Verla Mae ParkOct 10 1917 - Apr 26 2009
Ms. Parks made me do this! I really never thought I would ever start a blog. I think they are great for other people to write and fun for folks to read, but me write a blog? No way...
Then, it happened. Ms. Parks passed away this weekend. As I was remembering her I could not think of all of the details of the many fond memories I have of her. So, I thought this may be a great way for me to record some of my thoughts, memories, wishes and dreams.
Ms. Parks was my fourth grade teacher. I still remember her as if it were yesterday. She was a very tall, thin woman. She had a huge smile, dark brown hair, and spoke very articulately. Each day when we'd enter her classroom and each day on our way out, she would give each of us a great big hug! We all looked up to her - literally and figuratively. Ms. Parks was not married then and I remember thinking that was odd. From reading her obituary, she apparently never married. What a shame that she did not have children of her own to teach.
I learned how to master cursive writing from Ms. Parks. Ever since the fourth grade, I took pride in my cursive writing skills - they were much better than my printing - or at least they used to be! Ms. Parks loved poetry and she would alway encourage us to write poems. I entered one of the poems I had written in her class - something about a lovely tree (the details of which I can not recall) in a local poetry contest through the fire department. I won first prize and took home a 3-4 foot long bright red, metal fire truck with metal ladders and hoses that worked! What a great day that was! I still remember playing with that truck!
Even after I had finished school and moved away from home, my Mom would run into Ms. Parks in town somewhere and she would always ask about me and my sisters. She always remembered our names and what we were doing based on the previous conversation she had had with my Mom.
I'm so glad that Ms. Parks was part of my "village" as a child. Here's an exerpt from her obituary. I thought you'd find it interesting. I just hope and pray that Ms. Parks knew what an inspiration she was to so many!
"She (Ms. Parks) taught in Lennox (SD) for six years and then in 1948, deciding it was time to move, Verla found herself in Sioux Falls, SD, at Longfellow Grade School. For thirty-five years at Longfellow, she would make her fourth-graders a priority; teaching life’s lessons in and out of the classroom, guiding students through their studies, passing on her love of poetry, always keeping her room interesting with innovative bulletin boards, and believing that each child had the potential to do something great in his/her life." Thanks for believing in us Ms. Parks!
