A Teacher, Long Retired, Remembers Jo Ellen Brown Comments

It's funny how strangers make your day, a teacher, long retired, told me the other day. A girl he didn't know came up to him at the Mall and introduced herself. She said she was Jo Ellen Brown's sister. She said Jo Ellen had always praised him as her favorite teacher. He told her he remembered Jo Ellen. She was a quiet girl from a little farm outside of town. Very smart. That was 20 years ago.

He told me he remembered once in class she was writing an Optimist essay and did a beautiful job. It sang, the prose was so fine, almost poetic but filled with facts. As a result, Jo Ellen and the teacher, were invited to come to the state capital for her to read her essay at the Optimist Convention. He and his wife spent three days with Jo Ellen. She had a wonderful time, first time a young farm girl had been to the big city.
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