ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Monday, October 7, 1996                TAG: 9610080024
SECTION: NEWSFUN                  PAGE: NF-3 EDITION: METRO 

TEACHER OF THE WEEK

Suzanne Blankenship likes to "humanize" herself to her first-graders at Eastern Elementary School in Pembroke.

Letting her pupils get to know her on a personal level helps make her a more effective teacher, she said. "I talk about my family a lot, and my dog," she said. "I want them to know I have a life outside of school."

Blankenship, a 14-year classroom veteran, said she loves teaching first grade because of the children's eagerness to learn and quickness to show affection. "They're so excited about learning, and they're such loving, caring little people," she said. "And there're no hormones," she laughed.

Maintaining close contact with her pupils' parents is important to Blankenship. She sends home a weekly newsletter, which she finds especially helpful to working parents who may not have the opportunity to see her on a daily basis.

Blankenship, a Tidewater native and Radford University graduate, says she's "lucky to be in the Giles County area." She is married and enjoys gardening and spending time with her children: Kyle, a fifth-grader, and Kelsey, who is in second grade.

LENGTH: Short :   31 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  Suzanne Blankenship, First grade, Eastern Elementary 
          School

































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