Break

I took a break from blogging.  Not intentional.  I have been busy.  We have had family staying with us for almost a month, and I have just been enjoying time with them before they leave.

However, I received news yesterday that I wanted to share.  My 4th grade teacher passed away.  Some people don't even remember their 4th grade teachers name.  I could not forget.  Not because she had an interesting name, but because that was the first of three years that completely changed my life.  I went from a tiny school three houses down from me where I attended with my older sister, to a school that was a 40 minute bus ride away and 40 some students in the class.  School #99, Arlington Woods, hosted the AT program.  I was lucky enough to have my two best friends in the program as well.  That is where I met my teacher, Ms. Roach.  She was unlike anyone I had never met.  The memory that I hold was that she was a bit intimidating, strong, solid woman.  As an adult I can look back and see how she was kind, patient, and really truly unforgettable. 

Just to clarify, this really has nothing to do with the school board.  But because she taught in IPS for 37 years, I pay tribute to her here. 

Ms. Roach taught us to play the dulcimer, to make butter, and introduced great writers of literature.  She brought in a golden retriever we called PC, short for Prince Charming.  He became our mascot.  I had never been in a classroom with a dog before.  But somehow that dog calmed the class and made this new school easier to accept.  Other students remember trips to Conner Prairie, buffalo burgers, skinning a deer, and lessons of history.  This was the first class I had been in where the desks weren't lined up in rows with the teacher at the front.
Ms. Roach would assign several reports that year, and we would need to prepare outlines and visuals.  We would have to stand in front of our peers time and time again delivering our speeches.  Because of this, I could project my voice and land roles in the school plays.  And later in life I would win speech competitions.  To this day, public speaking comes fairly easy to me, all because of my 4th grade teacher. 

I thank you, Ms. Roach for your years of service to IPS, but mostly I thank you for being my teacher.