TEACHER'S CORNER: TEACHER LEAVES RETIREMENT AND RETURNS TO CLASSROOM

Retirement is only a formality for teaching veteran Pat Hill.

The computer science teacher and special services coordinator taught for two-and-one-half years in Scott City public schools and 28 years in Jackson public schools before retiring in May 1996. After only two months away, however, she accepted a position at St. Vincent de Paul Grade School, where she still teaches.

"I love my new career in teaching," said the mother of two and grandmother of three. "My duties are mainly administrative, but I also work with the teachers and disabled students to help them succeed in the traditional classroom."

Hill enjoys teaching computer science because it allows her to work with students of various age groups. The classes involve many levels of instruction and a broad range of programs, she said, and they challenge her because they change every hour of the day.

Instructional aids have changed a lot since Hill decided as an eighth-grader that she wanted to teach. Although she didn't begin working with computers until the summer after her high school graduation, she now teaches children as young as 5 and 6 years of age.

"I attended a short session at IBM school in St. Louis and then got a job working with computers at Southeast (University), where I worked my way through college," she said. "I didn't begin teaching computer classes until my last five years in Jackson."

Hill continues to teach because of the high level of gratification she receives from it. She loves being around children and helping them to develop academically and socially.

"Teaching is very fulfilling because you are making a difference in the world," she said. "It's a constant learning process, and it's importing in forming the future of our children."