A career as a teacher can give graduates the opportunity to shape the futures of hundreds of children - a contribution that is rarely forgotten. Sarah May, whose teaching career started in 1929, recently celebrated her 98th birthday with a flood of 350 cards from former pupils and well-wishers, Spring Hope Enterprise reports. When she started out in the profession, her school had no dining hall and her classroom relied on an oil-burning stove for heat. In the winter, Ms May would use the stove to make soup or hot chocolate for her class and one Christmas shortly after the depression, when many families were struggling financially, she recalled all of her pupils went to trouble of leaving a small present for her. Being "happy and content" teaching, she added that she rarely thought of home during work and during her entire career missed only one week - with mumps. Now, as she celebrated her birthday, the high regard she earned as a teacher is reflected in the continuing affection shown to her by former pupils. "If you give the world the best that you have, the best will come back to you. In my case it certainly has," she said. In 2006, there were 4 million teachers in the US, the majority of whom were working at elementary school level.  |