Gleaning Facebook: Stars of 2009-2010 Graduate

As the end of the school year in 2010 approached I decided to make my own class picture. We sat on the world's most substantial outdoor classroom benches and someone (was it Donna Brown maybe?) took the picture from the platform there. Sarah Echols was my outstanding student=teacher from Berry Collge that year. Later she was my co-worker at Arrowhead Environmental Education Center for over two years. Allien McNair was an "inclusion" teacher in my classroom, always looking for ways to make the learning experience better for these beloved young'n's. 

Another beloved colleague. I taught Andrea N David Moore's son and her old man David, well, I'll save the story for another day, but he will always be a bit of a hero to me!
 

Andrea N David Moore: I told that STORY at Nature’s Classroom this year !!! 

Wendy Ramsey has joined me in retirement. She was a dedicated and effective teacher and colleague.

Duane Conley has continued to work for our kids at AES to this day, and has coached the AES Young Naruralist team to a championship in 2017 and runner-up in 2018.

It is graduation time again. Here are my Stars of 2010, many of whom will graduate tomorrow night. Sarah Echols was an outstanding student teacher. Creative and disciplined. Firm but caring.

I wonder how many AES Spelling Bees I have called. Maybe 18, though I am not absolutely sure I called it that first year.

It is graduation time again. Here are my Stars of 2010, many of whom will graduate tomorrow night. There are also many beloved kids who were in other homerooms that year, so here are their class pages from our Armuchee Elementary yearbook. I also made some quick screen captures of current pics several kids from yesterday’s RNT.

I learned much from many of my colleagues in the 44 years between 1969-2013, but few if any influenced my teaching as much as Ruth Pinson. Although I used the environment as a vital context for teaching from that first year, I had to meet Ruth and get involved in the EIC program to give research-based backing to that approach. What a lot I would have missed without her example. AND even in retirement, this year she helped coach the Johnson Elementary Young Naturalists who were tough competitors in our quiz bowl

Kristi Roberts Taylor was one of my AES colleagues from almost the beginning. She mostly taught third grade but I got to teach across the hall from her a couple or three years in fourth grade. She joined the EIC program with us and since my retirement has organized Arrowhead activities for her grade level several times. Of course she was just a kid when I worked with her Mom at Pepperell!

I not only taught James, I taught his older brother Charles! James and Charles toot at me from their vehicles still, and occasionally stop out front of the house for a brief howdy. And his Dad, Charles Hehn is a pretty good guy too.

Christopher Dean is another great kid who has stayed in contact. He and his father (George Dean) and mother (Robin Dean) sometimes join us for storytelling activities, and Christopher even told one of his own stories to our group at a Christmas storytelling event at our house a couple of years ago.

J.C was so full of life as a fourth-grader. Now look at that goatee!

I have stayed close to Jace and his family as his brothers have been involved in our YoungTales storytelling club. His Dad (Sam Burnham) and Mom are friends and I look forward to see what this young man will be up to in the next few years.

Best of luck to this great kid who transferred to Rome High and graduated last week. 

Zach was so interested in anything we were up to in class or on the campus - milkweed garden, nature trails, science lab.

What a sweetheart! I an looking forward to seeing Savannah tomorrow night to discover her plans.

Sheila and I had a great time visiting Cathy Nichols’ surprise retirement party on Broad Street this afternoon. Cathy looks happy and ready for the next chapter. There was Scott Gilstrap, another old UTS grad with Sheila and step-dad to one of my fourth-grade Armuchee Stars, Sierra, who is now, gulp, a teacher herself - up at Trion! Time flies. Scott’s dad, Randy, is an old friend as well. I wonder how many of my students have become teachers themselves? There are a good many of ‘em. Warms my heart. I’ll bet Sierra is a good’n’.