"Never Stop Learning because Life Never Stops Teaching"
REFLECTIONS FROM LIFE IN THE CLASSROOM AND ELSEWHERE
I have so many things to say.
I have been planning to start this blog since summer but time is not always kind, especially during the school year. The inspiration, or should I say shove came to me on the Sunday morning before Thanksgiving. I received a message that my sweet sixth grade teacher had passed away. I guess at 93 that is not an unexpected event but if you knew her you would know - she was magical. I am a teacher because she was my teacher. She was that special teacher who made me feel like I could do anything....the sky was no limit for those who she taught. She loved us and cared for us daily but that didn't stop when sixth grade ended. I still remember assignments and projects I did when I was in sixth grade and that was a very long time ago, 1970! She even let me keep a shadow box of live snails in the room because that was my science project, I walked home almost daily through my elementary school until I graduated from high school and would often stop to visit and catch up. Eventually her wonderful husband retired and they moved up near Solvang into a home that they designed and built together. Her husband once told me, "I would show her the plans and she would say ok so then I made the room 2 feet bigger all around". It was a beautiful home and area we found as my husband and I went to visit them at the beginning of our honeymoon. One by one we introduced Mr. and Mrs. Hodgeman to our seven children. When they learned of her passing each one had sweet memories of playing in the treehouse in their backyard, lemonade, and rootbeer floats. Like me, all my children grew up loving the Hodgemans. On one of our last visits Mrs. Hodgeman held me in a tight side hug and said, "After all these years of knowing you and loving you please stop calling me Mrs. Hodgeman and call me Lottie". That was a strange thing to me but Lottie it was after that. I was sad when she and her husband moved to Iowa to live close to two of their children but it was their time to be closer to two of their three children. She shared those kids with us when she was a teacher. Her youngest daughter, Deb, came to school to teach art to us. We loved her too. Lottie's oldest daughter also became a teacher and continued her mom's legacy of touching lives. She too believed her students could do anything. I still wonder how many of Lottie's students went on to be teachers after her example. I keep a picture on my desk of me and Lottie. It is my reminder that all kids need and deserve love and respect. It reminds me of the kind of teacher I want to be. That picture helps me remember that learning never ends and it doesn't matter how old we are we can try new things. I will always carry a part of my heart that was touched and molded by Lottie Hodgeman. She was my mentor, my cheerleader, my example of what an educator does for their students. I will never forget those lessons. They are sealed in my heart by a sweet teacher who simply just loved us and loved what she did.
0 Comments
|
Dawn Moffett
|