My Biography:

My story as a teacher of 34 years really began before my first teaching assignment.  The greatest factor that influenced me to become a teacher was when I discovered my teacher’s heart.  I met a great teacher.  Her name was Emily McCarty, my sixth grade teacher.  I don’t recall what she taught me, but her imprint remains.  I do remember that I wanted to be like Ms. McCarty and become a teacher.  She was real in her relationship with me; she didn’t care that I wore homemade dresses or lived in a run-down apartment.  I knew she loved me.  She taught me about art, poetry, and music.  I read every biography in our school library, and she would have mini-talks with me about the book I was reading.  I have never forgotten.  She died of cancer two years after I left her sixth grade classroom.

Seven years later, it was time for me to get my “teaching papers”, my degree.  I completed that part of my life in three years and was hired two days later.

My teaching journey has reached levels beyond any measure I could have imagined.  I went from a classroom teacher to teaching classes at the college level to becoming a Fulbright Master Teacher in Tokyo, Japan.

Notable accomplishments include:

• Established and developed a Study Skills Center for a community college in Illinois
• Wrote and secured a grant for setting up a student counseling service in the Skills Center
• Wrote a Reading Workbook for the college
• Published a Children’s story for a newsletter
• Served as a teacher-counselor for educational trips to Europe
• Taught Math Workshops for the City of St. Charles School District
• Team Wrote and secured a grand for $32,000 for elementary school to establish a writing-publishing center
• Presenter at Missouri Council for teachers of English
• Piloted a program funded by the Kaufman Foundation-Teaching children how to become entrepreneurs.
• Participated in economic workshops  in Riga, Latvia and Zagreb, Croatia
• Served for three years as a member of the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank Teacher’s Advisory Board
• Twice received the “Crystal Apple” for Excellence in Teaching Award
• Participated in the Fulbright Memorial Fund—Master Teacher Program, Tokyo, Japan
• Wrote and published: An American Entrepreneur, Mr. Joyce Clyde Hall, Founder of Hallmark Cards, Inc.  A book to teach students about entrepreneurship.

The greatest accomplishment from my teaching years is that students  returned to my classroom after many years.  They returned as high school seniors or college graduates.  I have been invited to parties, weddings, and baby showers.  They keep in touch.  And the one comment that they make to me is,  “We knew you loved us”.  They also recall how much they loved learning economics.  Can you imagine that!!  It was a hands-on study that required them to establish a business from writing a business plan to keeping up with profit to earning the money needed to buy items to begin their businesses.  They learned about partnership and that sometimes being a partner with someone just didn’t work.  I required that they work the problems out for themselves.

HOW I WROTE THE BOOK:

When I retired, I knew that I wanted to continue being in the lives of students.  My teacher heart just wouldn’t stop beating.  I had read a short article about the Founder of Hallmark Cards, Inc, Mr. Joyce Clyde Hall, but found no information about him.

I contacted Mr. Donald J. Hall, President of Hallmark, and asked him for help in gaining more information about his grandfather, Mr. Joyce Clyde Hall.  Mr. Hall sent my letter to the publicity department and Kristi Ernsting, publicity manager, called me.  We scheduled a visit for me to come to the headquarters, to visit the Visitor’s Center, and to collect information for my book.  The collection included the book, When You Care Enough, the memoirs of Mr. Joyce Clyde Hall and Hallmark brochures.

As I was writing the book about Mr. Hall’s life, the economic terms kept surfacing.  An example would be:  When Mr. Joyce Hall ran out of gift wrapping it seemed the natural time to explain to students what scarcity meant. (Scarcity—the condition that occurs when people’s wants for goods and services are greater than the resources available.)

This grew until I had woven thirty-three economic definitions into the story.  Hallmark liked that idea.

I also created questions to ask the readers.  An example when I wrote about the expansion of their business from greeting cards to gift wrapping.  (Dear Readers, This is just the beginning for Hall Brothers’ varied line of products.  If you don’t believe it, visit a Hallmark Cold Crown® store today and notice the many products that to beyond greeting cards.)

My purpose for using this format was to create an easy flow of information not only for the student but the classroom teacher.  I wanted the book to be taught with ease.

Before my book was published, I had to receive approval from the legal department concerning the integrity of the story and the archive department in how the pictures they had provided were used.  I welcomed these requirements.