From Student to Teacher: Lucinda Burris' 45-Year Journey at Lipscomb Academy

It takes a special person to teach middle school and to do it for 29 years says more about the person than the career. Celebrating a 2025 retiree, a special teacher shares her treasured memories and insightful advice for building successful communities. Hosted by Dr. Brad Schultz and Amanda Price, this …. is Mustangs Unbridled.

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Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;31;10
Speaker 1
It takes a special person to teach middle school and to do it for 29 years says more about the person than the career. Celebrating a 2025 retiree, a special teacher shares her treasured memories and insightful advice for building successful communities. Hosted by Dr. Brad Schultz and Amanda Price, this is Mustang's unbridled.

00;00;31;13 - 00;00;47;09
Speaker 2
Let's go to Academy has a long tradition of teachers who dedicate their career to this school. And every once in a while we have to say a cherished goodbye to some who have poured heart and soul into our students. For the 2526 academic year, four such stars are retiring.

00;00;47;12 - 00;01;02;06
Speaker 1
Lucinda Burris, sixth grade English teacher, is one of them. She's been connected to Lipscomb for most of her life. She embraced her father's love for both English and Lipscomb and has dedicated 29 faithful years to the Academy. Welcome to the sound studio, Lucinda.

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Speaker 3
Thank you.

00;01;04;07 - 00;01;29;21
Speaker 1
So, Lucinda, we have a small group of individuals that we call Lipscomb lifers. And it's for those who start either in kindergarten or first grade, and they go all the way through and graduate from here, which you're part of that group. And you actually hopped on over to the university campus and you went there, too. So you it's interesting because you ended up coming back to the academy.

00;01;29;23 - 00;02;04;09
Speaker 1
So if you put all your years together, I think I did my math right. It's about 45 years that you've had a personal relation ship on this campus. So tell me so you've seen a lot. You've seen building changes. You've seen lots of administrators come and go. There have been technology trends and education trends. So what has been the most striking thing for you as a student many years ago and then as a teacher during your 29 years here?

00;02;04;11 - 00;02;27;21
Speaker 3
A lot of the things you mentioned, but I also when I was thinking about this conversation, I thought we are so much more diverse community than we were when I was in school here. When I was in high school, we had literally one black student in our whole grade. And so I love that now how our classes reflect our community so much better.

00;02;27;23 - 00;02;42;21
Speaker 3
But I have to tell you, too, I actually feel like I have even more time than that. My dad started teaching here the same week I was born. So I remember playing in a play in in the Home EC room when it was being remodeled before I ever started school here.

00;02;42;24 - 00;02;46;00
Speaker 1
So what I heard you say is that he didn't take paternity leave.

00;02;46;03 - 00;02;50;08
Speaker 3
I'm confident he did not.

00;02;50;10 - 00;02;51;20
Speaker 4
So tell me.

00;02;51;23 - 00;03;02;11
Speaker 1
What is it that you want? What is it that you remember the most about your time here as a student? What? What just really impacted you?

00;03;02;14 - 00;03;27;06
Speaker 3
It's the teachers. I can still name. Martha Randall, who did our senior English. She was just such a strong impact on me. Sharon Brummett Later, Sharon Farmer was our choral director and just said such a tone of excellence for us. Hubert Long taught Bible, and he was just he was such a joy to be in his class. Took us to his house.

00;03;27;06 - 00;03;51;23
Speaker 3
We did all the things and Marvin Crouch taught Senor Bible over in Granny White's building now Green Hills. And poor thing, he tried to teach marriage in the family home. His teaching is about checkbooks, and he starts talking about this thing called balance in your checkbook. And when class was over, I went up and said, I've had a checking account for six months and I don't know what you're talking about.

00;03;51;26 - 00;03;52;22
Speaker 2
You overdrawn.

00;03;52;24 - 00;04;08;00
Speaker 3
I was not on time. Much money that was not overdrawn. But Sweet man looked at me, went, Just bring me everything. And he straightened out my checkbook and got me on the right track. So teachers really stand out to me.

00;04;08;02 - 00;04;24;27
Speaker 2
I can't tell you how many times I hear Martha RADDATZ name mentioned. I mean, that she had to be. I mean, I've met her in person, so I know she's in person, but just like in the classroom, right. I didn't experience that. But I can't even tell you how many times I've heard her name mentioned and always in high regard.

00;04;24;27 - 00;04;25;06
Speaker 2
Right.

00;04;25;11 - 00;04;51;12
Speaker 3
Well, she and my dad had taught together, so I knew her. In fact, her daughter, if I have it right, my mother babysat her daughter when she was really little. So we've just had, you know, that close relationship. But I remember so well reading Hamlet with her doing that senior research paper with her. I did a big thing that I asked Daddy what to read, and he told me to read one of the Carson McCullers novels, and Martha had never read it.

