Published: September 22, 2009 12:28 pm      

GUEST COLUMN: Special teachers, special memories

By Jim Holmes

It's interesting how your brain stores memories. Many times, I really have to think twice about what I did yesterday, let alone what I did a week or a month ago. Yet decades-old recollections can suddenly flash into my mind as vivid as if they had occurred just that day.

Such was the memory I recently had about Mrs. Koonze, my fifth-grade teacher who back in 1955 organized a field trip for my 5th grade class to see our first Shakespearean play. I remember the weather that day (cold and rainy), the hour-long school bus ride to and from the big city where the play was presented and of course the work itself, A Comedy of Errors. I can even remember where I sat!

That joyful memory -- and warm thoughts about the special teacher who organized the trip -- flashed back to me at a recent performance of dancers at North Florida Community College.

It was there, during intermission, that my wife and I met Susan Roush, the music teacher at Suwannee Intermediate School. You see, she has taken up that mantle once worn by my Mrs. Koonze. Oh, I'm sure she shares it with many other special teachers along the Suwannee. But she happens to be the one I met and so she and her husband are the couple about whom I can tell you.

Field trips, such as my Shakespearean odyssey all those decades ago, seem to be more of a rarity today. I suspect they are the victims of tight public education budgets and higher gasoline prices.

That has not stopped Susan and her husband Larry. This year, they purchased a family ticket to the Dowling Park Performing Arts Series. It allows up to five persons to attend each performance there, plus the fine arts performances at NFCC and Lake City's Community Concert Series. Next, she asked Suwannee Intermediate's administration to prepare a big bowl containing the names of each of the school's 4th and 5th graders. Then, a week before each performance, the names of three lucky kids are drawn and they get to go out for a meal and a performance, courtesy of the Roush family.

Wow! If you do the math -- and if Susan and Larry are able to schedule attending all 19 performances -- that means up to 57 Suwannee County youngsters will have the opportunity (I suspect many for the first time) to experience a live stage performance, unlike anything they've seen before.

I don't want anyone to think I'm demeaning the dominant art form of the Suwannee Valley. I was raised on country music and today, if I'm not listening to the news on NPR, then Kickin' Kevin or his buds are my regular audio companions. At the same time, I'm thankful that when I was a kid, Mrs. Koonze -- and others like her -- afforded me opportunities to widen my horizons. And that's exactly what the Roush family is doing today.

So Susan and Larry, thanks so much. Perhaps next year, others of us in the community can follow your lead and even more kids will benefit. As you pointed out to me, the family pass, is an amazing value!

I wish I could assure the Roush family that what they are doing will change forever these kids' lives. Only time will show if that is so. I can almost guarantee however, that when those lucky Suwannee County youngsters are 65 --like me -- they too will have warm memories of a special teacher ... someone like my Mrs. Koonze.