Did your fifth-grade teacher change your life?
Many of Florida Mesa Elementary School’s class of 1960 say their’s sure did.
On Saturday, Grace Erikson, former Florida Mesa Elementary and Miller Middle School teacher turned 100, and many of her students were there to wish her a happy birthday.
Organized by three former rowdy students, Willie Elmore, Roy Plemons and Gary Roth, the Eolus room at the Durango Community Recreation Center was a flurry of people coming and going, birthday cards, candles and cake, all to say thank you to Erikson.
“We were a bunch of brats,” Roth said about his class of 1960. “We had five teachers in the first six months. Then they hired her, and she straightened us out.”
Many explained that Erikson’s brand of teaching and influence lasted into their adulthood.
Plemons said she taught lessons that reached far beyond the classroom walls.
“She brought us all together as a group,” he said. “She taught us respect for each other.”
Elmore, whose father and grandfather ran the old store on Elmore’s Corner, said she turned ill-behaved adolescents into aspiring young minds.
“She taught us to be somebody,” he said. “She really did change our lives.”
In 2010, some of Erikson’s students held a 50th class reunion for their fifth-grade class – 22 attended.
“We tracked down people from all over the country,” Roth said. “We’ve got doctors, lawyers; I became an engineer. She taught us the values of life.”
The guest of honor entertained a line of people showing their gratitude – former students, their husbands and wives. Her impact rippled through generations.
Letters were displayed, each one detailing an appreciation of Erikson’s dedication to her students.
Erikson said while she was strict, she loved her students.
“I was a cranky old thing,” she said. “Boy, I wouldn’t put up with any foolishness. We went round and round, but then, we got it settled.”
She said she challenged herself to keep her students engaged – field trips, studying wildlife – she often used National Geographic magazines as textbooks.
She reflects on her life as a teacher fondly, living “in the country with her beautiful dog, two lovely cats and a whole bunch of geese,” as she put it.
“We were a happy bunch,” she said. “A teacher and the kids. I always loved my teaching. I wouldn’t have missed that for anything.”
bmathis@durangoherald.com
