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Shortly after her graduation from East Texas State University in 1971, Nellie Canup pioneered the first early childhood program for Princeton ISD when the state legislature made it mandatory for public schools to offer kindergarten.

With a meager budget and no facility, then Superintendent George Clark rented a vacant building big enough to house the first class of kindergarteners, but the location was far enough away from an existing school that Nellie's 42 students had to be bused to another campus for lunch.

Canup Early Childhood Center's first principal, Vickey Dillard, said she heard first-hand about Mrs. Canup's inaugural year and how she managed the 42 kindergarten students in her classroom.

“You could tell she loved educating every student and wanted them to reach their full potential," Mrs. Dillard said. "She wanted the absolute best for them.”

Canup spent 18 years as an early childhood educator for PISD. Former longtime co-worker Mary Mayfield said Mrs. Canup passed along valuable lessons to her students during that time and always saw the silver lining.

“The roof over her room leaked,” Mrs. Mayfield said. “She bought a plastic swimming pool and put it in her room. When Easter came and it was still not fixed, she decided she would teach a unit about ducks. She covered their migration habits, what they ate. And she got real baby ducks and put them in the pool. That’s how you make something positive.”

She also focused on the important things in her classroom.

“She taught them how to get in line, how to share, how to play fair, how to keep their hands to themselves, how to put things back where you got them," Mrs. Mayfield said. "But the most important thing she taught them was how to love each other and be kind.”