TEACHER'S CORNER: VETERAN TEACHER MEETS CHANGES

JACKSON -- This school year has been one of changes for veteran educator Pam Friedrich.

After teaching kindergartners in the same classroom for 26 years, she began the school year in a new room in Jackson's newest elementary school. The year also meant the introduction of full-day kindergarten in the district.

"The challenges of moving to a different building and planning a new kindergarten curriculum has proven to be very exciting," said Friedrich, who has taught for 29 years in all. "It means we have more time for each child and more time to listen to each other and share experiences. We are also able to use expanded units of study and more hands-on activities."

Friedrich said some people don't understand teaching kindergartners is no easy task. She recalls the time a businessman asked her where she worked and laughed when she told him she taught a kindergarten class. His laughter stopped, however, when she invited him to spend a day with her class. He declined the invitation.

"He missed a golden opportunity to learn something new, and he might have changed his opinion about a kindergarten classroom," Friedrich said.

Friedrich said it is a teacher's responsibility to provide a safe learning environment where children want to be. School should be a place where they can find success, support and acceptance, and where they develop a positive self-concept and a desire to learn.

"Education is a partnership," she said. "Students learn through the teacher, but the teacher learns through the students, the parents, as well as fellow teachers. Every day is a new adventure."

Friedrich is a member of the Jackson Community Teachers Association. She and her husband, Steve, have four children and are members of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Jackson.