Student Connections

The last weekend in September I plan to fly to Arkansas and drive with my Mom to Roosevelt, Oklahoma for the bi-annual town/school reunion. She will get to spend time with many former students from her years teaching and coaching at RHS back in the 40's and 50's. She really enjoys the time... her former students tell all sorts of stories... and I get to sort of listen in, almost like a window to the past.

Virginia and I have a few of our former students with whom we've kept in contact in a variety of ways over the years. One of those (Kristi Kenyon, Cabot class of '86 and 4 year French student of VJ) has been especially good at staying touch. She now lives in Wisconsin with her husband, Gary Wensing, and their two kids, Kenyon and Hannah. Her parents live near Sacramento, and her sister is getting married Sunday, so the family loaded up their mini-van for a trip west. She let Virginia know about the trip and they decided on a visit this afternoon.

It was really neat to catch up, see pictures, talk about the "old days" a bit, and just get reacquainted. It was also neat to meet Gary and the kids. We grilled a tri-tip, cooked up fresh green beans and Brentwood corn, added salad and some other things, stirred in some good conversation, and thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon and early evening. They left around 7:30 to get back to her folks. Don't know when or if our paths will cross again, but today was fun for sure.

Neither of us has taught high school students since the 80's, but we still cherish many of those memories and relationships... those intangible rewards of being a teacher.