TEACHER EARNS BONUS POINTS FROM STUDENTS

Sherry Ford says instead of doling out bonus points she gets them from her kindergarten students at Meadow Heights Elementary School.

"The most gratifying part of my job is watching little eyes light up the first time a sentence is read or a new task is accomplished without teacher's help," said Ford. "The hugs and `I love you, Mrs. Ford,' are extra bonus points in my book."

Ford has been teaching 18 years, 13 at Meadow Heights.

She began teaching in 1969 after graduating from Southeast Missouri State University. She taught five years before staying home with her own children for six years. Then she returned to the classroom.

"My first assignment here at Meadow Heights was as a remedial reading instructor for two years before going to the kindergarten classroom," Ford said. "This will be the 11th class of children who have started with me as their teacher in the kindergarten class."

To help her young pupils get a good start in school, Ford has made a video for their parents to check out from school.

"It gives helpful ways to work with children at home, using free or inexpensive materials already found in the home," said Ford. "The video touches on readiness skills, number facts, letter recognition and listening exercises."

Ford said teaching always was her career choice. "My two older sisters and I often played school as we were growing up on a farm near Bloomfield, Mo.," she recalled. "Somehow I always became the teacher, even being several years younger."

Ford and her husband, Elmer, are parents of two children: Laura, a freshman at Southwest Baptist University at Bolivar, and Mike, a junior at Cape Girardeau Central High School.

Her hobbies include reading, making crafts and watching Cape Central football. Her son is on the team.

She is also an active member of Lynwood Baptist Church where she sings in the choir, teaches third- and fourth-grade Sunday School, serves on the youth council and on the pastor search committee.