4th Grade Teacher Mrs. Gaines Finishes Up Last Year of Teaching Friday, April 17, 2009 By Peyton Harrison Mrs. Gaine's shows off her bright, always showing, smile. - Advertising After 25 years of teaching at Parkview Elementary, Mrs. Donna Gaines has decided it's time to retire. "I'm ready to try other things and see my children, plus eat lunch out more often, clean house, and continue shopping."   Mrs. Gaines decided she wanted to major in education while she was in high school. She was a social studies buff. "It's also my favorite to teach," she explained. She was not a fan of P.E. though, but overall she was a pretty good student. She went to college at the Central Missouri State University (now called UCM) for four years. She started her career here in Cameron and has been teaching in the district since. She taught special education math at first, then 5th, 6th, and finally 4th grade.   "I love the 4th grade cirriculum--studying Missouri, Mini Society, and Famous Missourians," she explained.   Her son is also a teacher. He teaches English in Korea. "I plan on visiting him after I retire," said Mrs. Gaines, "and I'm going to see my daughter in St. Louis." More time with her kids is one of the main things she's looking forward to. "I won't miss getting up at 5:30. I like sleeping in! But I'm really going to miss the people I work with and the students."   The students and staff are going to miss her as well. "I feel really sad because the younger kids won't get to have a teacher like her," said Madalyn Boguslaw. "She teaches us in a fun way."   "I'm going to miss her personality," said Sawyer Day.   "I'm going to miss her smiling face," added Megan Negus.   When I interviewed her class, they were all very eager to share their thoughts and had nothing but nice things to say about their beloved teacher.   "She lets us have class meetings where we sit on the floor and talk about what we'll do for the day," said Beatrice DeLaPena. "I like math, and Mrs. Gaines helps us with long division." "I like how she teaches science. I like the subject we're doing now about rocks. I collect rocks because of her," Megan chirped in.   Aside from the basics, the fourth graders participate in hands-on learning such as Mini-Society and Famous Missourians. "I liked Mini-Society," said former student Ethan Lowenstein. He still recalls his 'job.' "For my business, I gave massages." Even past students remember being a fourth grader in Mrs. Gaine's class. "I liked her teaching method. She made learning fun," said former student/now Sophomore Sierra Pulliam, "I also love her personality. To this day, every time I see her we talk." "It's sad that next year's fourth graders won't get the chance like I did to have a great teacher like her, but she deserves to be able to do something different if that's what she wants," said former student/current Freshman Brittany Assel. Mrs. Gaine's is Brittany's neighbor now. "She was always really nice to all of her students and we had fun while we learned. She was a really good teacher," she said. Sophomore Clint Korneman, another past student, remembers the little things Mrs. Gaines did to make learning fun. "I liked when we raced on math questions for candy," he said. Mrs. Hanes, a personal friend and co-worker of Mrs. Gaines, said, "She's always smiling, congenial, conscientious, dedicated to helping students learn, and she's nice to everybody!" She's sure to leave a mark on everyone's hearts she's touched. She was my 4th grade teacher, and I can say that she left a wonderful impression on me. I appreciate everything she taught me. Thanks Mrs. Gaines! Enjoy sleeping in!

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