Ernestine Kyle

Ernestine Kyle was a business teacher at Ravenna High School for nineteen years. For fifteen of those years, she was chairperson of the Business Education Department. Before coming to Ravenna, Mrs. Kyle taught business at Crestwood High School in Mantua and Ravenna Township School. She retired from teaching in 1977. Prior to teaching, her work experiences included supervisory positions in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Dayton, Ohio department stores. During World War II, she was one of the first women to hold a supervisory job analyst position at the Air Service Command World Headquarters, Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. During her teaching years, Mrs. Kyle was a member of professional associations including the American and Ohio Vocational Associations, National Business Education Association, Ohio Business Teachers’ Association, and the Akron and Cleveland Area Business Teachers Associations. She held offices in the Northeast Ohio Business Teachers’ Association, Ravenna Education Association, American Field Service, and the Women’s Society of Christian Service. Honors given to her include the Ravenna Education Association’s Distinguished Service to Education award and the Outstanding Vocational Business Teacher of Ohio award. Upon retirement from teaching, Ernestine Kyle turned to involvement in community service. She founded the Ravenna Heritage Association and organized a group of members to establish Ravenna’s historic district with the city council’s approval. She also initiated the city’s Design Review Commission. Mrs. Kyle headed a group in the United Methodist Church to develop its church library.