Why teaching? I was born in upstate New York and raised in Pelham, New York, until the eighth grade, when we moved to Miami for my dad’s job with Eastern Airlines. I worked as a counselor at summer camps and taught riding and swimming, so I knew I liked working with children. After I graduated from the University of Virginia, I thought I would try teaching before going to grad school. I applied to more than 10 schools in Miami and Gulliver Prep offered me a position. I started there and found out I loved it; that was 46 years ago. I taught for five years at Gulliver Prep and when a position for a Spanish teacher at RE was advertised in the paper, I decided to apply. I started at RE in 1982 as an upper school Spanish teacher and softball coach. 

 

Way back when At that time I was the youngest faculty member on campus. Mike Stokes and John Bell, two of the senior faculty members, took me under their wing. I spent a lot of time listening to my colleagues at faculty meetings and learning about RE’s culture and how everything worked. Faculty were friends – both on and off campus – so my social group was made up of colleagues from different departments. We did social activities together, went to the Taurus across the street after athletic practices, hit the beach to windsurf on Fridays after school and had dinners together. I loved the students at RE and the camaraderie and friends among faculty members. 

 

Fun fact My husband and I were married on campus – on the deck – in a small ceremony with just family and very close friends in attendance. After the ceremony we had a luncheon/reception in the Pagoda. We left the reception from the RE dock in our boat and headed out to Elliott Key. 

 

Still laughing about In the fall of my first year a Spanish 2 class of 20 ninth-grade boys, which met the last period of the day, locked me out on the ledge of the second floor of Ludington on the back side of the building. They turned out the lights in the classroom, locked the door, and left. Nobody, except these students, knew that I was locked outside the window. School ended and I was stuck out there. I had to shout to a maintenance person to come let me back in the classroom. I did not want my department head to know that I had been so naive as to be tricked by a bunch of ninth graders, so I did not report them and dealt with them myself.