Treasure Chest of Thoughts

A note to the teachers I appreciate for helping me become the teacher I am today:

• My fifth grade teacher Mr. Estes:  He said, “I know you can do it.”  And I did.  I graduated as co-valedictorian…also the first in my family to graduate high school.
• Mrs. King, my sixth grade teacher…one of the nicest…truly always nice…ladies I know.
• Mrs. Smith:  the reason I am an English teacher today.  From the “old” school, she is the reason I stay grounded as a “tweener” (my term for those of us who attempt to merge the quality of the old with the best of the new). 
• Dr. Wray:  the first professor to ask me to leave my comfortable writing zone, and I am a better writer and teacher for it.
• Dr. Tebbetts:  The first professor I ever saw stand on a desk and dramatically portray the character of the day.  His energy (and knowledge) is so motivating.
• Peers Lisa Huff and Carla James, both gifted in their fields, both striving to instill in their own ways in their students the necessary skills to achieve in this 21st Century.

So many others could be listed here:  all my elementary and high school teachers from Mammoth Spring, my professors from Lyon College (yes, still Arkansas College to some of us!) and Arkansas State University, and to my peers from Cord-Charlotte High School, Sulphur Rock High School, and Batesville High School.

To these…and to each of you reading this:  Happy Teacher’s Day…you are appreciated!