ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 20, 1996 TAG: 9606200012
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: N-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTOPHER L. BOYD STAFF WRITER
For 25 years, she kissed "boo-boos" and brushed away tears. She turned sighs into laughter and held little hands in hers.
"Hey honey, won't you please take your time?" Mira Wilson would say as they rushed around like busy little bees. But they have always stuck to her. She's honey, said Garden City Elementary School fourth-graders, "she is so sweet."
"Who's that lady everybody loves?" shouted 345 Garden City students, led by kindergartners. "Mrs. Wilson, that's her name."
In a surprise assembly on June 5, students, faculty and staff honored their dedicated teacher's aide who was retiring after 25 years. She came to Garden City Elementary School in 1971 to work for a few years after being a housewife and mother, so she could give her two daughters more responsibility at home.
"If anybody ever told me that I would work 25 years, I would have never believed them. But I've enjoyed every day. it has been exciting and I love it," said Wilson.
She has worked with every grade level through sixth, including classes for learning disabled. She has spent the last 12 years with kindergartners.
Wilson recalls her first day at the school, when a little boy in kindergarten came up to her. "He said he was so homesick, and threw up on me," she said. He now has kids and they sometimes come to visit.
"I used to tell the little kindergarten boys and girls that they didn't have anything to worry about. I will be your mom," said Wilson.
She remembered one child in particular: Jason Goad, now a rising senior at Patrick Henry High School, who used to cry quite a bit. She would wipe away his tears and tell him everything was going to be all right.
Goad remembers Wilson as well. " It seemed like she paid a little more attention to me because I used to cry a lot. She'd take me to the office and tell me it was all right."
He said he still sees Wilson occasionally when he gets off the school bus at his Garden City home, but he was surprised she still remembers him since he's been out of kindegarden for so long. But she does.
It was because of her love for so many children, and because so many loved her, that the school held Mira Wilson Day.
"I guess one of my characteristics is not nosiness," said Wilson. The 345 students, one of whom is her granddaughter, a host of faculty and staff, and her family managed to keep the day a secret. "Even my kindergartners kept it from me."
In attendance in addition to the Garden City staff were Wilson's husband, Frank Wilson, her daughter, Lori Jones, and a host of former teachers and staff of the school. One special guest stormed into the multipurpose room to earth-shaking applause. He immediately went to the stage and took the microphone.
"Mira Wilson I do declare, when I think of you I think of dignity," said Gary Galbreath, former Garden City principal.The assembly gave each grade level along with faculty and staff an opportunity to express their gratitude to Wilson. The first-graders assured her, "You belong to Garden City, and Garden City belongs to you." Second-graders decorated a royal chair for her to sit in. Third-graders wrote her a letter. The fourth grade presented her with a "Honey Tree," so named because she always calls her students "honey." They also asked her to be their little "honey" and remember them all the time.
Fifth-graders told Wilson, "You're the sun that makes so many lives shine," as faculty and staff reminded Wilson to "keep smiling, keep shining, knowing you can always count on me ... . That's what friends are for."
Wilson said she doesn't think the reality of her retirement will kick in until school starts back in September. However, she will continue to work 20 days for the next five years as part of her early retirement package.
She and her husband, who is also retired, plan to travel a little more and hope to spend time in Florida. They are also planning to take a cruise in the near future.
"Mrs. Wilson, you touched all of these, but so, so many more through the years. We're going to miss you," said Anne Talton, Garden City Elementary School principal.
"Zipidy-do-da, Zipidy-a. We're gonna miss you, in every way!" said the kindergartners.
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: PHILIP HOLMAN/Staff. 1. Crowned and sitting on a throne,by CNBretiring Garden City aide Mira Wilson is greeted by a stream of
first-graders. 2. Garden City pupils perform a musical tribute to
Wilson. color.