TEACHER'S CORNER: CHILDREN UNIQUE, SPECIAL, WITH AN EAGER INQUISITIVE MIND, CHAFFEE TEACHER SAYS

CHAFFEE -- Sue Duncan began her teaching career a little younger than most. She was in the first grade.

"It was in a little school in Vanduser, Mo.," Duncan recalled. "I knew how to read before I went to school. I recall that my first-grade teacher gave me the assignment of helping one of my classmates, who needed some extra help learning to read. I knew then that I wanted to be a teacher."

Duncan has been officially teaching 23 years at Chaffee Elementary school where she teaches first grade.

"The most rewarding and gratifying thing about teaching, was and still is, that special feeling you experience when you see a child's eyes light up and they realize for the first time they are really reading."

Duncan says while children have changed during her tenure in the classroom, a common thread remains. "Every child is unique, special and has an eager inquisitive mind," she said.

One year, the day before Christmas vacation, a youngster proved again that common thread exists. "We were packing our Christmas decorations and mementos from the party when a shy little boy tugged on my sleeve and asked me if he could have some school work to do while we were out for Christmas vacation. `Because,' he said, 'I don't know very much yet.'"

"This is very important to me," Duncan said. "A child must want to know more. He must realize at an early age that learning to read, write and do math are the basic building blocks to an education. These are the skills that everyone must learn before they can know more."

Working with Duncan for the past 14 years has been R.S.V.P volunteer Eloise Moore, "who is 84 years young," Duncan said. "She is a very important addition to our classroom. We all love and admire her."

"I hope that the deep feelings of commitment I have had toward my profession has made a positive influence on some 500 students that I've had an opportunity to teach," Duncan said. "I have shared my life and love and the zeal for leaning. They have made my life happier and more fulfilled. After all, teaching is fun when a child comes to me with an eager inquisitive mind. We all know that a mind is certainly nothing we should waste. All of the children I taught are my connection to the future, theirs and mine."