Touching Little Lives One At A Time
I was honored to meet Neldeane Moore, my wife's 5th grade teacher (1957-58) this past week. The occasion was to help her complete the forms documenting her memorable career for inclusion in "Who's Who Among America's Teachers, 2002."
Also on hand was Stephen McBride, the 1st grade student (1966-67) who nominated her for this honor. I quietly scribbled as he, my wife (Mary) and Miss Moore reminisced. Why do students still write about her being the best teacher they ever had?
Mary: "She set firm boundaries, yet a looseness within them. She spoke with us as if we were actually humans, and that inspired us to conspire together to excel."
Stephen: "Our class was unlike any other. Miss Moore played the piano, and we sang. PBS even came to Little Rock in 1967 to produce a documentary about economics. We were each given a dollar to make a purchase as they filmed."
Mary: "I remember the art easel that was always set up in the back of the room. Then on holidays she gave us up to orderly disorder. Huge rolls of white paper were unfurled to plaster the walls. Then brandishing our crayons and colored chalk, we vigoruously attacked the giant images her film projector cast upon the paper."
An exceptional teacher wields more than just an arsenal of classroom skills. "Right after our mother died," Mary tenderly recollected, "my sister Betty was in Miss Moore's 4th grade class. She showed great compassion toward Betty at a critical time in a young girl's life."
The number of students Miss Moore touched easily exceeds 1,000. Our friend and neighbor Suzanne Kunkel remembers a particular 4th grade incident. "There was a City Beautiful contest, and I drew a picture of a person raking leaves under a tree. Miss Moore sent it in, and I won a prize! That put me on the path of my life's work of being an artist. I've called myself an artist from that very day."
A couple of years ago, Mary and Suzanne treated Miss Moore to lunch. But before that, she delighted them with a tour of the old Oakhurst Elementary School where they had been students. Their memories spanned the decades, reliving significant vignettes of their childhoods. Those sweet moments, past and present, are preserved in photographs.
Writing about the PBS filming, a program manager Of the Arkansas Educational Television Commission astutely observed in a letter to Miss Moore, "I am still amazed by the knowledge and poise of your students. Perhaps if I had such excellent training, I would avoid some of the pitfalls to which I become a victim."
What better grip on the future could a young person obtain than that provided by a teacher like Neldeane Moore? She touched little lives one at a time for 42 years--and changed them forever.
Copyright 2002 James McAlister
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