00;04;51;12 - 00;04;55;12
Speaker 3
So I challenged her a little bit on that project.

00;04;55;15 - 00;05;12;01
Speaker 1
Well, it was we've talked about all the years and the things that you've seen have changed. So reflect upon your whole time here. Is there something today that still reminds you of the Lipscomb that that when you started in the first grade chapel?

00;05;12;04 - 00;05;35;25
Speaker 3
We you know, I remember doing chapel, we went to a caf, even in elementary school, because, of course, it was first through 12th grades in this building at that time. And I remember so well sitting in the rows in a caf in elementary school with this Leonard lady this and saying in and later in the in junior high and high school we were together in chapel, if I remember right.

00;05;35;28 - 00;05;53;06
Speaker 3
And we even then did the start the back thing and moved to the front so seniors were in the front but chapel and the teachers who taught but the funny things that happened in there and and just that that being together as a whole community.

00;05;53;08 - 00;06;00;14
Speaker 2
I will say one time when when people walk in there, they haven't been there on time. They do I do hear this a lot like it smells the same.

00;06;00;16 - 00;06;21;10
Speaker 3
When we had our last reunion, they wanted to come to campus and have a chapel because we had two or three class members pass away. And so that just felt like the right thing to do. And it was they were everybody was. So I got to be the guy that day, which was fun. And they all came in and we're just like, Oh, it's different, but it's the same, you know?

00;06;21;13 - 00;06;21;22
Speaker 3
So.

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Speaker 1
So what do you think it smells like? How would you describe it?

00;06;25;02 - 00;06;35;05
Speaker 3
Well, it's a little musty, but also, I don't know that I know how describe it. Describe it. But it's just that the love smell, you know.

00;06;35;07 - 00;06;41;07
Speaker 2
It's got to be the word abuse, because that's the only thing that's constant. Right? It has to be something there that's that's maintained.

00;06;41;07 - 00;06;52;21
Speaker 3
It it may be better now because of the new heating and cooling system. But for so long, Robert was just holding that together by stirring right.

00;06;52;23 - 00;07;05;21
Speaker 2
So as Amanda shared, you decided to come back and teach at your alma mater. And so what was it like walking the halls, you know, as a teacher when you had walked home as a student? And so that's got to be a weird feeling, right?

00;07;05;27 - 00;07;28;25
Speaker 3
It was it was really funny because I had just opened the first phase back here of the new addition. And I remember at the time the middle school office was right across the hall here, and I remember being in there with another alumna and she said, Do you know where we are? And I looked around and said, You're going to have to tell me, because it had all changed.

00;07;28;28 - 00;07;43;07
Speaker 3
We were in the upstairs helmet kitchen but was now the middle school office. But it was a thing in our high school days for the teacher to let you work in the upstairs kitchen. And I was never trusted enough to move to the upstairs kitchen.

00;07;43;07 - 00;07;46;27
Speaker 2
So you didn't recognize where you were.

00;07;46;29 - 00;08;05;11
Speaker 1
Were you? You mentioned about your dad. Mm hmm. And he was here. He was an English teacher. He oversaw the Pony Express, which is the school newspaper. So your whole life, you have grown up. You grew up watching your dad do this work. Did it did it influence your decision to become an English teacher?

00;08;05;14 - 00;08;12;25
Speaker 3
No. And and I know that's not the expected answer. I really went to school to become a music teacher.

00;08;12;28 - 00;08;13;28
Speaker 1
Oh, interesting.

00;08;13;28 - 00;08;36;12
Speaker 3
And then after I had my daughter, I went back and got an endorsement for grades one through eight. So when this I was teaching and it just worked out that I was in L.A. and Ezell Harding. And then the fifth grade position came up and here and it sort of morphed into an English position. So I don't want to say that it didn't influence me because he clearly did.

00;08;36;14 - 00;08;40;11
Speaker 3
But I took a different path to get there than a lot of people do.

00;08;40;13 - 00;08;41;28
Speaker 1
Well, what instruments do you play?

00;08;42;03 - 00;08;43;10
Speaker 3
A Down. It was a voice.

00;08;43;10 - 00;08;44;02
Speaker 1
Mail.

00;08;44;05 - 00;08;44;22
Speaker 3
Vocal.

00;08;44;22 - 00;08;56;14
Speaker 2
So I actually knew this because Phil told us the other day and he also told us a story we had to cut we had to cut this that you found a homeless guy sleeping in one of the music rooms.

00;08;56;16 - 00;09;13;28
Speaker 3
Oh, that's right. I'd forgotten that. But he's right. It was a little intimidating, you know, to walk in there. They had the practice rooms back there, and we were supposed to go practice, of course, and I'd forgotten about that. But yes, open up the door. And surprise. It was.

00;09;14;00 - 00;09;17;20
Speaker 2
And you were in college, so you were while. 18 and stuff like that.

