TEACHER'S CORNER: TEACHER TAKES STUDENTS TO EXOTIC PLACES

Every week, reading teacher Janet Herron takes first-graders to exotic destinations using maps, pictures and books.

The children have visited England, Holland and Alaska and will be visiting New England and the North Pole.

"It's a special thrill to be reading to a group of first-graders and look into those little faces and know that they are totally captivated and transported into the world you have created with the story," Herron said.

Herron teaches remedial reading and coordinates the Scott County Central School District's Writing to Read program.

In the Writing to Read program kindergarten, first- and second-grade students learn writing and reading skills using a computer.

She said, "It's a wonderful experience for the teacher and the child to pull up the first story of the year and the last story and see the gains that have been made over the year."

Many of her students don't know how to read when she first works with them. She can see progress throughout the year.

"It is especially gratifying when you see them read or when they come to class and can't wait to tell you about what they have read," she said.

After 24 years teaching at Scott County Central schools, Herron has collected lots of stories.

Once Herron lost a test paper from a second-grader and asked the youngster where it might be.

"She rushed up to my desk in a flurry and looked up at me and said, ~`That was the only 100 I ever made and you lost it.'"

Another student once told her, "Well, I just want you to know that I have learned all I want to know."

Herron is a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University and holds a master's degree.

She earned the Literacy Award in 1989 from the local International Reading Association.

She and her husband, Jack, have two children and one grandchild.

In her spare time, Herron enjoys crafts, sewing and bike riding.

Herron also enjoys working with young children.

"I hope in my career that I have inspired some of my students and that they have come to love reading as much as I do."