Kelly students honor former teacher

BENTON -- Brianna Buchanan, a second grader at Kelly Elementary School in Benton, is happy about the newly installed wooden benches that sit in the corner of her school library.

"You don't have to sit on the floor (to read) anymore," Brianna said. Trent Kelsey, also a second grader, said because the benches were added, students can see "more high up" when sitting and reading. "The students are always asking: 'Can we sit on the benches?' They're a hit," said Beth Rolwing, library media specialist at Kelly Elementary.

When longtime former Kelly Elementary teacher Mary Nebel Wooldridge Urhahn died from pancreatic cancer in May, her family requested memorials be sent to Kelly Elementary Library.

Since that time the school received $1,650 in memorials. Many of the donations were from Kelly alumni, especially from Urhahn's classmates, Rolwing said.

"We were greatly honored and have purchased angled story time oak benches for the students to sit on during story time in (what we've named) Mary's Reading Corner," said Rolwing.

Urhahn was an elementary school teacher at Kelly from 1974 to 2002.

Metal plates in Urhahn's honor were also attached to the benches, which arrived in mid-September.

"We wanted something that would last a long time," Rolwing said of the decision to purchase the wooden benches.

Rolwing said the school is also in the process of painting a mural on the wall to celebrate Urhahn's dedication to Kelly School and reading.

Urhahn's daughter, Wendy Wooldridge Cooper of Perryville, and her three children; and Urhahn's mother, Gladys Nebel, recently visited the library to see the benches.

"We are so happy the benches will be used by so many children from preschool age through grade school for so many years," Cooper said.

The fact nameplates are on each one of the benches with her mother's name and the years she taught is also special, Cooper said.

Those who knew Urhahn say the reading benches are a very fitting way to remember her.

"Mary loved teaching, and reading was so important to her," said Bertie Alice Robert of Benton. "She enjoyed seeing her students excel in reading. She would've been very honored to have these benches dedicated in her honor."

Robert said she and Urhahn became friends because they lived on the same street for about 28 years.

"Mary was a very dear friend of mine and more like a younger sister than a friend. She always thought about someone else before she did herself," Robert said.

Kelly Elementary teacher Margaret Arteme described her former co-worker and friend was community-oriented.

"There's no telling how long her Christmas card list and e-mail was. She loved to travel. She was very talented from high school cheerleading to skiing, and she was very competitive," Arteme said of Urhahn.

Arteme said Urhahn was very upbeat, always with a smile and a very dedicated teacher. She enjoyed her students and kept in touch with not only her students but classmates, too.

Throughout her teaching career at Kelly, Urhahn taught kindergarten, then first grade and then Reading Recovery.

Cooper also said her mother would be thrilled about the creation of "Mary's Reading Corner."

"Reading was something that my mom always stressed was important," Cooper said. "And her patience in helping children learn to read was amazing."

Memorial plates are still needed for some of the benches in the library. Anyone who would like to make a donation should contact the school at (573) 545-3541.