It all started in Kindergarten with her first real teacher. Her name was Ginny Goeres and she shaped the path Crystal’s life would take for the next forty years. The first day of class Mrs. Goeres greeted everyone waiting in line outside with a reassuring smile and led them into the classroom. She asked them each their names and memorized them on the first day, something Crystal didn’t fully appreciate as a child. There was no work on the first few days of class and Mrs. Goeres took time to build personal relationships with all of her students including Crystal, and in turn created a warm and open environment to learn.
As time went on, they began to learn to read. Mrs. Goeres made sure to take time to check in with each kid as she went and helped those who fell behind. Crystal, “didn’t always need help myself but I always watched when she stooped down to help out the other kids. I couldn’t help thinking about just how kind and tender she was.” Story time was where Mrs. Goeres left the biggest impact on her. She had been used to reading being more of an assignment or learning based activity, but during story time with Mrs. Goeres reading it became something else entirely.
Unfortunately, the year after she was put into Mrs. Landblom’s class. The environment was completely different than what she had been accustomed to in Mrs. Goeres’ class. “This isn’t to say she was a bad teacher, but that kindness and tenderness just wasn’t near what Mrs. Goeres had put forth, and reading and writing once again became assignments.” A full year went by without a single new world being created in that room.
Crystal continued to view reading in this analytical way until fifth grade where she read ‘Where the Red Fern Grows’. Being in a higher grade level introduced reading discussions and the older kids got, the more mature and in depth the discussions became. This coupled with independent reading reignited the embers of her passion for reading and writing. The day after the Fern lesson was over, she “visited the local library and brought home a huge bag of books. I stayed up pretty late reading them.” As life went on her family at home had expanded to a household of six. “Every day was chaotic and work filled and reading became my escape.” Crystal went on to win multiple spelling bees in middle and high school, enjoying meaningful literature classes along the way.
When it came time to go to college Crystal knew exactly what she wanted to do upon entering. “The first thing that popped into my head was teaching. It was actually the only thing I even considered other than psychology.” The impression Mrs. Goeres, her kindergarten teacher, had left behind was still alive and well. Crystal took her time in college to further develop her love and skill in reading and writing, taking education classes, and readying herself to dive into the career she had been smitten with since kindergarten.
Her first year of teaching started off strong and Crystal’s kindergarten teacher even paid a visit to her classroom. “It meant so much to me to have her in my own classroom. The person that started my love of reading, writing, and teaching got to see the impact of her hard work on her students.” Crystal still teaches to this day, and even now, as a parent of two, “reading still provides an excellent escape.”
Crystal’s experience with literacy was “One of the best things that has happened” to her. It started off as a personal journey of learning and growth and has now come back around full circle to continue on as a teaching and guiding experience, adding one more amazing sponsor of literacy into the world.
