You're Never
Too Old to Learn -
or to Teach
Miss Mollie B. Zion, lead teacher
of the Intermediate 2 class in the Winter '97 term, conductes her class
with humor, understanding and a healthy dose of good human relations.
She varies the presentation of material to include use of the tape recorder,
group repetition, individual reading, pair work, freewheeling discussion
of ideas, and much acting out of words. There is something else you should
know about this energetic teacher. She is 81 years old.
Although she uses a cane to
walk, there is nothing frail about Mollie. I have seen her get up from
her desk, tip toe up to a student and say "Boo" to demonstrate
the word "sneak," which had been confused with the word "snake."
She has acted out the work kick, also, with forceful foot action applied
to an imaginary football.
Mollie also wears a hearing
aid. Occasionally she has to remind her more reticent pupils to raise
their voices. "You have an old teacher with a hearing aid, please
speak up!" But the patience and respect that she shows to her students
is always reciprocated.
Her age allows her to tell
stories from her own experience of how things "used to be,"
enchanting her students, many of whom are 50 to 60 years younger than
she. During a discussion of how "everday things" may differ
from country to country, she described the icebox of her youth, complete
with the daily iceman's visits and the absolute necessity of emptying
the pan of melt-off.
For 27 years, Mollie worked
for the U.S. government. Her last position was as confidential assistant
to the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. After retirement,
she had been doing some other volunteer work when a friend told her about
the NSC. She called and was immediately invited to observe a class. She
started teaching right away and she's not regretted it a bit. Since that
day nine years ago, Mollie has taught innumerable sections of Intermediate
2, as well as classes nearly every other level of English offered by the
agency. She has helped with registration, been a subsititute teacher,
and tutored individual students. To enrich her teaching skills, over the
years she has attended many of the workshops offered by the Education
Coordinator.
A modest woman who clearly
loves what she is doing, Mollie speaks of the rewarding relationships
she has formed and the joy of helping others. What she describes are ageless
feelings.
(Written for the NSC newsletter
Common Ground in Spring 1997 by Cynthia Claus and edited
by Christa Snow)
Mollie Zion retired from classroom
teaching at the end of the Winter 2002 term at the age of 86 for health
reasons but tutors students in her home.
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