TEACHER'S CORNER: MEET JAN MARQUIS, WHO TEACHES ENGLISH, SPEECH AT WOODLAND

MARBLE HILL -- Jane Marquis remembers playing in the summertime as a small child with her cousins at her grandparents' home.

"I was the teacher and they were my students," she said.

"I don't think I ever seriously considered any other vocation. I've always loved to read, and teaching surrounded me with a wealth of literature."

Marquis is English and speech teacher at Woodland High School at Marble Hill. She has taught at Woodland for 21 years of her 24-year career.

She received her bachelor's and master's degrees at Southeast Missouri State University and also has done post-graduate work.

Marquis feels that the greatest challenge in education today is apathy.

"Phrases like `I don't care' and `So what' that are used by students are enough to crush the spirit of a new teacher entering the field today," she said.

"The truth is that the kids themselves really do care -- a lot. However, sometimes it seems that their support team of parents, friends, and teachers fails to give them the moral support they need."

Marquis finds her work very gratifying.

"With older students, those is 11th and 12th grade, results are sometimes instantaneous," she said.

"They have the ability to hear a lesson, practice it and put it to use in less than an hour. It's fun and interesting to see their self-esteem and confidence grow."

Marquis says she doesn't expect many of her students will become teachers.

"However, I enjoy helping them improve their communications skills: reading, writing and speaking," she said. "I encourage them to enter contests in order to polish these skills as well as receive recognition for their efforts.

"For a small school, we've turned out a lot of winners in the past few years."

Marquis has several students in her class who are children of her former students.

"In a small town, it's interesting to see how many of them go away, get a college education, and then bring their own families back so they can enjoy a similar lifestyle and background," she said.

Marquis remembers several years ago when the entire school had three feet of water and mud it due to torrential rain and a creek levee giving way.

"It seemed that we might be out of school for the rest of the semester," she said.

"Hundreds of students, their parents, teachers and community volunteers came with clean-up tools and worked long hours.

"In one week's time, the building was dry and squeaky clean. We were back at our desks teaching in the same style that I always imagined the one room school teachers used.

"With only one copy of a lesson, multiple ditto masters and books from home, it was a challenge for me to show my students that real learning doesn't always require fancy gadgets."

Marquis is often reminded of a quote in her autograph book from her eighth grade teacher, which reads: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

"I hope that I can be a role model," Marquis said, "establish some stability for them in this ever-changing world, and let them know I'm encouraging them to develop their talents."

Marquis and her husband, Jerry, have three children; Mirenda Marquis Eldridge, Judd and Melanie. They have one grandchild, Misti Eldridge.

In her spare time, she enjoys writing, public speaking, sewing children's clothes, making Barbie doll wedding gowns, and singing in a gospel quartet.