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Substitute has lived many of the experiences he teaches about Date published: 3/17/2009
MY DAUGHTER, "Mom, he said he was listening to the Redskins and the Eagles football game on the radio when the announcer came on and said Pearl Harbor had been bombed," she said excitedly. Maggie was so impressed he was around for that. Her class had been studying World War II, and here was someone who actually lived through it. That sub had done for Maggie what a dry sound bite of a textbook could never do--he had brought that time alive for her. And this is my child who does not like history. Naturally, I had to find out more about him. I was surprised that someone who could remember World War II was still teaching. The sub's name is Dona Shreve. He's 79 and has been subbing for Stafford County schools for 17 years. And Maggie is not the only child he has mesmerized. "At the end of the day, he's never flustered with all these middle-schoolers," said Joanne Macdonald, an administrative assistant at Dixon-Smith Middle School. "He's sharp, he's witty, the kids love him." And so do the staff. Macdonald said that one day he was subbing for one teacher in the morning and another in the afternoon. He joked that he'd be happy to sit for the ladies in the office as well. A native of Smoke Hole, W. Va., Shreve grew up on a farm where, as he said, "You worked from dawn till dusk." Neither of his parents was well educated, but they were very intelligent. They instilled in Shreve and his siblings the importance of education. Shreve served three years in the Army during Korea, coming home after he suffered gunshot wounds to his abdomen. He enrolled in college; but his injuries prevented him from finishing, and he ended up spending a year in a veterans hospital. Shreve had a successful career in finance and insurance, in both Baltimore and Fredericksburg. But the desire for a college degree never wavered. He graduated from Mary Mary Washington College when he was 52.
While working at Stafford Middle School, one of the few joys there, was watching Mr. Shreve interacting with the children and staff. He is the consummate gentleman and the kids did indeed love him. Stafford County Public School System is a better place for having Don as an extraordinary resource for the students and staff.
Substitute teaching is not an easy job. It is wonderful to read of someone who has great success with it! I wish I'd had a sub like that when I was in school.
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