Mrs. Elizabeth Gifford Concludes Teaching Career at Faith This Spring

April 8, 2019

ANKENY, Iowa–After serving faithfully as an instructor at Faith over much of the last 48 years, Mrs. Elizabeth Gifford will conclude her formal teaching career at the end of the 2018-19 school year.

Mrs. Gifford taught high school English at Ballard in Huxley, Iowa, for nine years before joining Faith in 1971 as a full-time instructor in the English Department. She remained in that role until 1983, when she transitioned to Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) and the University of St. Francis until 1997. She returned to Faith Baptist Bible College in 1997 and has been an adjunct faculty member for the last 22 years.

Over the course of her career at Faith, she taught literature (American, English, World) and composition, supervised the library (changing books from the Dewey Decimal System to the Library of Congress), and was a member of the Communications Task Force, where she set up and directed the Writing Center, which is now The Write Spot.

Mrs. Gifford has enjoyed sharing the beauty of language with students and watching them develop a love of literature. She is excited to spend more time with her husband, three children, and 11 grandchildren.

“I am retiring from the classroom, but I have some interesting plans,” said Mrs. Gifford. “In the words of Robert Frost:

‘I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.’”