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STORY LOG

Sylvia Hooks - Teacher

Thoughts from a teacher’s desk….

As I look back over the 28 classrooms of second-grade students I’ve taught and the kids in church groups I’ve worked with, a couple things stand out.

I could count on one hand only the children who really did not want to learn or be involved. Of course I’ve been fortunate to have spent my teaching career in a rural school in Dayton, PA, and church work in churches where involvement was voluntary. There have been struggles and disappointments with children whose parents didn’t really care but they have not been the majority.

One year in the school classroom or weekly at church has not been enough time to make a really big influence in my students’ lives, but has provided me the opportunity to support the Judeo-Christian values most of them were taught at home. I do regret that as I see those values being eaten away by influences in our society it has become all the harder for those who are trying to make up the difference. Church programs, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H and, specific to Dayton: the Dayton Children’s Community Choir, just to name a few, are struggling to instill values in those who attend. But the biggest influence has and always will be the home.

The thing that thrills me the most as I look at a new class of students each year is the parents behind them who are instilling the values those children will need. The parents who make sure they get enough sleep to learn, who consider their accomplishments important, who care about their behavior and progress, and who teach them about honesty and kindness. They show themselves in the notes they send, the visits to the school, the concern in their eyes at parent conference time. One mother even prayed with me at conference time over a problem her child was having. Another single mom changed her work situation so that, because of an unusual problem and with special permission, she could spend a couple days a week helping out in the classroom. Even now when values and discipline seem to be eroding there are still families each year who take on the responsibility of raising their children seriously.

It is also a thrill to me make the acquaintance of each new student. Some will be a pleasure and joy to work with, some will be a struggle, but all are unique. Some will make great strides at learning and growing up, some will make the major accomplishment of the one hurdle that is ahead.

Like all teachers, I like to keep track of students I’ve had over the years. Most I’ve lost touch with but there have been newspaper articles of accomplishments, heroism, marriages and birth announcements. Some have made mistakes like the former student I am corresponding with in a federal prison. And there is the personal contact with students who now have children in my classroom.

This has been a good area in which to live and work. Much has been said about family structure eroding and it is. But there are still many concerned, caring families in our area. It has become an even harder struggle for you but it is worth it. To you I say, “Thanks.”

Sylvia Hooks,
Teacher

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