Mary Leighton

The second of five children, Mary Leighton was raised on the upper floor of a “two-flat” house in central Chicago. “My grandparents lived downstairs,” she says. “The morning odor was manure from the stockyards.” Leighton attended Catholic schools through her first year of college, then transferred to the University of Chicago for a degree in sociology. She held jobs on the side while in school and afterward, then found her calling as a substitute teacher at an inner-city school, one of two white teachers at the school. “I loved teaching,” she says. “I rode a bike to school and had two great mentors.” Two years later, Leighton used earnings from a summer internship to buy a car and travel west. She fell in love in California, got married, moved to Eugene in 1974, had two children, Marty and Rose Wilde, and began doctoral studies in education. After a divorce, she and the kids moved to Maryland in 1983, where she met and married Frank Sobol, and settled in Bethesda. She finished her doctorate and worked a variety of jobs, including a year of teaching on a Navajo reservation in Arizona. When Sobol retired, Leighton applied for an advertised position as principal of Eugene’s Network Charter School. She was hired and returned to Eugene in 2006. “Rose was already here and Marty was on his way,” she notes. “I started at NCS in its fourth year.” NCS is a unique Eugene institution, a partnership between the school district and local nonprofit agencies that supply a portion of the faculty and instruction space. The four currently affiliated nonprofits are Nearby Nature, Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts (MECCA), Heartwise Community Learning Center and Le Petit Gourmet. “What Network does, better than anyone, is to show how knowledge works in the world,” says Leighton, who retired in 2013 but still represents the school in its sponsorship of the City Club of Eugene. “Teachers earn less but have fewer students and more freedom.”

A Note From the Publisher

Dear Readers,

The last two years have been some of the hardest in Eugene Weekly’s 43 years. There were moments when keeping the paper alive felt uncertain. And yet, here we are — still publishing, still investigating, still showing up every week.

That’s because of you!

Not just because of financial support (though that matters enormously), but because of the emails, notes, conversations, encouragement and ideas you shared along the way. You reminded us why this paper exists and who it’s for.

Listening to readers has always been at the heart of Eugene Weekly. This year, that meant launching our popular weekly Activist Alert column, after many of you told us there was no single, reliable place to find information about rallies, meetings and ways to get involved. You asked. We responded.

We’ve also continued to deepen the coverage that sets Eugene Weekly apart, including our in-depth reporting on local real estate development through Bricks & Mortar — digging into what’s being built, who’s behind it and how those decisions shape our community.

And, of course, we’ve continued to bring you the stories and features many of you depend on: investigations and local government reporting, arts and culture coverage, sudoku and crossword puzzles, Savage Love, and our extensive community events calendar. We feature award-winning stories by University of Oregon student reporters getting real world journalism experience. All free. In print and online.

None of this happens by accident. It happens because readers step up and say: this matters.

As we head into a new year, please consider supporting Eugene Weekly if you’re able. Every dollar helps keep us digging, questioning, celebrating — and yes, occasionally annoying exactly the right people. We consider that a public service.

Thank you for standing with us!