TEACHER'S CORNER: BURKE TRADES BABY-SITTING DUTIES FOR 24-YEAR TEACHING CAREER

MARBLE HILL -- Teri Burke never thought she'd work with children.

The oldest of five children, Burke spent a lot of her free time baby-sitting. It wasn't her favorite task, and she looked forward to the day when she wouldn't have a bunch of children underfoot.

She is now a 24-year teaching veteran and works at Woodland Elementary School.

"My younger brothers tease met that I became a teacher because I always enjoyed telling them what to do and had a need to continue being bossy," she said.

Burke said she tries to teach her students the way she would want her own children to be taught. Textbooks provide the basic unit of instruction, but other activities help students retain what they learn.

""Kids love to write on the overhead, do experiments, play learning games and even a variety of writing projects," she said. "It's more fun for them and me to branch out and add other activities."

Elementary school students love to be helpful, and Burke has no problem sharing her workload. A garter snake had escaped its cage and was nowhere to be found. After several days, Burke assumed it had escaped the room and returned to the woods behind the school.

About three weeks later, a boy in the back of the classroom calmly informed his teacher he had seen a snake.

"I managed to get the edge of my math book down on its neck, but then I was stuck because I was not going to pick it up," she said. "One of the boys eagerly volunteered to get it back in its cage. I felt like a big chicken and a not-very-responsible teacher, but kids love to be helpful and I've tried to give them every opportunity to do so."

Burke and her husband, Jim, have three sons, Travis, Brian and Jared. She serves as preschool director at First Baptist Church in Jackson. She enjoys reading, working outside and walking. She hopes to travel and visit the eight schools she attended as a child.