Rosalie Seltz
Rosalie Seltz taught English and Journalism at Austin High School starting in 1950, when she was fresh out of teachers’ training at Winona State, until 1993, when she retired. She served as the faculty advisor for the Austin High School newspaper and the year book for most of her career. As a devoted lifetime educator, she inspired generations of students to set high standards and to develop strong communication skills.
Rosie is well known for her devotion to correct grammar and good communication skills. She was quoted in an October 1989 Austin Daily Herald article saying: “My primary purpose is to teach proper communication. Only a few of them (journalism students) will go on to a journalism career, but they all will have to speak and write the rest of their lives.”
Her teaching philosophy followed a simple principle, which was that “students won’t always remember what you said, but they will remember how they felt.” To that end, Mrs. Seltz would ask students who didn’t do well on a test to see her after school and she would give them a second chance. She was usually in her classroom until 6 p.m. helping individual students. She wanted her students to use the skills they didn’t think they needed and she often illustrated rules of grammar by using examples from the newspaper, a magazine, or current lyrics from a song.
Rosie grew up in Winona, MN and as a child she wanted to be a nurse like her mother. But in high school she realized that the written word was very important. She started doing copy-editing in high school and continued with it in college.
When she moved to Austin, she thought she would only stay one year. However, after a ball game she met Dick Seltz, an AHS history teacher and coach. They eventually married and raised four children right here in Austin. Rosalie received the lifetime achievement award from the Minnesota High School Press Association in 1989.
Rosalie continues to be an active volunteer with many local organizations including meals on wheels, the Hospital Auxiliary, Cedar Valley Services, the Austin High School Alumni Association, and the Mower County Historical Society. You will often find her sitting in the old Excelsior school house during the Mower County Fair talking with past students. You may even spot her riding around town on her bicycle.
Fun Fact: In 1947 Rosalie Chritchfield (Seltz) was crowned Miss Winona and went on to complete at the Miss Minnesota Pageant only one week after winning the local title. She said her most difficult preparation duty was shopping. “Fashion and clothes were not my thing,” she said, adding that she had little or no idea what was coming at the state competition. The highlight of her competition at Miss Minnesota was meeting “Mayor” Hubert Humphrey. BeBe Shopp was crowned Miss Minnesota at the contest and went on to win the title of Miss America 1948 in Atlantic City.
