TEACHER'S CORNER: ROOKIE FOURT-GRAD TEACHER MAKES WORK CHALLENGING AND FUN

Although a newcomer to the teaching profession, Amy Puchbauer has already begun collecting memories that will last a lifetime.

Puchbauer said she is enjoying her rookie year as a fourth grade teacher at Franklin Elementary School. Students -- especially older elementary students -- can make work challenging and fun for teachers, she said. They are naturally creative and can easily make the most commonplace lesson fun, she said.

Take, for example, a particular grammar lesson earlier this year. Students were dutifully listening to Puchbauer's lecture about various sentence types without incident when they heard a term no one in the class could pronounce.

Rather, only one student successfully pronounced the term 'interrogative.'

"When he finally said it the class burst into applause and another student wrote a wonderful story about it," Puchbauer said. "Those are the experiences that make learning fun."

Puchbauer hopes she will be able to make a difference in her students' lives throughout her career. Teachers must assume many roles, and they can only hope that in some manner they are able to reach their students, she said.

"They are, of course, teachers, but they are also mediators, counselors, a child's friend, a secretary and even a bookkeeper," she said. "It is such a rewarding career."

Outside the classroom, Puchbauer enjoys drawing, reading and camping. She is a member of the Missouri State Teachers Association and has a cat named Bandit.