March 2025 Alumni Connection

 

The Alumni Connection - March 2025

As Bill Borg prepares to depart the Viking ship he’s captained over the past 18 years, two former heads of school take a look back at their own time at Vanguard — reflecting on what’s different, what has stayed the same and their fondest memories.

Ed Wucker served as head of school for a decade — July 1, 1980 to June 30, 1990. He was Vanguard’s seventh headmaster in nine years.  

 

“Not to everyone’s delight, I am sure, I recommended that the school change from an alternative education program to a more traditional college preparatory school,” Wucker said. “I oversaw that change, initiated some fundraising activities, helped get grants to build the Jaworski and Mayborn Buildings.” 

I have many fond memories from my time in Waco. I enjoyed the students and the faculty and think I helped stabilize the school. If I remember correctly,  Any success I had was greatly due to the veteran faculty and many supportive members of the Board of Trustees and other community leaders. I also thank my wife and kids. It’s not easy to be the wife and kids of the headmaster, but they carried that off pretty well but with a few scars, too. Vanguard was a growth experience for me.  “I learned so much by doing especially that I didn’t have to do, and could not do, everything by myself,” he said. “I gained confidence in myself by trusting others, and I learned from my mistakes. It wasn’t all seashells and balloons, but it was a great ride for which I am thankful.”

The next stop was Marquette University in Milwaukee, from 1997-2005.  

“I was a friend raiser, staffed many of the university’s college, regional and national alumni associations, promoted alumni events and helped start the Marquette Club of Miami when Dwayne Wade played for the Heat,” Wucker said. 

 

Next, Wucker wanted to finish his career the way he started it, in the classroom teaching Latin. 

 

“I was lucky enough to get a plum job doing just that at the University School of Milwaukee,” Wucker said. After retiring in 2015, he took a bike trip along the Danube through Germany and across Austria and stopped in London for several days on the way back home.  “I loved travelling and was in Europe 10 or 12 times,” he said. “One of the first times was in 1987 when I shepherded a group of Vanguard students to Germany following the fall of the Berlin Wall. I haven’t, however, been to Europe since Covid in 2020. I hope I have one more trip in me.

 

Because he cannot seem to leave education behind, Wucker said he has been substitute teaching in several schools in the Milwaukee area.

Linda Goble Tinsley led Vanguard from the fall of 1993 until the end of the school year in 2002. She was hired as assistant head of school to headmaster Ed Davis and took the top spot in 1995 and served in that role until moving to Dallas in 1995.

 

“My time at Vanguard gave me great joy and the satisfaction of being a part of something excellent,” Tinsley said. “The most special experiences were the victories in the classroom, the friendships, the laughter and the tears that created the Vanguard fiber.” 

 

Tinsley chose education as a field while an undergraduate at Baylor University.  “I chose it because my own education gave me so many good examples of what I wanted to do and in fact,” she said, “two of my former teachers remained important mentors for life.”

She has taught all ages during her career in education and before coming to Vanguard.   

 

“I can truly say that I loved each age and stage but my time at Vanguard was very special,” she said. “I was a teaching fellow in the Baylor School of Education working on my Doctor of Education when I heard about exciting things happening at Vanguard and it certainly caught my attention.”

 

Tinsley liked that Vanguard attracted smart, capable students who enjoyed excelling in all endeavors.

“The campus was open and allowed for a sense of individuality,” she said. “It was known for small classes with well qualified faculty who cared about the success of their students.  Vanguard could best be described as a true learning community.”

When Tinsley started at Vanguard, the campus had a much smaller footprint, she said. The Brown Building and Getterman Senior Lounge did not exist yet and the administration was housed in what was called Building One.

“The Vanguard community was poised and ready to build on its past accomplishments,” she said. “It made it an exciting time to be at Vanguard. The school grew quite a bit in its student census with a record enrollment of 245 students when I left. We expanded the facilities and programs to meet the needs of a growing student population.”

In 2000, the S. Spencer Neville Brown Academic Building was opened along with the Getterman Senior Lounge.  At the same time, we improved the parking facilities and grounds.

“As an administrator, I found the planning and opening of the Brown Building and the Getterman Senior Lounge extremely rewarding as it was for the entire Vanguard community,” she said. “The demands of a growing campus allowed Vanguard to restructure its administration to better respond to its emerging needs.”.

 

There are a few things Tinsley said have not changed — like the vision of excellence from its founding days.  

 

“The nature of the Vanguard students has remained constant over the years,” she said. “The students continue to be known for their great pride in academic excellence. They have always worked hard and enjoyed the satisfaction of  learning and accomplishing.”

The teachers have always been amazing, Tinsley said.  

 

“Through the years, it can be said that they have demonstrated love of their subject while being dedicated to their student,” she said. “The faculty has been the backbone of the academic success that Vanguard enjoyed.”

 

Emma’s Day is one event that stands out in Tinlsey’s mind — as she was there when the volunteer day’s namesake died.

“As Vanguard students and faculty spread all over Waco to provide a helping hand on Vanguard volunteer services day, we received the news that our own Emma Welter had been killed in an automobile accident on her way to school,” she said. “I will never forget the pain of telling our students about their classmate’s tragedy as they returned to Vanguard after spending a day doing service for others. After this day, we renamed Vanguard’s volunteer service day to Emma’s Day and dedicated the day to honor Emma’s precious legacy of caring for others.”

 

Tinsley also had the unique experience of having two sons attend and graduate from Vanguard while she was there.  

“I was able to see and appreciate the Vanguard experience from the inside out,” she said. “I can say that I will always be grateful for the excellence that strengthened my boys’ successes in all areas.”

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