The Right Stuff

When Kathleen Lange left a promising job in the medical profession to become a school health care assistant, she knew most people wouldn't call it a "move in the right direction."

Lange, however, rarely moves in the direction people expect —an approach toward life that’s led her to a job she loves and an award as the 2005 Education Support Professional (ESP) of the Year.

“The job turned out to be a perfect fit,” says Lange, “one of my very best blessings. I leave work feeling very good about what I do each day.”

As a health care aide at Salt Creek Elementary School in Illinois, Lange provides first aid, administers medications, conducts vision and hearing tests, reviews immunization records, and dispenses daily doses of TLC to the students in her charge. Always looking for ways to improve, the tech-savvy ESP pioneered an electronic system of analyzing student health data that’s decreased visits to the health office, increased instruction time, and provided valuable new insight into the connection between student health and classroom performance. The system is so successful, Lange now conducts trainings for other health staff, develops training manuals, and works with the technology department to provide technical assistance and field support.

It’s helped to work in a school environment that looks at people first, not their positions, says Lange, the first ESP to become president of her wall-to-wall local and the first to serve as a regional chair. “We all have a role to play and lessons to teach,” she says, “whether it’s getting kids to school safely on the bus, providing hot meals at lunchtime, or making sure they learn their lessons. There’s incredible power to make things happen when teams work together.”

—Sabrina Holcomb

Helping Hands

From science course to racecourse, Gail Hand’s two jobs make her a pretty popular teacher at Streetsboro Middle School.

As an instructor in the family and consumer science department, Hand teaches eager kids how to cook. “They like to cook because they like to eat,” says Hand of her enthusiastic students. As co-owner of an Ohio motocross (dirt bike) racing track, Hand is not only well-versed in one of the country’s fastest growing amateur sports, she’s also in a position to offer those same students jobs.

Hand and her husband Dave, a former professional motorcycle racer, are part owners of the 86-acre Ohio International Raceway in Ravenna. Since Dave’s brother is the other owner, the entire family is involved. Both sets of parents help out, the Hands’ sons—Michael, 6, and David, 4—compete in Pee Wee Division races, and Dave Hand still competes in amateur national events.

When they need workers to mow the grass, put up flags and banners, help with sign-up, count laps, serve as flaggers, score the races, and give out trophies, guess where the Hands turn? “My students are always asking if we need help,” Hand says. “Some enjoy being at the racetrack and some just enjoy having a job and making money. Hiring them gives me the satisfaction of keeping them involved in something positive.”

The Hands’ track is open from April to October. Races, usually held on Sunday, draw an average of 400 riders and 1,000 spectators. Competitors range from age 4 to 50-plus. “Our oldest rider is 76,” Hand says proudly.

Although she’s up-to-speed on the procedures, rules, and technicalities of motocross, Hand says there’s one bridge she’ll never cross—racing. “Every time I get on a bike, I crash,” she says. “I just don’t have a good sense of balance.”

—Carolyn White

Starstruck

For sixth-grade science teacher Lucinda Mitchell, the journey from neophyte to space savant has been a celestial experience.

When Mitchell first discovered she was to teach a unit on space, it dawned on her she knew little more about the subject than her students at Michigan’s Ruth Fox Elementary School. That was then. Now, six years later, Mitchell is the proud recipient of the 2004 Space Educator Award from Estes Rocketry, The Space Foundation, and the National Science Teachers Association. 

Mitchell’s first giant leap toward excellence was applying to NASA’s Network of Educator Astronaut Teachers (NEAT) workshop. Once accepted, she and 24 educators from around the country attended an intensive two-week seminar at the Glenn Space Center in Cleveland. During this time Mitchell met distinguished scientists and engineers and participated in experiments making miniature rockets and hot air balloons. Upon completing the program she was officially lunar certified, which grants her access to moon rocks for presentations. “It really is quite a responsibility,” says Mitchell. “The rocks must be in my sight at all times. Even if I go to the store, I have to carry them with me.”

Constantly searching for programs to further her knowledge and hone her skills, Mitchell is excited about the upcoming year. This summer she’ll reunite with her fellow NEAT members and tour the Kennedy Space Center in central Florida. Having completed her master’s in space studies from Regis University, Mitchell is exploring the possibility of publishing her senior thesis, a collection of

40 space-related lesson plans. She’s also busily preparing fund-raisers to help send a group of ambitious students to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center’s Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama.

“I never imagined all this would happen to me,” says Mitchell. “I think sometimes teachers are leery about trying something different, but there is so much out there. You really have to go after it.”            

—Daniel Moise

Keeping the Ball on the Court

To find out why Boy and Betty Toy are hooked on tennis, you have to go back to 1978 and a wooden racquet that couldn’t keep up with the fancy new aluminum ones.

Boy's love of tennis bloomed when his son—wielding a brand new aluminum racquet—served and volleyed Boy and his wooden racquet right off the court. Chagrined with defeat, Boy and Betty bought aluminum racquets the very next day—and never looked back.

The Education Minnesota-Retired members became regulars at the tennis club, competing in the 1999 and 2003 Senior Olympics, Although they didn’t pick up any medals in tennis, Boy won a silver medal in doubles table tennis for their age group.

For the Toys, however, winning isn’t everything. “We have met so many wonderful, kind, considerate people through tennis,” says Boy. It’s not always competition.”

Still, Boy wagers he’s now good enough to beat his son even using that old wooden racquet. He won’t have the chance to prove it, though—he donated the old racquets to charity years ago so disadvantaged kids could have a chance to try the sport too.        

—Sarah Rabovsky

Photos: Calvin Knight (K. Lange); Sott Shaw (Gail Hand); Janet Hostetter (Boy & Betty Toy)