My Dedication Page

My Family Dedication

My Speech Therapy Dedication

My Teacher Hall of Fame

This page is dedicated to the important people in my life!

My Family Dedication

I owe everything I am to my family. My parents, Floyd and Shirley King, raised me in a fine Christian home. My dad was in the United States Air Force. We lived in many interesting and fun places. I was able to see alot of America. I treasure the lessons my parents taught me. They are wonderful people. My husband, Jerald, and my children, Jerad and Kristy, are the light of my life. They fill each day with so much love and laughter. My greatest joy in life is being a wife and a mother. We took this picture in July 2001. My brother, Steven, is in the photo with us.

My Grandma Keltch, Uncle Tom, Mom, Aunt Aletha (in green), Aunt Jackie (in maroon), and Aunt Bonnie (in green).

The other important members of my family are my grandmother, my aunts & uncles, my cousins, and their children. We all got together last summer (July 2001) to celebrate my grandma's 90th birthday. We are a close family. It is so much fun to be with them when we get to together at my grandma's house.

The other important people in my life are my neices and nephews. They are all really good kids and they are so blessed to have me for an aunt (Ha!Ha!).

L-R on couch: Gabrielle, Ryan, Amanda, and Jason. L-R on floor: Kristy, Shelby, Jerad, and Killian. This was taken on Christmas 2001.

The two most spoiled critters in my life are our weinie dogs, Dusty and Ginger. I have had dashchund dogs since I was in the fifth grade. They are so cute and they are so glad to see me when I come home. They want to say that "Weinie Dogs Rule!" Ginger and Dusty think they are the bosses of our backyard, but our cat, Cotton , knows that she is the real boss.

My Speech Therapy Dedication

I have dedicated my Speech Therapy career to the memory of my Grandpa King. He was born in 1895 and he died in 1988. When he was a small boy he suffered from seizures. As a result of these seizures he lost the ability to talk. I have heard that he taught himself to talk again, although it didn't sound like a normal voice. He was teased alot at school because his voice sounded like "a rooster crowing". Because he was teased he quit school at a young age and went to work on his father's farm. He later married and had raised nine children. He was always poor and had a very hard life.

I have often wondered if his life would have been different if there had been Speech Pathologists when he was learning to talk again. He could have received therapy for his voice disorder. Maybe he would have been able to stay in school and perhaps life would have been easier for him. There have many times that I have wished that I could have been his speech therapist. I honor his memory every time I help a child learn to speak correctly. I am proud to be able to have helped so many kids in my Speech Therapy career.

My Teacher Hall-of-Fame

I have been fortunate to have had many wonderful teachers in my life. They have all inspired me, in their own way, to be a teacher. I knew I wanted to teach when I was in the fifth grade. My teachers, Mrs. Smith and Mr. Vitale, were so awesome. They were wonderful role models for me!

Other teachers that have been wonderful role models for me are honored in my own personal "Teacher Hall of Fame".

Julia Blake Beach Hamilton

Julia Blake was my GGG-grandmother. She was born in 1820 and died in 1899. She taught school in the late 1830's. She married and began raising six children. After her husband, and two children, died in a cholera epidemic, she had to teach school again to support her family. While she was teaching she met her second husband. She became the mother to his children as they blended their homes. She lived through the Civil War. I have a handwritten letter from her that has been passed down through my family. It is awesome to realize that the words she wrote over 100 years ago are still alive today in a written form. I am sure she was an awesome teacher in her time. I wish that I could go back in time and talk to her and visit her classroom. I wonder if she would want to visit my classroom?

My uncle, Dean King ( as a young man)

My uncle was the first person I knew who was a teacher. He went to college after he got out of the Air Force. He was a social studies and special education teacher. He loves history and he has taught me alot about our family history. Uncle Dean was the one who told me about my GGG-grandma Julia. He is now a psychometrist for the Ft. Worth school district. I enjoy talking to him because he has alot of teacher experiences to share with me. He is a treasure to me. His caring and sensitive spirit make him a perfect teacher. His daughter is also a teacher. His wife is a school nurse.

