Teacher's Passion

Gold Finch (Iowa's State Bird)

Red Wing Black Bird

It is what my teachers had passion for that I most remember.

Ms. Ford, my 5th grade teacher had passion for birds. There were other things too. In general she was a passionate person. I remember her sticking a record on the phonograph in the corner and making us all sing, “Peas, peas, peas, peas, eating goober peas, goodness how delicious, eating goober peas.” As 5th graders we knew this was corny (well---no not corn, when singing about peas – peanuts really – she would teach us about the song, but…) certainly not cool. But, for Ms. Ford we would do anything.

It was after school, the bird hikes, where we discovered her deep passion. She would only take 10 of us at a time. Equipped with binoculars, bird books, and check lists we followed our beloved leader for miles, quietly, very quietly, looking for birds. Actually I don’t know that any of us overly cared about the birds, but watching Ms. Ford’s pure delight at each new discovery, whispering the details, the history, the rarity at what we were seeing, that was worth all the after school extras. The birds were special, Ms. Ford’s enthusiam was special, but mostly, because we were her honored guests on these hikes we somehow new how special we were too.

I suppose, considering Ms. Ford, it is not so odd that where ever I am, even on runs, my awareness of the sounds, and an eagerness to see each bird makes sense. The passion of a teacher can be alluring. It is from passion that learning takes hold.