It
doesn't matter where you begin or where you end.
What matters most is what you do in between - what
you contribute and what you do for others.
-PM
unedited
Back
to School
As I
stand here at my kitchen island to write my monthly publisher's
note on this Labor Day night, I can now say that
it really is time for "Back to School." Even
though many schools have already started back, something
just doesn't seem quite right to be going to school when
it's 80 and 90 degrees outside. Labor
Day marks the "real end" to summer in my mind.
Most families are back at home from their long-awaited summer
vacations; evening swims at
the neighborhood pool and weekend cookouts with friends
will now be replaced with afterschool soccer practice and
the much "coveted" fall line-up of college football.
But be that as it may, schooltime is now and fall is around
the corner. Students, with fresh memories of summer's
activities, sit behind their desks with pencil in hand and
are ready to learn.
Teaching
as a profession has taken on many twists and turns over
the years since I was "down in the grades."
Attending school in a small southern Alabama town seems
like an eternity ago. School resources were scarce even
back then. Finding ways to help students learn and
making the process of educating a fun onel has always been
a challenge for those in the teaching and the academic professions.
But
not so for North Carolina's 2005-2006 Teacher of the Year!
After reading Cathy Ashby's interview with Wendy, you'll
see a whole new and creative approach to teaching "one
of North Carolina's finest" has taken to make learning
in her classroom fun and engaging for her students. Wow!
If only I had had a teacher like Ms. Miller!
I could have gone on to collect and study endangered plant
species in the tropical rain forests, or I could
have become an internationally acclaimed geo-physicist who
studies and makes important finds in active volcanoes, (this,
I think might have required higher math.)
At any
rate, all the students who
have passed through the doors of Ms. Miller's classroom
have been highly fortunate to take instruction from someone
who, even as a child, dreamed big that she would someday
become a teacher.
Wendy,
congratulations on your receiving the 2005-2006 North Carolina
Teacher of the Year Award.
A
resident
of
Raleigh,
North
Carolina,
Paula
Monahan
is
a
past
President
of
the
American
Marketing
Association,
Triangle
Chapter.
With
over
fifteen
years
of
experience
in
sales
and
marketing,
Paula
is
putting
all
of
her
learned
skills
and
talents
to
good
use
in
this
online
publication
for
women.
As
a
way
of
reaching
out
and
connecting
with
women
from
a
variety
of
backgrounds,
her
goal
is
to
create
a
networked
community
of
online
women
readers
who
value
inspiring,
insightful
and
empowering
content.
Wendy is a freelance
editor whose projects have included trade journals, catalogs,
Web sites, product manuals, and marketing/public relations
materials. She can be reached by email at wendy.beasley@gmail.com.
A
resident
of
Raleigh,
North
Carolina,
Paula
Monahan
is
a
past
President
of
the
American
Marketing
Association,
Triangle
Chapter.
With
over
fifteen
years
of
experience
in
sales
and
marketing,
Paula
is
putting
all
of
her
learned
skills
and
talents
to
good
use
in
this
online
publication
for
women.
As
a
way
of
reaching
out
and
connecting
with
women
from
a
variety
of
backgrounds,
her
goal
is
to
create
a
networked
community
of
online
women
readers
who
value
inspiring,
insightful
and
empowering
content.
