes of donated supplies. She remembers seeing the students’ reactions as they opened the boxes.
You could see these kids smiling as they opened up these boxes,” Chu said. “They were so excited to be like, ‘Oh my gosh, look how many pencils we have now.’”
For Chu, the number of supplies collected is only one part of what makes the drive successful. She also wants Greenhill students to understand why they are giving and the difference their donations can make.
“Of course, having a lot of items is nice, but what I think is more successful is when people realize the impact they’re making,” Chu said.
That impact also connects back to the values Dickens brought to Greenhill. More than two decades after her death, Perryman believes the drive continues her belief that students should look beyond their own community and find ways to help others.
“I think she would be really proud that her way of seeing what’s important in the world continues to be valued at the school,” Perryman said.
Perryman said Dickens was a humble person and probably would not have wanted a drive named after her. Still, he believes the tradition is an important way to continue the values she brought to Greenhill.
“This school would not be the school it is without Estelle Dickens,” Perryman said.
