Before skipping off to school as a feisty first grader I eagerly informed anyone who would listen that I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. I'm not sure I even knew what a teacher was, but Daddy planted the dream into my heart when I was just a little tyke. Actually, I suspect that he thought I was too bossy to do anything else. When I played school, I always assumed the role of teacher, never the student.
I began the trek toward my goal in a little country school: grades one through four in one room. Somehow the games that I played at home differed markedly from the real deal. My strict no-nonsense first and second grade teacher caused me to second guess the idea of someday teaching school; however, God sent Mrs. Cover to teach at Mills Creek School when I entered third grade. She encouraged the class to sing, play rhythm instruments, and discover the joy of learning.
Midway through fourth grade, we moved to town where excellent educators in Hannibal, Missouri, taught me the basic skills needed for any career. Following high school graduation, I added my name to the roster at Hannibal-LaGrange College and then two years later enrolled at Southwest Baptist University, where I finally earned the coveted degree that proclaimed to the world that I was now
qualified to impart knowledge to others.
My first teaching assignment in the Ralls County R-II School District paid the unbelievable sum of $5500.00 a year, $500.00 more than Hannibal offered in 1969. I landed this job because my husband's aunt knew the Ralls County superintendent. She put in a good word for me, and the boss replied, "If you think she'd do a good job, I'll hire her sight unseen." A short interview ensued, but there was little doubt that the job was mine. Life was so much simpler back in the "olden days".
Over thirty years later, I brushed the chalk dust from my backside and retired from public school teaching. Words fail me as I think about those precious years with New London's children. How do you summarize a life time in a sentence or two? I will say that teaching left me with a unique mix of happiness, contentment, sadness, and pride. Many of the students who passed through my classroom door wormed their way into my heart and remain there decades later.
Just a year or two after retiring from public education, God blessed me with a second career as an adjunct instructor at Hannibal-LaGrange College. The students and faculty at this fine institution impress me daily with their dedication to God's principles of love and compassion. What an awesome privilege it is to work here! In a few short years, my teaching career will truly end, but the collection of awesome experiences will be treasured forever.