A beautiful story for sure of a lovely teacher and member of her community. Teachers are very important like parents because they shape children in good or bad ways. I was a very shy child and have mostly bad memories of school - even seeing other kids get the strap really stressed me out. There was only one teacher who reached me and it was this Australian teacher who was on a teaching visit for 1 year. She would let me stay after class to clean the boards and she would give me candy. She taught us all about Australia and the unique animals and she even wrote me letters once she left. After a few letters she gently passed me on to a fellow girl my age to be pen pals with. I really loved that teacher - her name was Miss Furness. Thanks for sharing ... RIP Miss Barbara.