After two years of “dipping ice cream cones,” I felt I needed a new world to conquer. My children were quite self-sufficient by then, and the business was going well, so I decided to follow my dream of earning a degree in teaching. This was not an easy goal since the nearest institution was 50 miles away. But I did it – and after three years, terrible winter driving conditions, and 10,000 miles on my little yellow Chevette, I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in Education. A good friend had a celebration party for me since graduation day was also my birthday and Mother’s Day that year. What a party – it seems like most of the 1,500 people who lived in my little town attended that day!
I spent the next year substitute teaching while I began working on my Master’s Degree in the evenings. I subbed in everything from Kindergarten and PE to Auto Body and Child Care at the Tech School – talk about real life experience! The following year, I was offered a full-time job in a nearby school system. In fact, my classroom was in the same school building that my Dad attended back in the 1930′s.
My first assignment was in 4th grade, where the highlight was the day we dissected a sheep’s eye! But the following year, I moved to 2nd grade, which has remained my favorite age group to work with. Although my Michigan teaching experience was very enjoyable, my personal life was in turmoil and I divorced shortly after. Since my children were both out of high school by then and on their own chosen paths, I decided to begin the next chapter of my life in a warmer climate.
So after completing my Master’s Degree, resigning from my job, selling my house, finding a good home for our beloved dog, and saying goodbye to family and friends, I headed south. My car was filled with houseplants – there was just enough room for me and my cat, who hated riding! A U-Haul truck (driven by my 17 year old son and my 75 year old father) made the trip from Michigan to Florida a few days later, complete with my 2,000 pound antique player piano and the rest of my earthly possessions. I’m sure if a Hollywood producer had filmed that move, it would have been an Academy Award winner!!
My new job in Orlando, Florida, was quite an awakening for the small town Midwestern girl! I found myself working in a “pod” school, which meant that there were six classes all in one big room. Luckily, I worked with five great teachers who took me under their wings – I had made my first friends! I learned to find my way around a new city, bought a house on a small lake, and soon felt right at home.
In 1990, I made another change and took a position in Brevard County, which is the home of the Kennedy Space Center. This is where I had been a newlywed, my children were born, and where I had many old friends, so it was a comfortable move. I achieved the dream of living on a 48 foot houseboat in a marina where manatees regularly tapped on the side, asking for a drink of fresh water from the hose. What a beautiful place to call home! I had an “end of the year” party one evening, and all my students and their families came for a barbeque – what fun that was!
I worked in several different positions as time passed. One year when I taught 3rd grade, my kids and I painted a life size version of The Great Wall of China on the side of the school. Just last year, I received a postcard from one of those students and she had just climbed the Wall in Beijing. I was thrilled that she included me in that exciting event of her life! Another year, during the Desert Storm era, my 5th graders organized a business that sold yellow-ribbon flag pins. Some of my kids were so exited about our project, they came to school an hour early just to work on our flag business!
But perhaps my most important assignment in Brevard County was in a special program for “At-Risk” 5th graders. Those years of teaching were the most demanding, yet most rewarding of any in my career. My kids were troubled boys who had nothing to look forward to except a negative middle school experience the next year. I was instructed to do “whatever” I could to change their paths. It was definitely a challenge. But I will never forget one year on the last day of school when I took my class of twelve to a local park for a ballgame and picnic. The park was filled with giant, beautiful trees and late that afternoon, we all climbed up into the biggest one. We sat in that tree and talked – about school, families, problems both past and present, and about life. It is a memory I treasure, and I think my boys probably feel the same way. I left that school the following year and the kids threw a giant going away celebration to wish me well on my next adventure. The sign outside the school said, “Adios and Good Luck, Ms. Moore!”
