Our Teachers

Aunt Onie's 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Mumford


Jeremy's fourth grade class visits the Missouri State Capitol

Aunt Onie's 4th grade report card
Adam and Jeremy at Jer's graduation from Drury College

Every one has one. Their favorite teacher that is. Mine was Mrs. Mumford, my fourth grade teacher. Mrs. Mumford turned my life around and set me on a life long pursuit of the literature world. Before Mrs. Mumford came into my life I was totally disinterested in my studies and my grades showed it. Nothing clicked for me and I didn't care if my homework was turned in on time or paid the least bit attention of what the teacher was trying to impart to me. I just plain didn't care....till the day I entered "her" class.

The first thing she did was attacked me where I lived....my vanity and pride. She put me up to the blackboard beside Billy, the most popular boy in my class and gave us each the same math problem. Billy worked feverishly on the multiplication problem carrying each column over to the next while I, chalk in hand just stood there starring blankly at the gigantic problem in front of me. I can still feel all those eyes boring into my back as the silence became deafening. It wasn't long till I began to hear a few snickers as Billy took his seat while I stood staring at the blackboard. I could feel my face going red as I resisted the urge to run as fast as I could out of that class. If only the bell would ring! Something to get me out of this terrible situation! Mrs. Mumford voice was calm as she told me I could take my seat. Though she didn't saying any thing more I could hear the disappointment in her voice. I never wanted to hear that disappointment again and from that day on I never did. I worked hard and paid attention to the front of the class not the back. I studied hard at home with my Mom quizzing me on my multiplication tables till I knew them frontwards and back. As the months went by in her class Mrs. Mumford encouraged my efforts with praise and approval. Now when she called me to the board to face off with another student I held my own. I can still feel the chalk in my hand as my hand flew across the board quickly carrying each column over till the problem was done.

She encouraged my love of writing and reading and made book reports so fascinating I couldn't wait to see how many I could turn in. Mrs. Mumford changed my life. She set the standard of learning that I would carry into the rest of my education. In other words she laid the ground work of who I was to become, a writer. I could never repay her for what she has given me and lord knows how many thousands of other students she influenced in her teaching career.

Mrs. Agnes Mumford no longer walks this earth but her love of teaching has left a remarkable impression on me. We desperately need more teachers like her. Teachers who go the extra mile for their students to finally "get it". To see the light come on in a child's face when they master the three R's. My two sons and two daughter in-laws are now teachers. They now have the ability to change the course of someones life. A great responsibility no doubt, but the chance to open a child's mind to learning is the greatest gift a teacher could give. An avalanche of obstacles face our teachers today as they try to reach and teach children with so much emotional baggage of broken homes, violence, abuse and neglect, making their jobs difficult as well as dangerous. But the rewards of a good teacher out weigh the obstacles they often face and they continue on. On to one more class, that soon turns into another semester, another year, till that teacher has influenced a sea of children's faces. Can you imagine the amount of lives a good teacher will touch in a thirty year career? An amazing feat and an amazing testament of a good teacher.

A good teacher never labels a child to be a good student or a bad student. Each student has the ability to change and succeed if she or he only wishes it, and the right teacher to show them the way. A good teacher shows their students there are no boundaries to their education, no limits to how much they can achieve if they have the determination to do it. For no matter how old we are we never stop learning till we take our last breath.

So I take my hat off to the teachers of our great nation. They don't get the recognition they so well deserve for in their hands they are molding our future leaders, workers, inventors, artist, doctors and writers. What a wonderful profession....teachers. Where would you be without that one teacher that changed your life???? I will never forget you Mrs. Mumford or the gift of learning you so graciously gave me. Aunt Onie
Today my family of teachers will be celebrating my youngest son Jeremy's Birthday. He has requested my "Mile High Chocolate Cake". Below is the recipe. Happy Birthday Jer!!!!
MILE HIGH CHOCOLATE CAKE
Start with any chocolate cake mix you have on hand. Prepare as directed and pour into three pie pans lined with wax paper. Bake as directed and place on layer on the bottom of a large tort bowl. Prepare chocolate pudding about fifteen minutes before cake comes out of the oven (this will allow the pudding to set) and pour enough to cover top and a little of the sides of the cake. Spoon three tablespoons of whipped cream over the top, lavishing enough to spill over the sides and repeat again with another layer of cake, pudding and cool whip till you finish the last layer of cake. The top layer of cake will be frosted with chocolate frosting, (homemade or bought). Frost the top and and sides and garnish top with a large dollop of cool whip and shaved Hersey bar. Serve with chocolate or vanilla ice cream. Now that's a cake fit for a Birthday Boy!!