TEACHER'S CORNER: REWARDS OF TEACHING COME EVERY DAY FOR KINDERGARTEN TEACHER

JACKSON -- Pam Petzoldt's kindergarteners didn't understand how it could be true: The book their teacher read said George Washington had "four fathers."

Kindergarteners, Petzoldt said, take everything literally, and that makes teaching youngsters fun.

"The wonderful part about 5- and 6-year-olds is that they are so full of amazement," she said. "They want to learn and they enjoy it.

Petzoldt teaches at the Jackson Primary Annex. Her classroom is busy. Students dig up dinosaur bones in big pools of sand, build cities of Lego blocks, explore with microscopes, paint. write and read. They don't stay still very long.

From childhood, Petzoldt knew she wanted to be a teacher. She played school with her sisters. "I knew this would be the perfect career for me," she said.

She earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Southeast Missouri State University.

She and her husband, Jeff, have a 3-year-old son, Jordan. She is expecting another child in August.

She enjoys gardening and counted cross-stitch and serves as treasurer of Jackson's Community Teachers Association.

Petzoldt said rewards of teaching come every day.

"Their smiles, their hugs, the looks on their faces when they finally understand a concept. Those make every day of what I do worth it."