Mrs. K was truly special. She was generous and kind, uniquely artistic, with a bubbling personality that we all adored. As cliche as it sounds, to know her was to love her. Her positive attitude was infectious.
Our library is a warm, inviting and beautiful place to be. Her "touches" were everywhere, from the soft glowing lamps, the decorations that changed with every season, and even her own works of art were displayed on walls and doors. As a fellow teacher said, "she had a way of making it feel like home."
Even at the coffee bar, she had a yummy seasonal soap for us to use. If you were having a bad day or just needed a little pick me up, you could stop by for a chat or even a "kiss!" :) She kept a jar of Hershey's kisses just for teachers who needed a little chocolate that day.
I will miss the artsy chats I had with her. She "got" things that only make sense to an artist; and when I sometimes felt a little crazy and out of place, she made me feel as if I wasn't the only crazy art person around! We talked paint and furniture, canvases and brushes. She loved art as much as she loved books. She would graciously hang my students' artwork up for display in the library and outside in the hallway. She never complained when I had so many I couldn't narrow it down. She would always find a place to hang them. She was as excited about their work as I was and couldn't wait to hang up our fish projects.
Wednesday was one of the hardest days of my teaching career so far. As we worked on our painted paper fish, I couldn't help but think of her and how much she would love them. I'd saved showing them to her because I wanted to surprise her with the finished ones. She never got to see them. As I was cleaning up from one of my 4th grade classes, I found this subtle sentiment on one of my tracing templates, which happened to be shaped like tear drops...
...and they did. Our students are mourning her loss right along with us.
We loved Mrs. K and will miss her so much.
No comments:
Post a Comment