00;09;17;24 - 00;09;22;22
Speaker 3
And I don't remember. He has more invested in that story than I did.

00;09;22;25 - 00;09;25;25
Speaker 1
He did enjoy telling us.

00;09;25;27 - 00;09;30;19
Speaker 2
I don't remember. Yeah, he did have a he's like, oh, she was bless her heart.

00;09;30;21 - 00;09;37;04
Speaker 3
And maybe he was joining me because a lot of times he accompanied me. So we sometimes met there, you know?

00;09;37;06 - 00;09;42;09
Speaker 2
So even though your dad's career didn't inspire your career.

00;09;42;12 - 00;09;43;06
Speaker 3
Not directly.

00;09;43;06 - 00;09;58;28
Speaker 2
You know, just get it. But I'm sure after you stepped into your profession, there was probably like leaning on him with conversations for guidance or what do you think about this? So any, any advice or words of wisdom that he shared with you over the years?

00;09;59;01 - 00;10;20;06
Speaker 3
The first piece was really one he gave me even as a student, but I have found it to be so true. I had some kind of assignment and he took me to the library, said, I'm not going to tell you the answer to your question, but I'm going to show you how to find the answer. And he said, That's a much more important thing to teach your students, is how to find the information they need.

00;10;20;06 - 00;10;39;13
Speaker 3
And I think that's probably even more true today than it was at the time when he was taking me. But the other thing that and it was not like, you need to know this, but I called him one day frustrated about some student behavior, and he said to me, So where do you think this person will be in like ten years?

00;10;39;13 - 00;10;57;12
Speaker 3
I said, Oh, he'll be fine. He'll be all grown up and do his thing. And he's and and so what is the problem He always had He always handled the discipline, but he always had a gentle way of doing it. And I think that that example has been really important to me for sure.

00;10;57;18 - 00;10;58;13
Speaker 2
That's great.

00;10;58;15 - 00;11;09;17
Speaker 1
Well, Lucinda, we actually have a surprise for you. Oh, you have some people outside that want to come tell some stories about how we found why we switched mics for this.

00;11;09;18 - 00;11;10;24
Speaker 2
Yeah, I almost threw it off.

00;11;10;26 - 00;11;12;17
Speaker 3
Oh, my goodness.

00;11;12;19 - 00;11;17;15
Speaker 1
Yourselves. Hi, I'm Katie Batson.

00;11;17;17 - 00;11;21;09
Speaker 4
I'm Jennifer Clay. And I'm Jane Thomas.

00;11;21;11 - 00;11;28;00
Speaker 1
Hey. Well, welcome. Our celebration for Lucinda. What? What do y'all have to share with us?

00;11;28;02 - 00;11;56;22
Speaker 4
Well, I'll start probably with Lucinda the longest amount of time, because we've been up here together for 16 or 17 years. I was trying to figure it out, and I've taught fifth grade with her and sixth grade with her now. So I guess some of my most fun memories, there are lots but doing time one when we were in fifth grade together, doing all the fifth grade play weeks and how much fun that was, and she always directed that show and did such a phenomenal job.

00;11;56;24 - 00;12;19;04
Speaker 4
Lucinda taught both of my kids in fifth grade and just this week we were on our way to Huntsville and we were on the same bus together, taking the kids to the space center. And my daughter, who teaches at Nolensville High School, now called me about something and Lucinda was having to tell everybody on the bus something and she said, Oh, I'm having flashbacks to my 11 year old self sitting in Miss versus classroom.

00;12;19;11 - 00;12;30;18
Speaker 4
She sounds exactly the same. So and they share all kinds of book things together still with their love of reading. So I always appreciate her for instilling that with my children.

00;12;30;18 - 00;12;56;18
Speaker 1
So and Lucinda has just been such a constant in my life. I student taught with Lucinda and then was hired to teach fifth grade with her the very next year. So we've taught my full 14 years here and we just have had so many memories, so many fun times together. We have traveled a lot together. We we were kind of a duo.

00;12;56;18 - 00;13;18;22
Speaker 1
We both taught Ella fifth grade for a long time. And so I had to write this down. I had to look it up. We've traveled to we went to New York City for a week. We went to Columbia Teachers College, and that was a fun experience. And I always laugh. Listen out. If you remember, we were walking down the street in New York, just like bopping around, and all of a sudden we kind of like look at each other.

00;13;18;22 - 00;13;20;23
Speaker 1
And I was like, Do you know where we're going?

00;13;20;25 - 00;13;22;04
Speaker 3
And she looked at me and said.

00;13;22;04 - 00;13;24;02
Speaker 1
No, Do you know where we're going? I was.

00;13;24;02 - 00;13;26;24
Speaker 4
Following her.

