The Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Decades later, I can still picture Mrs. Fields’ warm smile. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, I was fortunate that she was just as quick with a well-deserved tongue-lashing or stern order to retreat to the corner of the classroom reserved for the misbehaved.

The truth is, I remember little of my days at Cardinal Forest Elementary School in Springfield, Va. I can picture the faces of some of my teachers and some of the classmates who were my closest friends. I can visualize the asphalt parking lot that served as our kickball field, and the large grass field where we played soccer and ran laps during physical education class.

I also remember the open library with its low-lying bookshelves and limited computer lab. And I remember the spare classroom where my sister and I took an optional Spanish class before the school day officially began.

But most of all, I remember Mrs. Fields, my third-grade teacher. My family had just moved from Southern California to Northern Virginia, and for the third time in three years, I was the new kid in class. We were living in a rental home that wasn’t part of a neighborhood and had few other children around with whom to play. The children who did live near us attended a different school.

Perhaps sensing my difficult transition to a new place, Mrs. Fields provided strong support during the school day. Like many of the best teachers, she found a way to relate to each of her students based on his or her individual needs, be they social, academic or otherwise. It was Mrs. Fields who helped me develop my creative writing, the result of which can be read in such memorable short stories as “The Spaghetti Incident” and “The Whirlpool.” Somewhere I still have the bound, self-illustrated copies.

Mrs. Fields was tough on me, and for good reason. I often played the role of class clown, so she found other ways to channel my energy in a constructive manner.

Mrs. Fields also was innovative, constantly looking for ways to engage her students and introduce them to new experiences.

I’ll never forget our trip to Leewood Nursing Home, where we put on a “Puff the Magic Dragon” puppet show with sock puppets we had made the week before with help from a retired art teacher. The puppet show was followed by snacks and reading time with the senior citizens who called Leewood home. I remember meeting the center’s 100-year-old resident, and I remember the World War II veteran who liked to put together jigsaw puzzles.

The residents so enjoyed the show that they asked us to return, but it was too late in the year for school-sponsored field trips. Leewood Nursing Home put up the money for the transportation for our return trip, and our friendships with the seniors were solidified.

While we were too young to realize it at the time, Mrs. Fields had gone the extra mile for our education, searching for ways to engage us beyond traditional classroom walls.

Routt County families are fortunate to have many teachers with the same dedication and passion as Mrs. Fields. At Home writer Dave Shively and photographer John F. Russell identified six outstanding local educators for this issue of the magazine. I hope you’re similarly inspired by their work with our children.

Most of all, I hope your children, someday far in the future, look back with affection at the influence any one of their teachers had on their lives.

Teachers like Mrs. Jessie Fields.

At Home editor Brent Boyer can be reached at bboyer@steamboatpilot.com