We came to know Mrs. Nancy mid way through our first homeschool year in the winter of 2012. We had ventured up to Landrum library to check out the homeschool program and fell in love with Mrs. Nancy.
She was a wonderful woman that loved children. She interacted with them and always had a smile to share. The children in the programs always knew Mrs. Nancy loved what she did. She asked them about their summer vacation, what they did over Christmas break, what cool stuff had they done recently, etc.
She wasn't afraid to make a mess with her classes. She found out just how messy kirigami was with the twelve and under crowd. Or, the time she had them make marshmallow catapults and the room looked like it had snowed. Dyeing, painting, and tie-dyeing Easter eggs was a hit. The painting of gourds for Halloween had little hands covered in paint, glue, and glitter. Oh, the fun she created!
Mrs. Nancy was hands on with everything! She encouraged and listened intently to children describe their creations. She gathered the moms to participate in a few of her projects. We helped supervise the terrarium projects. Sand, dirt, rocks, moss, seeds, and water littered the table tops. We still have our terrariums! We blew up balloon after balloon for the straw rockets. We didn't mind one bit picking up the bits of paper on the floor or the marshmallows. Or using a hair dryer to speed up the drying of the paint on the gourds. Our kids were having fun and learning.
She worked hard making sure the summer library programs were active and intriguing. We made worm farms, listened to Native American history, participated in a pow-wow, watched plays, and did art work.
Last fall, Mrs. Nancy told us she was retiring. Our hearts broke to hear the news. We were happy for her, but sad that she would no longer be leading the homeschool programs. We wished her well and listened to her tell us all about the fun things she had planned for retirement. So much involved her grandchildren. She also planned on working with the community children.
We saw Mrs. Nancy a couple of times during the spring. She always had a smile on her face and asked the children what they were doing. Our summer was busy and we didn't make it to Landrum's Summer Reading activities. Of course, Mrs. Nancy wouldn't be there. We were hoping to run into her this coming fall on our adventures to Landrum.
We will always remember Mrs. Nancy! We are so happy that we got to know her!