00;13;26;27 - 00;13;52;13
Speaker 1
And there's just been a lot of fun moments like that. We've been to. We presented at the International Literacy Conference in Boston, in Saint Louis, and this in Memphis, Nashville and Chattanooga. So we have done a lot together, been through a lot of stress, but also great memories together. And listen, I don't know if you remember this, when we were in Saint Louis and that dinner, there was a big group of us.

00;13;52;13 - 00;14;03;25
Speaker 1
I said, I don't know that we've ever laughed as hard as when the Saint Louis naked bike ride came through. So I don't know if that had to be edited out of this podcast, but there it was.

00;14;03;25 - 00;14;13;20
Speaker 3
Ruby My back was to the window and they all start this down like, Do I look? I look, what do I do?

00;14;13;22 - 00;14;26;24
Speaker 1
But seriously, I mean, she has just been such a beacon of light and mentorship in my life and she is going to leave such a big void. But I know that we will always be close because we have been for so long.

00;14;26;27 - 00;14;50;28
Speaker 4
And this is my 12th year at Lipscomb. In my 12th year teaching with Spurs, she was on my interview committee and I taught an L.A. block with her and Katie. And so they were really the ones who welcomed me into Lipscomb. And it was my son's first year ever in real schools. We called it from home school, and she was his homeroom.

00;14;50;28 - 00;14;52;16
Speaker 3
Teacher.

00;14;52;18 - 00;14;58;25
Speaker 4
And she made him feel right at home. And we're really going to miss her. We're really going to preserve.

00;14;58;27 - 00;15;09;03
Speaker 3
This wasn't we have had the best time teaching together, and I couldn't be on a better team than this group of ladies.

00;15;09;06 - 00;15;10;13
Speaker 2
Socially.

00;15;10;15 - 00;15;15;26
Speaker 3
So we love her very much. We love you. I love them.

00;15;15;28 - 00;15;20;03
Speaker 2
Agenda. Do you remember the interview question she asked you on your interview?

00;15;20;06 - 00;15;22;25
Speaker 3
I do. I do. I do not.

00;15;22;27 - 00;15;25;07
Speaker 2
Know. I was just curious.

00;15;25;09 - 00;15;29;07
Speaker 1
So did Lucinda end up turning around and looking out the window when the bikers went by?

00;15;29;09 - 00;15;36;02
Speaker 3
Of course, we all. How could I? Not with all of them.

00;15;36;04 - 00;15;44;05
Speaker 3
Who knew that they had such an event? Yeah, it was fun. But strange how?

00;15;44;08 - 00;15;46;09
Speaker 2
You never know.

00;15;46;11 - 00;15;47;03
Speaker 1
Well, thank you all.

00;15;47;03 - 00;15;50;11
Speaker 2
Thank you so much.

00;15;50;13 - 00;15;56;27
Speaker 3
I know that. Surprise, surprise. Yes, you got me. Mm.

00;15;57;00 - 00;16;27;08
Speaker 1
Okay, so you. You weren't just a teacher here. You also mentioned these at Harding. So it's been nearly four decades of teaching experience. In that time, you've taught thousands of students. Probably. So. Has there been a memorable moment that you had with a student that this just stuck with you? Like, Wow, either I impact of that person or that person impacted my life or something, an act of service or something that just stood out about a particular student.

00;16;27;11 - 00;16;49;07
Speaker 3
There are some of those happen most because they were so young and some of those have her most when they come back to me. I've had students come back from AP English going, I was thinking about your lesson today while I was doing my work. Just recently we had a speaker in chapel who was one of our fifth graders, and I was so delighted to see her.

00;16;49;10 - 00;17;08;04
Speaker 3
But she had sort of talked about in her chapel, talked some of the struggles she had in school. And when I went down front, she said, I almost mentioned, you because as I was having such a hard time, you would always say to me, You're so smart. And she said, I still remember that. So hope through the years.

00;17;08;04 - 00;17;28;27
Speaker 3
There's lots of those things that I've been blessed to say the right thing at the right time to help them feel like they could keep going or they were okay. I've had children. Who Can I just hang out in your room today? Yeah, come on and stay with us. And so I've tried really hard to be someone that was accessible to children.

00;17;28;27 - 00;17;35;20
Speaker 3
Someone who knew that, Yeah, I might have to give them a bad grade, but I still love them.

00;17;35;23 - 00;17;50;27
Speaker 2
So as a teacher, when you're providing instruction, people think about the lessons you're teaching them, grammar rules, all those types of things. I will say I was talking to my son Dallas in the day and he was about about you and he was singing the preposition song. He still hasn't. He still.

00;17;51;00 - 00;17;52;13
Speaker 1
Has. One of the prepositions.

00;17;52;13 - 00;17;53;24
Speaker 2
You're going to. I don't know it, but it's.

