I've Found What My Great-Grandfather Had

A Love of Teaching & Learning

By Cherlyn Wontor, a second-career teacher, Wisconsin

After substituting for a couple of years in our local school system, I found what my great-grandfather had found—a love of teaching and learning.

He taught in a one-room school with fifty students. I have read stories about his classroom—and I wonder how I deal with ten to twelve teaching in the prison system. In one of his stories, he tells about a kid who got stuck up on the roof. By the time my great-grandfather got the ladder out to help the boy get down, the kid jumped off the other side.

My great-grandfather would come to school at the crack of dawn and start the wood furnace and sweep the floor to tidy up. Those were the days.

I have his school bell. And I have a lot of memories I wish I could share with him about my teaching experiences—a hundred years later. Memories of a teacher who loves life, learning, and the rewards of teaching.

About the Author
Cherlyn Wontor never dreamed she would become a teacher after spending many years in the human resource field.