There I stood, with blue eyes and blonde curls and a backpack bigger than I was. It was the first day of Kindergarten. A moment every child looks forward to. An instant and almost natural moment of pride in one's self. Movin' on up in the world! It was as if even back then I already had a sense for kids and for learning and for helping. When my teacher Mrs. Reutsegar asked me what I wanted to be, I told her a teacher and she wrote that on my first day apple cut out. I drew a picture of myself and felt proud when it was hung on the classroom door. I knew even then that there was one place for me. A place where I would spend the rest of my days learning and watching others reach their goals with my help. That was some 26 years ago and my understanding for education really hasn't changed all that much! I still want to learn, to help others, and to give every child in my classroom that same sense of pride I had when Mrs. Reutsegar hung my apple on the door ......