00;17;53;24 - 00;18;07;14
Speaker 3
Really a chant. And I won't say the whole thing, but preposition, preposition. Starting with in a a border bound above a cross after against a long among around that. And it goes on to do 51 prepositions and.

00;18;07;14 - 00;18;08;00
Speaker 1
Even.

00;18;08;02 - 00;18;10;28
Speaker 2
I can't do any of them. No, but he did them. He did them all.

00;18;10;28 - 00;18;15;24
Speaker 3
Oh well, so poor things are kind of beat into them, but in the best possible way.

00;18;15;28 - 00;18;36;00
Speaker 2
I even said, Do you think as far as going he goes, Oh, for sure. But I mean, you provide that instruction. But I'm guessing that age group, I mean, they're going through a lot of different things in their life and changes. And so you're providing other types of instruction as well, Right? Right. What do you hope they remember about you in their time in your class?

00;18;36;03 - 00;19;11;02
Speaker 3
I'm I really hope they remember that while we had to do like you're saying these instruction things, I hope they remember that I wanted to have fun with them every day. I wanted to make it as pleasant as possible. And then I understood. The longer I taught, the more I tried to think about things from the students perspective and what was their day like and what was their experience like and how did they That was reflected in the environment I create in my classroom and that they know that I understand they are going through lots of different things.

00;19;11;04 - 00;19;30;04
Speaker 3
I've had students that I just said just patted them on the back and said, I know that was hard or something. And I've heard back from their parents, Oh, she gets it. She knows what's going on. So I think that sensitivity to what they're experiencing, I hope they know I felt that.

00;19;30;07 - 00;19;51;01
Speaker 1
So I can remember my mom telling me it was really hard when I was your age and I can remember when I was a teenager, I think I mean, this was really hard. And then my kids said, It's really hard. And I think it probably is because you got a lot of stuff going on that I didn't have going on and vice versa.

00;19;51;01 - 00;20;14;18
Speaker 1
So the further we progress in time, the more challenges that that society has and a lot of those things enter into the classroom. So reflect on your whole time as a teacher and tell me what has been a challenge. And that's something and it's very rewarding to be a teacher, but at times it has to be very challenging.

00;20;14;20 - 00;20;29;02
Speaker 1
So what have you seen that probably has been the hardest thing? Maybe from your perspective for kids that age or maybe the hardest thing for you as a teacher that's impacting you to teach kids that way?

00;20;29;04 - 00;20;53;19
Speaker 3
I mean, of course, Calvin, because we just struggled with the online thing and all of that. And it's funny because as teachers we go, Oh no, we're never doing online teaching. And kids go, Oh, no, I'm never doing that again. But but I think more than that has been in that diversity that I talked about, that also means we're facing really different problems than sometimes.

00;20;53;22 - 00;21;22;06
Speaker 3
You know, when I was in school, there were probably more going on than I knew about, but everybody was kind of in a mold following a path. And today, our kids face a lot of the same problems that all kids face. And so trying to meet those needs be sensitive to that. And then I would say, you know, we're just becoming more and more aware of technology and how the blessings and the curses that go with that and trying to help students navigate that.

00;21;22;06 - 00;21;26;10
Speaker 3
I think that's a tough challenge for all of us today.

00;21;26;13 - 00;21;39;24
Speaker 2
So as you reflect back over your 29 years, is there a moment that stands out that you're most proud of? In a very humble way. Of course, probably not.

00;21;39;24 - 00;21;41;04
Speaker 1
The bicycle career that went.

00;21;41;04 - 00;22;05;29
Speaker 3
By, so probably not that one. I don't know. I have people have always been very kind and very supportive of me. But I do remember when I had not been here very long and Mr. Jordan was still principal, He came in to watch me teach, and I was teaching a science lesson at that time because in those days we all had a section of science.

00;22;05;29 - 00;22;25;13
Speaker 3
So I had life science and thank goodness for Sid Melson because he taught me everything I needed to know. But he came in and was like, How did you know all they had? That was really good. And I was like, Yeah, hey, I don't know what I'm doing. But he figured that I figured it out. And so it was some of those moments.

00;22;25;13 - 00;22;44;02
Speaker 3
We are either parents or supervisors who've come in and said that lesson really worked. That was really good. And then the fact that the university continues to ask me to have their education students in my room makes me think I'm doing something right. You know.

00;22;44;04 - 00;22;56;29
Speaker 2
That's a big compliment. So thinking about those students that are in your class at the student teachers, what advice do you give them or is there any standard advice you give them to prepare them for the career?

