Gaye Groninger Ford

I've taught Kindergarten, second grade, and now fourth for a total of 29 years. I enjoy teaching, but am looking forward to "graduating" from school!! I am really enjoying my life; so far, I'm liking being 60. I have 6 grandkids: Katie, 13, Korynn, soon 11, Keith, 6, Audrey, 4, and Eve, 2, all Kinnairds. Then Joel has Landon, 2. All my kids are in Indiana, except for Jacob and his wife; they are in San Diego. I'm hoping they return to Indiana when they start a family.
Bruce and I were married in '01. After living together for a year, we decided we did better with two homes. His business is in Lafayette, so he lives in Dayton. We both spend a LOT of time during the week at our jobs. Then we get together on the weekends. It seems to work well for us.
I love the people I work with and couldn't ask for a better support group. I hope to continue to have good health to be able to teach long enough to pay my house off!!! Then I can consider retiring!!

I feel like I've been in school my whole life!! I started out in classes of 6-8 students, 3 grades in a room at Rockfield. That's when I decided I wanted to be a teacher. There was no teacher supervision at recess. They got to stay inside during our 3 recesses a day. The whole school of 50 some students went out at the same time, 1st - 8th grade. We hardly had play equipment; we played house at the base of trees, and ran up and down the hill, and played basketball and baseball. They were very good years. Then we consolidated with Camden. WE now had 50 students per grade level. Wow, what a change! Now you had to deal with many teachers, changing rooms, and choosing your friends. At Rockfield, everyone in your class did things together. Now there were cliques. I developed a very good and lasting friendship with Rita Dittman. Again, I was blessed with many other good friends, but Rita was always there for me.
I really enjoyed band, Top Twenty (later called Youngstowne Singers) and the plays I was involved in. But my favorite were the after game dances. I loved dancing....and the guys! So much fun! Thanks to my brother Craig, we got to stay for most of them.
I don't think I ever completely figured out the old high school floor plan. And I still have nightmares about trying to get to a certain room and not being able to find it. OR, forgetting my locker number, and not knowing how to get my stuff out at the end of the year. Really!!
I had thought that I wanted to teach high school English until I took high school English classes. Thanks to some of my classmates, I changed my mind. I would have killed them for their behavior!!! So I decided to do elementary, which turned out to be a good choice. I love kids!
My life isn't what I thought it would be those many years ago, but I like where I am, and what I am doing. I have been very blessed and thank God daily for bringing me to where I am.