TEACHER'S CORNER: ANIMALS PLAY A PART AT GORDONVILLE SCHOOL

GORDONVILLE -- Brenda Crain's third-grade classroom at Jackson's Gordonville Attendance Center is so popular, even wildlife want to come to school.

A black snake was captured in the office. A squirrel chased out of the hallway and a hummingbird shooed from the gymnasium.

Crain, who is in her 28th year of teaching, said she has enough work teaching the boys and girls. Uninvited animals must go.

It's not that she doesn't like animals. Crain, selected as the Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year, received $500 to purchase classroom materials. She chose the Smithsonian backyard animals series with accompanying books.

The series is designed to teach science, but Crain said the stuffed critters have proved so popular she uses them to encourage good behavior. "The student has the privilege of entertaining an animal friend and book at an overnight sleep if they have contributed to their school atmosphere in a positive way," she explained.

Crain has been a grant writer since 1986 and has been awarded four Incentive In Excellence Education Grants from the state of Missouri. These grants total $50,000. Developing a love of reading through literature has been the basic idea behind each grant.

"It is my belief, if children have quality materials, opportunities to read, and find a true sense of joy in reading, they will become more successful," she said.

In her third-grade class students read eight novels, including "Boxcar Children," "Charlotte's Web," "Little House on the Prairie" and "Ramona the Pest."

In addition, children take computer-generated tests for the books they read.

Crain is also educational facilitator of a $150,000 grant, "Highway to Technology," which is providing computers and expanding electronic bookshelves at Jackson elementary schools.

In addition to her classroom duties, Crain is headteacher at the Gordonville school. As headteacher, she has additional responsibilities to help the three-classroom school run smoothly. Daily decisions must be made for the building, schedules arranged, correspondence readied for parents, telephone calls answered, children nursed and a variety of needs addressed.

"I remember one day when the cook came to me and said look at my finger," Crain said. "It was severely cut. I was teaching my class, administering first aid, telephoning for a nurse, trying to arrange for a ride to the doctor, putting tater tots in the oven for lunch and calling the cafeteria supervisor to find a substitute cook. I felt like a pioneer, one-room schoolteacher. It really is a wonderful place to work."

Crain is a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University with bachelor's and master's degrees in education. She has written science activities for the nationally known KSAM program, which have been published and distributed across the state.

She has been employed by Southeast under the Eisenhower grant to co-teach a course called "Science and Math Instruction for Students with Exceptional Learning Characteristics."

Teaching offers the best of all worlds, Crain said.

"Where else can you have the joy of seeing children's faces light up and get paid for it?" she asked. "Each child is unique and special. Being able to find the path that connects with that student is a challenge, but when you have found it the struggle has been worthwhile."