TEACHER'S CORNER: NO TWO DAYS ALIKE IN KINDERGARTEN CLASS

LEOPOLD -- Pat Bollinger feels like an average teacher but probably doesn't have an average day on the job. No two days are alike in her kindergarten classroom at Leopold R-III schools.

"At any given time, we might be doing something that will have an impact on some child for the rest of his or her life," Bollinger said. "We never really can be sure what will make a lasting impression."

During her 12 years at the school, she's taught hundreds of children how to expand their minds.

"They come to school with a vast amount of knowledge and an enormous curiosity about everything," she said. "I try to begin with where each child is and expand their knowledge."

Bollinger recalls a story about expanding a student's vocabulary and teaching about synonyms. A student chose a book titled "The Dark, Dark Tale" to be read aloud to the class.

"After I read it once, he asked me to read it again, so I did," Bollinger said. "Later, he came to me with the book and asked me, `Where is the dark, dark tail in the book?' He said he couldn't find it. I explained that sometimes we call a story a tale. His eyes lit up -- `Oh, you mean like a fairy tail!' When they catch on like that, it's such a thrill. I've noticed that he now listens for other words that have double meanings."

Bollinger attended Leopold schools as a child and knows many of her students' families. Ever since she was a child, she's also known that she wanted to be a teacher.

"One of my earliest memories is playing school with my brothers, even before I started school myself," she said. "I can remember how disappointed I was when I didn't learn to read the very first day of school."

Bollinger attended Southeast Missouri State University. She has five sons and one daughter who teaches in Oxford, Mich. Two of her grandchildren attend Leopold schools.