00;22;57;01 - 00;23;35;04
Speaker 3
I was thinking, you know, you mentioned that and the big thing for me is that if your children know that you like them and that you enjoy them, then they're going to be responsive to you. It's awesome. With almost every student teacher I've had in my room to watch them develop, they teach they teach that first lesson. A lot of times they come in to do a short term placement and they're teaching the very first lesson they've ever taught and to watch as we work together on their lesson and we shape it and we talk about this worked really well, what could we do here by the end of the three lessons that they teach,

00;23;35;04 - 00;24;01;00
Speaker 3
It's just amazing to see how much they grow. And occasionally one finds out, okay, this may not be what I want to do, and that's okay too. Before you invest in four years. But I also try to remind them that they need to give themselves time. I didn't learn all this in one year. You got it. You had to teach it a while before you really felt like an expert.

00;24;01;03 - 00;24;18;29
Speaker 2
So next year there's going to be a new teacher in your room. What's something you hope they would keep, whether it's doing or instructing or literally something? An item I don't know what's something you hope they would keep that? Well, that would reflect what your time there as well.

00;24;19;02 - 00;24;42;10
Speaker 3
We've talked about our sixth grade, a huge unit on September 11th. And so we read Ground Zero by Alan Krantz in the fall. And I really hope that they will stick with that, whoever is in my classroom, because that's been a powerful activity with our students and a powerful opportunity for them to go and talk to their families about where were you on September 11th?

00;24;42;16 - 00;24;58;18
Speaker 3
What do you remember about when this happened? And then to pair it with reading this literature and then Miss Patterson even has some build monuments and science to think about? What are we acknowledging? I just think I would hate for that to get lost.

00;24;58;21 - 00;25;06;12
Speaker 1
Okay. Along that same line, what piece of advice do you have for the person that's going to be in your classroom?

00;25;06;15 - 00;25;26;26
Speaker 3
Oh, my goodness. Depend on this team. That's an awesome team of teachers you'll be working with and they will have good advice. All three of the ones who were in here a few minutes ago have taught Ella as well as the what they're teaching now. They will be able to help you through that material.

00;25;26;29 - 00;25;45;08
Speaker 1
That's a great compliment. Okay, Lucinda, we like to end every interview with Seat. Okay, So we're just going to we're going to shout out some questions and the first thing that comes into your mind, you tell us, you go first.

00;25;45;11 - 00;25;56;28
Speaker 2
Yeah. Before we do this, I want to say something. So I just hope this won't make the cut. But I was looking on. Oh, it will. Least favorite author. I always hated reading Wrinkle in Time.

00;25;57;01 - 00;26;01;11
Speaker 3
I'm you know, that's my very, very favorite. I know you're going to say it, but.

00;26;01;11 - 00;26;01;24
Speaker 2
I knew.

00;26;01;24 - 00;26;07;14
Speaker 3
That my dad didn't like it either. My mom likes it, but my dad does not. Well.

00;26;07;16 - 00;26;24;16
Speaker 2
I don't know why. And that same thing. My co teachers loved it and and I was like, can we just like, I'll read this book to your class in my class? And you read this book to my class in your class. So I don't know if that's where you're about to go on this. Oh, that was so funny because I thought that might be your answer to the first question.

00;26;24;18 - 00;26;25;24
Speaker 2
I'll start, but it doesn't have to be.

00;26;25;24 - 00;26;32;27
Speaker 1
But I'm going to keep that in here because I want to know why you love that book, but you can't even describe to me why you hate the book.

00;26;32;29 - 00;26;53;18
Speaker 2
I will say it was for me, it was challenging for the kids to understand what like I was having to really try to bring them around to like, well, it's because it's somewhat tesseract in the science fiction and in traveling and time and all this kind of stuff. And that's the thing. I love science fiction stuff you do, but I don't know, I felt like it was a chore.

00;26;53;22 - 00;27;05;00
Speaker 2
And I think sometimes there's books like that for some people that are for other people, they love them, right? Like there were other books I always like. I love Blume Ability by Sharon Creech. I believe her name something. Shannon Great. Sharon Grace.

00;27;05;06 - 00;27;06;18
Speaker 3
I like her books, but I don't know.

00;27;06;18 - 00;27;15;13
Speaker 2
About. Yeah, but like that one. I love that one. But no, but I really don't run into people very often who love it. So it's just funny. Like there's just something that speaks to you sometimes, which I think is the beauty of books.

00;27;15;13 - 00;27;56;23
Speaker 3
Literature. That's right. And the reason I love it two or three things. I love the science fiction I've done. I've listened to physicists talk about the Tesseract and how it all works, and I love hearing the Tesseract in other literature come back. But I just love Madeline Engel's writing style and I love her life that she was a Christian and she there's there's scripture all through the book and really help me understand First Corinthians one better than I ever had, because she talks about the advice that the ladies give to Meg as she goes back to campsites is you don't have to be strong, God is stronger.

00;27;56;25 - 00;28;18;01
Speaker 3
You can use your weakness to accomplish this task. Well, that's powerful message for me. And I will tell you that when the target the turning point was, I learned to tell my kids. When you watch a mystery on TV, you don't understand how all this connects. For about the first six chapters, just collect information and about Chapter seven.

