Long-time McKinley teacher eager for bell

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August 10, 2011 - 12:00 AM

Loretta Ellis’ bright smile will welcome 20-plus kindergarten students into her classroom next week at McKinley Elementary School.
With her enthusiasm one would think she was a first-time teacher — instead of beginning her 34th year in the same classroom at McKinley.
Prior to becoming a full-time teacher Ellis worked as a substitute for the district.
“I was known as ‘the maternity leave sub,’” she said with a smile. “I spent six years substituting for women who were on maternity leave.”
She had just completed the school year in May — by the way she was expecting a child in June — when Ken McGuffin, then-principal at McKinley, asked her if she’d like to become the school’s kindergarten teacher.
“I didn’t have to think twice before I said yes. Becoming a kindergarten teacher was a dream come true for me,” she said.
Ellis said she has always enjoyed working with young children. As a teenager she worked as a baby-sitter and had been a Sunday school teacher for pre-schoolers when she wasn’t looking after toddlers in the nursery at Wesley United Methodist Church.
Teaching just seemed like a logical vocation, she said.
Her anticipation for the first day of school hasn’t waned through the years.
“About a week before school starts I have some sleepless nights. My mind is so full of ideas on how I want to begin each new year that I keep a pencil and pad by my bed. I can jot down ideas during the night” she said.
Working with 5- and 6-year-olds takes patience. For some students kindergarten is their first exposure to a classroom setting — those who haven’t attended a preschool. Some youngsters don’t know how to write their names or know their alphabet, while others who have attended preschool have beginning knowledge of reading and writing.
“I begin the year slowly, teaching my students how to share with others, how to follow directions and the necessity of discipline,” Ellis said.
It is hard for some students to get in a daily routine. At such a young age attention spans tend to be short, she said.
Ellis said she likes to challenge each child according to their abilities.
“It is exciting to see the progress of my students throughout the school year. It is my goal to provide my students with the basics of education so they will be prepared to enter first grade,” Ellis said.
For the past few years, about five or six of her
students are children of her previous students. Parents will come in with their children and introduce Ellis an their kindergarten teacher to their children.
“Every once in a while I will get out a yearbook and show my students pictures of their parents when they were in kindergarten. A lot of my students will say, ‘Are you sure that is my mom or dad,’” she said.
The content of her classes remains the same each year, but she said, “I just change the order in how I present the material which is new to my students and gives me a change in my teaching itinerary.”

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