Retired teacher leaves lessons behind

By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
HARTFORD -- Hartford's handwriting may never recover from the loss of Mrs. Keir.After four decades of correcting misshapen letters, explaining addition and reading out loud, Sandra Keir retired last week from teaching in Mahoning Valley classrooms.
For the last 28 years, she has been at tiny Hartford Elementary School, which has two classrooms for every grade.
"Sweet lady," said Ken Kashner, school principal. "She is a great lady."
What she taught
Up until last week, in a marvelously cluttered classroom on the second floor, Keir, 63, made her third-graders learn the multiplication tables up to 12 (not 10, like some younger teachers), and was quick to correct an improperly held pencil.
Cursive began, like clockwork, after Christmas. Pupils start by practicing making Os using their whole arms, rather than just moving their hands.
"Because they start so early in hand writing, by the time they get to third grade it is really hard to get them to change," Keir said, never losing the kindergarten-teacher smile.
It is possible that no one will try now that Keir, 63, is gone.
"We all use computers now these days," she said.
Starting out
Keir said she came to Hartford as a bride 40 years ago. She reared a family, and her husband, Thomas, taught social studies at Maplewood High School and served as Hartford Township Trustee for 21 years.
She had taught in Lisbon, taught for a few more years in Liberty, then came to Hartford Elementary for good.
"She is the kind of person you go to, to know what you're doing is OK," said Janice Bogan, a first-grade teacher at the school. "She just has a way with the children. She is very soft-spoken, but the children know she means business."
Keir was eligible to retire six years ago, Kashner said. And by last year, she had worked long enough to receive the maximum retirement benefit. She stayed one more year before leaving.
"It was time," Keir said. "I have really loved my work all these years, and I'm glad to say I'm quitting before I'm tired."
Frustrations
There also have been new frustrations, she said.
The increased emphasis on testing has been one of them. By the third grade, pupils already have taken three or four major tests, and two full weeks of the 36-week school year are devoted to nothing but testing, she said.
"They are tested out," she said. "It seems we no longer allow children to be children. We push them and push them."
Keir said that she has also been feeling a temptation to bring lessons from her church into the classroom -- something she does not think is appropriate for a public school.
She will become director of the youth club at United Methodist Church of Hartford, where she will oversee a Wednesday night program that brings in 45 children for dinner and activities. An additional 15 older children participate on Sunday.
Keir will not be gone from the elementary school for good, however.
She plans to return next year as a volunteer to read stories in the school library for which she helped raise funds.
"When she tells a story, she has the kids patting their knees and clapping their hands," Bogan said. "When most of us tell a story, we are just reading. She has it memorized."
siff@vindy.com