Hello -- Not sure if anyone is reading this page anymore -- but, if you are -- here is a little remembrance of Mrs. Sobcoviak. She was my teacher at John Long Middle School in 1970-72, when I was in the 5th and 6th grades.

One day, as I was sitting alone in the classroom and doing some work (or maybe I had been held back from recess?) -- Mrs. Sobkoviak was stapling small posters of all of the U.S. Presidents around the upper part of the walls. She had to get up and down from a chair each time, so she could reach up and staple each poster. I played a little game, guessing which President was coming next, as she hung them in chronological order. When she got to Nixon (the end), I realized that every single face that would be staring down at us during the next unit was that of a white man.

I suddenly blurted out, "We need to get some women up there!" And, due to my recent awareness of Coretta Scott King, I added, "Like Mrs. Martin Luther King!" Mrs. Sobcoviak slowly turned towards me, and said with some measure of disappointment, "But I don't have posters of women." It was a moment of awakening for both of us. 

But what really sticks with me is that she allowed me to do research on topics of interest and display my pictures and notes on a section of the wall, which she had marked off with thick red yarn. My first presentation was on the Great White Shark. Another was on the Civil Rights Movement. I fell in love with that era. And I got hooked on teaching -- learning about an interesting topic, displaying what I learned, and then sharing it with my classmates.

I actually called Mrs. Sobcoviak a few years ago -- must have been just before she passed away? -- to thank her for setting me on a lifetime journey into teaching and teacher education. I have now taught for almost 30 years, myself, at 4 universities and in public schools. I directed a teacher education program for 13 years and taught literally thousands of students, ages 4th grade through graduate school. Currently, I am teaching high school in Seattle WA -- a class appropriately named "Careers in Education," I have Mrs. Sobcoviak to thank for my love of social studies, English, Math, and teaching. I have many fond memories of her. She was a terrific person. So sorry for your loss.