00;28;18;01 - 00;28;32;25
Speaker 3
All of a sudden it's going to go ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. And you're going to understand how all these weird things connect. And once I started saying that to kids and I relaxed and knew they weren't supposed to understand, yeah, they enjoyed the book much more.

00;28;32;26 - 00;28;34;26
Speaker 2
I can be a little impatient.

00;28;34;29 - 00;28;38;02
Speaker 1
I liked her answer so much better than I liked your answer.

00;28;38;02 - 00;28;42;03
Speaker 2
Well, it's been a while since I've read it. I've been asked recently.

00;28;42;03 - 00;28;43;29
Speaker 3
30 something times. So.

00;28;43;29 - 00;28;52;05
Speaker 2
But it was. I always remember that. And I and I knew that for something. I knew that was one of your favorite books. So when I saw this list, like favorite Favorite, I was like, If she says that, that's going to be so funny.

00;28;52;05 - 00;28;52;21
Speaker 3
Because I.

00;28;52;23 - 00;28;54;06
Speaker 1
Think, you know, it's one of her favorite books.

00;28;54;13 - 00;28;55;23
Speaker 3
Because I taught it forever.

00;28;55;23 - 00;29;01;06
Speaker 2
And before we talked about it, we may have talked about when Alison was in her class. Yeah, but let's do start, though.

00;29;01;12 - 00;29;04;06
Speaker 1
Okay, But I'm keeping that one in there. Oh, no, that's fine.

00;29;04;06 - 00;29;06;26
Speaker 2
I'm happy. So, favorite author.

00;29;06;28 - 00;29;07;22
Speaker 3
Harper Lee.

00;29;07;22 - 00;29;10;02
Speaker 2
Oh, there you go. You sorted it out.

00;29;10;04 - 00;29;12;22
Speaker 3
For all time. To Kill a mockingbird. It's my time. Well, what.

00;29;12;22 - 00;29;16;08
Speaker 1
About the prequel? Does you like that watchman? Is that what.

00;29;16;08 - 00;29;42;20
Speaker 3
Is called Go, Go tell the Watchmen and it's not nowhere near the book that that To Kill a mockingbird is. But I thought it was fascinating because I've read a lot about the backstory of how she wrote Mockingbird. And so I thought it was fascinating to see the elements that were already there in this basically first draft and then to see how she changed it with the advice of her good editors and her readers.

00;29;42;23 - 00;29;51;19
Speaker 3
And so it she took a okay story and turned it into an incredibly powerful story.

00;29;51;21 - 00;29;59;26
Speaker 1
What's your physical space that in the 29 years you've been here that you have taught? Like what? Where? Where's been your favorite place to teach?

00;30;00;01 - 00;30;26;28
Speaker 3
I've been in the same classroom the whole 29 years, really. I came they opened the building in March or April, and Jeannie Jones retired and I took that room and then I somehow have been blessed to stay in that room the whole time about 16 years ago, 15 years ago, I don't know exactly. They remodeled in sort of the classroom of the future, which is now all old being taken out.

00;30;27;01 - 00;30;43;22
Speaker 3
But so I had to clean everything out, which right now I am so grateful for. And then when 10th grade moved down, I took a lot of my fifth grade materials down to the lower campus, to the fifth grade teachers. So I'm a cleaning house. Not as bad as it could be for having been in the same room for 29 years.

00;30;43;25 - 00;30;51;21
Speaker 1
Okay, let me revise it then. If you had an opportunity to be in any other space in this building, where would it be? Would it be the upper kitchen?

00;30;51;23 - 00;31;07;29
Speaker 3
I'm it's kind of a laundry area now. You know, I really like our classrooms. I don't know that I need to change. I like. I like our rooms. I like our hallway.

00;31;08;02 - 00;31;12;06
Speaker 2
Your personal writings, do you or do you not use an Oxford comma?

00;31;12;08 - 00;31;13;00
Speaker 3
Oh, I do.

00;31;13;00 - 00;31;13;24
Speaker 1
Me too.

00;31;13;28 - 00;31;23;27
Speaker 3
I'm a great believer, and I just told it to my children and how necessary they can be. Not every always, but it's. This can clear up the meaning.

00;31;23;29 - 00;31;24;28
Speaker 1
A lot.

00;31;25;01 - 00;31;26;22
Speaker 2
Of shoots and leaves.

00;31;26;24 - 00;31;32;29
Speaker 3
That one. And then I have another one that says I like cooking my family and my parents.

00;31;33;01 - 00;31;45;01
Speaker 1
I mean, do you eat your family on your pets? Yeah. Tell me. Okay, so this is another grammar question. Your do you like to boldly go or to go boldly?

00;31;45;04 - 00;31;49;06
Speaker 3
I like to vary it so that your writing is interesting.

