[EDUCATION ★]
KINDERGARTEN TEACHER REMEMBERS STUDENT 30 YEARS LATER
(P1) Most of us will never forget our first kindergarten teacher.
(P2) And sometimes… they remember us too.
(P3) “When I first saw him, I could hardly believe it,” said Lorly Schik about a little boy who walked into her classroom nearly 30 years ago, whom she recognized when she turned on the local television news last spring.
(P4) “I can still picture him as a small dark-haired child in kindergarten!”
(P5) Time has turned some of those dark hairs grey for Cory Hepola. The years took him through school, college, and into a TV career that moved him to five different states before he finally returned home to Minnesota and TV station KARE 11.
(P6) Those years were spent much differently for Lorly. In 1989, she retired from the Perham school district and was planning to experience the country with her husband, only to see him PASS AWAY unexpectedly. Lorly stayed in Perham for nearly 25 more years until a difficult decision was made.
(P7) Nearing 90 years old, Lorly decided to leave the comfort and familiarity of her smaller community and move closer to the rest of her family in the Twin Cities. She cried as she left her long-time house in Perham in 2013 for an independent senior living complex in St. Paul.
(P8) While leaving her past behind was difficult, Lorly was happy to be living just blocks away from her kids, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. But, her past wasn’t ready to let her go.
(P9) Lorly began teaching in the 1940’s, and over the years she made a positive impact on hundreds and hundreds of lives. Amazingly, she seems to remember nearly every single student that walked through the door of her classroom. That’s how she instantly recalled Cory, that dark-haired kid in 1988, her second to last class before she retired.
(P10) She smiled as she watched her former student on KARE 11 Sunrise. And, then, she got out her pen.
(P11) “I just had to tell them how proud I am,” she recalled.
(P12) Lorly sat down and penned a card, addressed to Cory’s parents.
(P13) “Hi Diane & Terry. It is with a great deal of pride that I am now watching my former kindergarten student telecast the news on KARE 11.
(P14) “Greet Cory. Tell him his K-teacher is now 90 years old, enjoys seeing his newscast, and wishes him (and you, too) the very best!”
(P15) A couple of weeks later, she received a card in return.
(P16) “I just had to tell Mrs. Schik how much her note meant to me. And, really, how much she meant to me,” Cory said.
WORDS: 432
SOURCE: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/humankind/2015/09/08/humankind-kindergarten-teacher/71871884/
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
If you found the passage difficult to read or had problems understanding specific words or idiomatic expressions, please discuss them with your tutor. The following discussion questions should be answered in your own words and with your own arguments.
- Briefly summarize the content of the article in your own words.
- Do you remember many of your schoolteachers? Do you remember their names?
- Who are your oldest living relatives?
- Have any of your classmates from school or university become famous?
- Have you ever re-ESTABLISHED contact with someone from your past after many years?
EXPRESSIONS TO PRACTICE:
What do the following expressions mean? Practice using each expression in a sentence; extra points if you can use it in conversation.
- Pass away
