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STORY LOG

Mrs. Joyce Leard - Teacher

Joyce (Hawk) Leard

I grew up in a Christian home in the small town of Rimersburg, PA. I have wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember. My mother said I used to line up my dolls or the neighborhood kids and teach them. I believe my third grade teacher cinched the deal. She was my favorite teacher of all time. She was very caring and I absolutely loved her. Because of her I wanted to teach 3rd grade which I did for about 18 of my 37 years in teaching.

Because of my earnest dream to be a teacher, my mother fought for my education. My dad and his family thought it was a waste to send a girl to school because she will just get married anyway. So I was the first and only one in my dad’s family to go to college for 4 years. I proved my grandparents wrong because I got my degree, my master’s degree and taught for 11 years before meeting my husband who is also a teacher.

I met Robert Leard at school. He was our librarian at the time. He now teaches 5th grade. We were married in 1979 and eventually had 3 children - Daniel, who went to USMA and is now a 1st Lieutenant in the Army, Nathan, who went to Thiel College and is now working for National City Bank, and Anna, who is a senior at Slippery Rock University majoring in Therapeutic Recreation.

I have taught most of my life in the primary grades (1, 2, and 3). This age group is my love. You can mother them and in return, they love you. You also see the most academic growth at this age, especially in reading which is my favorite subject to teach. Children in this age group haven’t changed a whole lot over the years except in the area of self-discipline.

Children today do not have the self-discipline, self-control and respect that children had when I started teaching. We used to have classrooms with 30 - 40 children in them and you would not hear a sound. Now the classrooms are rare that don’t have any talking or activity, even with just 20 - 25 children.

Even though children have changed a little over the years, I have not changed my teaching style or values much. I still try to instill my Christian values into my students through modeling and value instruction, Truthfulness and respect are two very necessary values instilled in my classroom. I also try to instill my love of reading. If you love to read you will never be lonely or bored.

My hope for the future is that parents will come back to instilling self-discipline in their children and teaching them to respect themselves and others.

This BLOGger will entertain submissions or stories and pictures from local residents and former residents of the greater Kittanning and Ford City area.

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