TEACHER'S CORNER; TEACHER LOVES CHALLENGE TEEN-AGERS CAN PRESENT

Ellen Obermiller, an eighth-grade teacher at St. Mary Cathedral School, loves the challenge of working with preadolescents.

The 16-year teaching veteran said she is constantly seeking projects and instructional materials that will motivate her students.

"It's an exciting and challenging adventure to help them to be their best and learn from mistakes and each other," she said.

Eighth-graders are notorious pranksters, and Obermiller has endured numerous tricks over the years. In one case, a student who knew that Obermiller liked to wear denim skirts ran one up the flagpole "as a graduation farewell. On another occasion, students hid her desk.

"My desk and all its contents were 'desknapped' by several of my students so we wouldn't have to work," she said. "We did anyway."

This year, Obermiller's science class is studying the night sky. The Starlab, a portable planetarium program lent to local teachers by Southeast Missouri State University, allows teachers to share the stories behind the constellations with their students.

Obermiller said the contact with young people is the attraction that drew her at an early age and keeps her captivated with education.

"My students of the past who keep in touch, the students of the present who challenge me and keep me young at heart, and the students of the future are what keeps me coming back year after year."

Obermiller and her husband, Brad, have two children, Adam 18, and Lynne, 16. She enjoys traveling, supporting her children at their extracurricular activities and spending time with family and friends. She is enjoying her efforts as she learns to play golf.