One of the most rewarding activities of each Maryville College Homecoming is the opportunity for alumni to share their experiences with the undergraduates following in their footsteps.
Thursday evening, Oct. 20, Sherri Bone ’77 did just that as the guest speaker for education honor society Kappa Delta Phi’s Maryville College chapter. The author and former elementary educator calls New York State home and had already planned on returning to MC for Homecoming 2022 when Dr. Cynthia Gardner, chair of the College’s Division of Education, and community chapter advisor Brenna Tipton ’20 extended the invitation to talk about her career.
“I love Maryville,” said Bone, who writes under the nom de plume Sherinda Ryter. “I always try to come back for Homecoming no matter where I am.”
As a part of her presentation, Bone shared parts of her childhood and from her book, “Sam and Mack: A Boy and His Dog — White Squirrel: Lenape Brave.” The children’s book tells the story of Sam, a fourth-grader whose lack of interest in a school assignment on Native Americans changes quickly when he “discovers an intriguing mystery that inspires him to soak up all the knowledge of local Native American culture that he can and give his all for the assignment.”
“My mother always cherished education, and she used that language, too,” Bone said. “She cherished it, so I did too.”
She and her twin brother grew up in a small town, where their elementary years were spent mainly in church rooms-turned-classrooms. The pedagogy was old-fashioned and relied heavily on memorization, she said, and while she managed, her brother struggled, particularly as they moved on to high school.
“I remember us having two classes together,” she said. “We learned the exact same thing, at the same time, from the same teacher. But I got A’s, and he didn’t.”
The material was presented to Bone in a way she understood, but her brother had “too much music in his head.” It was the first time she can remember being confronted with the effects of an unaccommodated learning style, and it galvanized her.
After graduating as valedictorian of her high school class, Bone enrolled at Maryville College as an Elementary Education major. She flunked out, however, after the pressure of mentoring struggling students became too much.
To Bone, it was a life-altering moment. She loved education and wanted to teach, but she wasn’t sure if she could bring herself to be responsible for the academic success of classrooms of students, she added, and so she stepped away from academia to explore other careers, including insurance sales and nursing.
She even returned to Maryville College, but not to complete her Elementary Education degree. Instead, she created her own major in Environmental Recreation and graduated in 1977. From there, she worked in various community roles before going onto Elmira College to complete her master’s in Elementary Education.
Bone also had three kids, and in raising her children she learned just as much about education as she did in her coursework, she said. With support from other mothers in the community, Bone set up a revolving preschool playgroup throughout the month.
She transformed her home with Candyland-style number lines and brightly colored, alliterative bins. Yahtzee was a staple for teaching kids to count and multiply, even if they didn’t have the language yet to understand the broader implications. Bone even took a page from her brother and implemented song-based learning whenever possible.
The successes she had with the pseudo-preschool were then implemented and refined in the classroom. She found that children responded best to a responsive but firm educator.
“One thing I learned then,” said Bone. “You will learn just as much from your kids as you teach them.”
While retired from teaching, Bone spends most of her time with family or writing. She also took up painting during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her book is available for purchase through most major retailers.
Her most valuable piece of advice to anyone in the education track?
“Keep learning.”
Original source can be found here
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