00;31;49;07 - 00;32;01;08
Speaker 1
Okay. So I like that answer. I don't I don't like being so it's so accurate that there's the the writing doesn't flow and it, it, it feels not like how people.

00;32;01;08 - 00;32;02;21
Speaker 3
Talk, Right.

00;32;02;24 - 00;32;05;14
Speaker 2
What's your favorite place to go for a walk?

00;32;05;16 - 00;32;19;19
Speaker 3
I'm I mostly walk in my neighborhood. We moved to this house about 15 years ago and all my neighbors want to. And so it's really fun to go out and see people coming out and we talk. Just stop and talk or visit a minute.

00;32;19;22 - 00;32;22;16
Speaker 1
What's your favorite season?

00;32;22;19 - 00;32;23;23
Speaker 3
I'm a summer girl.

00;32;23;26 - 00;32;26;28
Speaker 1
Oh, I am too. I love Summer.

00;32;27;00 - 00;32;30;06
Speaker 2
Favorite dessert.

00;32;30;08 - 00;32;47;00
Speaker 3
That is harder. Now I have some dietary restrictions so things that but my mother. I'll just go back to this. My mother made a pound cake growing up. That was my absolute favorite. It had like almond flavor in it and it was just, if I could have it now, I would.

00;32;47;02 - 00;32;52;14
Speaker 2
Okay. I got a question for you guys. If y'all ever heard of Sock it to me. Okay. Oh, yes. So is that a pancake? Kind of.

00;32;52;19 - 00;32;56;02
Speaker 3
I think. I think it's got some more ingredients.

00;32;56;04 - 00;32;58;02
Speaker 2
He's got, like five ingredients and then.

00;32;58;05 - 00;32;59;18
Speaker 1
Yeah, like a dump cake or.

00;32;59;24 - 00;33;01;05
Speaker 3
More like that, I think.

00;33;01;11 - 00;33;04;16
Speaker 2
Yeah. When I was a kid, that was my grandmother's cake was a sock it to me like.

00;33;04;18 - 00;33;05;24
Speaker 3
Yeah, it was.

00;33;05;24 - 00;33;06;20
Speaker 1
Just a fun name.

00;33;06;22 - 00;33;07;27
Speaker 3
Probably. It is a fun that's.

00;33;07;27 - 00;33;11;04
Speaker 1
Probably a Pillsbury cake mix that she just dumped in.

00;33;11;10 - 00;33;14;14
Speaker 3
So often they are. I think it was good.

00;33;14;16 - 00;33;19;07
Speaker 1
Okay, tell me. Tell me what your least favorite vegetable is.

00;33;19;09 - 00;33;21;08
Speaker 3
I'm not a good vegetable eater.

00;33;21;09 - 00;33;22;27
Speaker 1
Oh, pick them all, then. Yeah.

00;33;23;00 - 00;33;45;01
Speaker 3
But interestingly, it's more like I don't like boiled vegetables. If you roast them for me, I'll either. But I was like when I was growing out, they boiled broccoli and Brussels sprouts and all that. All it felt was inedible. And now roasted asparagus, roasted Brussels sprouts. That's a holy day.

00;33;45;03 - 00;33;47;08
Speaker 2
So how do you start your day? Do you have a little routine?

00;33;47;11 - 00;34;07;02
Speaker 3
I do. I get up and start getting ready and I listen to my Bible reading for the day while I'm while I'm getting my clothes on and getting set and then go in the kitchen and it's a little breakfast. Douglas can't get up with me, so I'm on my own in the mornings, but that's okay. Come on the school and drink McCarthy while and get my classroom set up.

00;34;07;04 - 00;34;09;17
Speaker 1
How do you decompress in the afternoons when you get home?

00;34;09;20 - 00;34;22;03
Speaker 3
Well, my husband would tell you I just flop down low, which is basically true. I just stretch out on the stove and watch the news for a while before I get up and make dinner.

00;34;22;06 - 00;34;26;13
Speaker 2
Do you have a favorite quote?

00;34;26;15 - 00;34;33;25
Speaker 3
I don't know that. Oh, Marcus Aurelius. God loves each one of us. As if there weren't just one of us.

00;34;33;27 - 00;34;47;10
Speaker 1
Oh, right. I'm going to let you do the last one. But I have one more that I just thought of. Okay? So I see around your neck that you have a very unique lanyard. Who made that for you?

00;34;47;13 - 00;35;07;13
Speaker 3
My student teacher from last year has worked with us this year as a sub, and she texted me like right before spring break and said, What's your favorite color? Oh, and she said, Green. And so she came in on the following Monday for Lent with lanyards for all of us. And sixth grade. But she'd kind of customized them to what we like.

00;35;07;13 - 00;36;51;08
Speaker 3
And I thought, what?