Mrs. Nancy Story --English

I never dreamed I'd be a teacher.

Not after obtaining a degree in broadcasting from Colorado State, where English and Speech were my minors. Not after spending six years on the ski slopes in Steamboat Springs, Colorado where I first loaded lifts and then graduated to teaching skiing. Not after obtaining a teaching certificate form the University of Northern Colorado while my husband finished grad school. And I certainly never thought I'd be a teacher when I began a career as a journalist, and ended up serving 15 years as public relations director at Crystal Mountain Resort.

But I have always believed in life that you regret what you DON'T do more than regretting what you do. Education had never been my calling, but had always been my passion. So when the opportunity arose to teach English at Onekama three years ago, I ran with it.

What I seek to do as an educator is to find the magic motivational key that unlocks students' minds. I try to make learning more interesting, and use my out-of-academia experiences to give students another perspective on their studies. Those goals although firm, are affected daily by the reality of paperwork, discipline, excuses, and lost souls looking to be found. Teaching requires management and people skills matching those of a CEO in the business sector- only our product is far more important, and impossible to price.

What do I look for in a student? I look for signs of interest in their eyes. Intelligence often peeks through the practiced lethargy of an avowed slacker, and I take it as a personal challenge to try and find the IQ points they swear they don't have.