After I graduated from MHS in 1967, I got a BA in secondary
education from Peabody Collage, majoring in French; minor in
Spanish. I taught at Meigs Jr. High (French and English) for
about 6 years. In 1970, I got my MEd from MTSU; majored in
Education with an emphasis in reading instruction. I married in
1976 and moved to New Orleans (via 6 mos. in Little Rock) for
about 4 years. I taught Title I reading in a small Catholic
school: grades K-8. Then I worked for the LA State Dept. of Ed.
for a year as a consultant for the improvement of reading
instruction, covering several parishes (counties) there. Moved
back to Nashville, taught at Stratford High (Journalism and
Reading) for about another 6 years. Divorced during that time,
then married Rick Kleager. We celebrated our 25th anniversary in
2010. Moved to St. Louis and taught in 4 county school districts
there, plus spent 5 years as a full-time instructor in Teacher
Education at Fontbonne College. At age 38 + 10 months, I had a
son. Yay! In 2004 we became legal guardians of a 16-yr.-old
girl. I took an early retirement from teaching in 2005, and we
moved to Huntsville, Ala. in 2007.
