Columnist Susan Snyder: More to teaching than ABCs

Friday, Aug. 25, 2000 | 8:58 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Fridays, Sundays and Tuesdays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or 259-4082.

It would be six days before Detwiler Elementary School first-graders filled Pat VonMendenhall's classroom, but she already was hard at work.

VonMendenhall was creating a huge mural to show her pupils what life is like "Down on the Farm." The idea came from a summer class she attended and paid for herself.

When students make bread and real butter after reading "The Little Red Hen" later this year, VonMendenhall will pay for those supplies, too. Same goes for the Cinco de Mayo salsa, Chinese New Year goodies and the daily snack that keeps her little tykes' engines purring until lunch.

In 19 years of teaching, VonMendenhall has accumulated a wide array of books, games and lesson aids purchased out of her pocket. Each year she also lays in a supply of report folders, school boxes and other necessities.

"That's what we've always done," she says without a hint of resentment. "There are certain things we want and we go out and buy them. My first year of teaching, I had nothing. Every new teacher buys it all."

Across the hall, Kate Miller hung fabric she bought for the murals that cover her kindergarten room's walls. White marker boards, Crayola markers, the familiar alphabet banner, posters, supply trays -- Miller bought them all.

The five-year teaching veteran also paid for a three-week Spanish class in Mexico this summer. It will make talking with parents a whole lot easier during the home visits Miller makes throughout the year. They are visits no one requires.

As teachers assemble their wares across the valley, some people are talking about requiring all district employees to be certified in cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The discussion was raised last week by a $3 million civil lawsuit involving the tragic 1995 death of 13-year-old Kimberly Curtis.

Curtis, who suffered from a heart condition unbeknownst to her parents, died in a gym class. Her parents said teachers waited too long to try CPR.

A 1997 law requires all Nevada gym teachers have annual CPR certification. Jurors on Wednesday decided the district and the three teachers the Curtis family sued were not responsible for the child's death.

But the lingering debate over how much and of whom certification should be required has no winners, said Sue Strand, Clark County teachers union president.

"What more are we going to drop on teachers' plates? Are we now asking them to make major medical decisions?" Strand said. "Is CPR the answer in every case? No it's not. Of course we want to protect the children. But it's a no-win situation."

Miller and VonMendenhall said every adult probably should know how to do CPR.

"I know it would be one more thing for us," Miller said. "But I think it's important. I have at least 30 kids in class at once. They're only 5. If something happens I have to handle it."

If CPR ends up being required, so be it, they say. Just add it to the list.

Right now they're looking forward to Monday and welcoming youngsters to classrooms packed with the best crayons, books and supplies a teacher's money can buy.