MULTIMEDIA Students surprise Ms. Nichols for retirement

Students+participate+in+socratic+discussion.

Students participate in socratic discussion.

Ms. Edna Nichols will be retiring from the Pattonville School District at the end of this school year. Some students in her College Credit English class surprised her with a good-bye card to appreciate her for all her hard work.

Seniors Sydney Olishile and Bria Griffith wanted to show Ms. Nichols how she impacted them.

“We were going to give her the card ourselves and then we decided to let everyone in the class have a part in the project,” Griffith said.

 

In response to the surprise, Nichols said a few words of gratitude to the students.

“It’s been my pleasure being your teacher,” she said. “I feel so lucky that every year I get to have great kids. Thank you so much.”

Before coming to the Pattonville School District, Nichols spent 6 years teaching at Fort Zumwalt.

“I have been teaching for 23 years and 17 years have been here at Pattonville.”

The best moments she’s had are the times she got to spend with her College Credit English students.

“These are the best moments because we get to have really deep and interesting conversations in our Socratics while we get to hear everybody’s voice,” Nichols said.

To remind her of the good moments, Ms. Nichols keeps a “smile file” with notes, cards, and other mementos from past and present students.

“This is what kept me teaching,” she said. “It’s not the money or the people I work with, it’s getting nice notes from students saying here’s what matters to me.”

Nichols explained what a former student once wrote to her: “One kid said I gave them something to look forward to, and if I’ve made a difference, that’s what matters to me as a teacher.”