Gloria Bray loved to teach. She was a teacher at Mount Ararat Middle School when it was established in 1973, teaching 7th and 8th grade English for 46 years until she retired in 2019. Over those many years of teaching middle school English, Gloria shared her love of the written word with nearly 5,000 students. Gloria’s passion for the English language was endless. Her dedication to sharing that passion with her students was as strong on her last day as it was when she began.
There are countless stories over those 46 years of the strict but fair Mrs. Bray, as she was a cornerstone of the Mount Ararat staff. Perhaps she is best known for her legendary “look,” which she had perfected through the years whenever a student was not meeting her behavioral expectations. It was clear when Mrs. Bray meant business.
Gloria kept her red ink pilot pen close and was the first to notice a grammatical or spelling error. Though she was strict and firm, she was as devoted to her students as any teacher has ever been. Upon her retirement she often pulled out decades old boxes of her students’ writing and would sit and read them for hours. She truly loved her work, her peers and mostly her students.
Gloria’s impact on the community over four decades of teaching now continues with this scholarship fund and the impact it will have on this generation of students. Awards from this fund are based on student financial need, after which recipients are requested to be a Mount Ararat graduate who has demonstrated a passion for the English language.