Yvonne Wynn, trailblazing teacher, innovator, artist, and singer, has died at 87

Yvonne Wynn, 87, of Philadelphia, a pioneering teacher who helped create new African American studies curriculum for kindergarten children in the School District of Philadelphia, classroom innovator for the nascent Head Start program, artist, and singer, died Monday, Feb. 13, of complications from an infection at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center.

Using books, music, arts and crafts, and her love of nature, Mrs. Wynn connected with 4-, 5-, and 6-year-olds from her first day at Robert Morris School in 1957 until her retirement from Avery Harrington School in 1993. Along the way, she tested and refined kindergarten procedures that came to be used in the growing Head Start family support program and collaborated with the city’s Board of Education to create lessons that addressed Black issues and resonated with her young students of color.

She grew up around teachers — her mother, aunts, and grandmother were all educators of some sort — and was an accomplished artist who created large and colorful paintings and mosaics. So it came natural to adorn her classroom walls with artwork, calendars, and cheerful photographs.

She was, her family said in a tribute, “born to teach.”

She constructed a science corner in her classroom that introduced the children to the seasons and the stars, and helped them care for turtles, fish, and chicks in the animal nook. At Harrington, she initiated a plant-a-tree program that beautified the school grounds and encouraged cooperation among the children, parents, and staff.

She was one of the first early education teachers to use computers in the classroom, and longtime friend Vernoca Michael said: “She also had many [kindergarten] students who read at a third-grade level.”

Every day, she greeted the children with: “Good morning, my friends.” Her daughter, Patricia Auld, said, “She understood children at that age. She knew they needed structure and safety. They would say ‘Good morning’ back to her. But we had to care for the turtles in the summer.”

Away from the classroom, Mrs. Wynn was a pianist for Sunday school at St. Matthew A.M.E. Church. She sang in the choir, served on the church’s scholarship committee, and held other positions of leadership.

“Her whole family were leaders,” her daughter said.

Born Jan. 8, 1936, in Moultrie, Ga., Emma Patricia Yvonne Henderson moved with her parents to Philadelphia when she was 8. She was valedictorian of her junior high school class, vice president of the student government, and graduated from West Philadelphia High School with honors in 1953.

She met Joseph Allen Wynn, president of the student government, in high school, and they attended classes together at Temple University. She almost studied chemistry but opted for teaching so she could raise a family more easily.

She married Wynn in 1957 after she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education, had daughter Patricia and son Adam, and lived in North Philadelphia and West Philadelphia.

Her husband and son died earlier, and she lived later in Yeadon. Social and energetic, Mrs. Wynn was a longtime member of the Omega Omega, and Gamma Epsilon chapters of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and a charter member of Temple’s Delta Mu chapter.

She visited museums and traveled to Colombia, Mexico, Alaska, the Caribbean, and elsewhere. She was interested in photography, and shared her many paintings, pictures, mosaics, and other artwork with family and friends.

She enjoyed music and gardening, and was active with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Philadelphia Green program that promoted urban greenery. She liked to share stories and holidays with old friends, and was a mentor to other teachers and surrogate mother to younger women in her neighborhood.

“You took me under your guiding wings and taught me a lot about life,” longtime friend Sheron Brown-Greene said in a tribute. “You took pride on surrounding yourself with good people and taught me the value of what taking care of a family is.”

“She made sure I knew she stood behind me,” her daughter said. “She made sure I knew I was family.”

In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Wynn is survived by other relatives.

Visitation with the family is to be from 9 to 11 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28, at St. Matthew A.M.E. Church, 215 N. 57th St. Philadelphia, Pa. A service is to follow.

Donations in her name may be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Donor Services, P.O. Box 22324, New York, N.Y. 10087.