Mrs. Gail Cox

Mrs. Cox was my high school English teacher. She was a great teacher and she was alot of fun, too. One day she sang the chorus from "Let Me Entertain You" to my class because we were grumbling about how boring English was. When we had to write our term paper she made it as hard as she could. She told us that if we could satisfy her requirements then any papers we had to write in college would be easy. She was right! Every paper I wrote in college was a breeze. I am so glad she prepared me for college. I emailed her last year and told her how much I appreciated her and all that she did for me.

Mr. Randy Seifried

Mr. Seifried was my high school English and speech coach. He was fresh out of college and he had alot of energy. I think the greatest thing he taught me was how to give a good speech. My speech team spent alot of Saturdays with him as he drove us all over the area to speech contests. We also took our one-act play to the state contest. He was un-married at the time and we were his kids. I treasure all of the things he taught me about writing and giving a speech. He made me a better writer. My self-confidence soared because of his encouragement and belief in me. Mr. Seifried is now the principal at Seiling.

Mr. Louis Gardener

Mr. Gardener was my high school math teacher. I know he must have gone home very frustrated with me sometimes. Math and I didn't get along and he tried so very hard to make it click for me. I never liked math very much but I still challenged myself with Algebra I and Algebra II. His patience paid off as I slowly began to understand the concepts he was presenting. He was very soft spoken and calm. I wish my kids could have him as a math teacher. He taught for almost 40 years and retired a few years ago.

Mrs. Sherry Braud (Bro)

Mrs. Braud was my high school music teacher. She was a tremendous Christian lady. You could see Christ in her everyday. She made music so much fun. I remember she had a class of about 30 9th-12th grade girls. We sang so many really fun songs. Since we were all girls it was like having a giggle party every day. She took us to Tri-State and we won the Sweepstakes prize. We got to spend the night in a gymnasium. It was a giant slumber party and I don't think she got any sleep. She touched the lives of so many of the girls in our class. I know that we all think she is the best music teacher ever.

Mr. Johnny Barton

Mr. Johnny Barton was my advisor in college at Northwestern Oklahoma State University. He taught Speech and Speech Pathology. He was a Speech Pathologist and he inspired me to make Speech Path. my minor with my Elementary Education major. After I sat through my first Speech Path. class with him (Phonetics), I was hooked. He was such a positive, happy guy. He always had a joke or story to tell and he always had a smile. He tried to talk me into pursuing Speech Path. as a major by transfering to OSU. I decided not to do that, but I later wished that I had followed his advice. I finally pursued a Master's Degree in Speech Path but from Ft. Hayes University. I finished my master's degree after I was married and had two children (in 1991). If I had followed his advice I would have gotten the degree before I had kids. I guess it pays to listen to those who advise you. He was my entry year faculty advisor after I started working at Forgan (way back in 1987). I looked forward to his visits to my Speech classroom. I hope he was as proud of me as I was of him. He was a great mentor and friend. He retired and moved away from Alva. I don't know where he is now, but I bet he is smiling.

Mr. Glen Kirkendall, Mrs. Susan Wynn and me (May 2002)

Mr. Kirkendall had been my principal for 14 years while I was part-time Speech Pathologist. In 2001 I was hired to teach and I was privileged to co-teach with him and Mrs. Wynn. I must admit that it was the best year of my professional career. I was the happiest I had been in along time. I learned so much from teaching along side both of them. I think that they are two of the best teachers I have had the privileged of working with. My only regret is that while the 2001-02 school year was my first year of teaching it was Mr. Kirkendall's last year. He retired in May of 2002. I hope that someday someone will say that I am as good of a teacher as both Mr. K and Mrs. Wynn are.

L-R: Me, Miss Johnson (also a first year teacher), Mrs. Watson, Mrs. Ward, Mrs. Kirkendall, Mr. Kirkendall, Mrs. Radcliff, Mrs. Smalts, Mrs. Nichols. (May 2002)

My final entries into my Teacher Hall of Fame are my co-workers at Forgan. Each of these teachers are true master teachers. I have learned so much from watching them teach. I am glad to say that they are more than just co-workers, they are good friends. A few other teachers must be mentioned here as well. Retired teachers: Mrs. Sherri Hodges, Mrs. Connie Sells and Mrs. Dorothy Coldwater (I worked with her at Beaver).

Mrs. Ladona Mathis and new teachers, Mrs. Tera Albert and Mrs. Lindsey Long, are also Hall-of-Famers in my eyes.

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