Jacqueline Dierks:  

After graduating from St. Scholastica Academy in Canon City, CO, I attended four years of college at Mt. Marty College in Yankton, South Dakota. Though wishing to become a social worker, I changed my plans midstream and became an elementary teacher. My first job was at St. Michael's School in Canon City, CO where I taught 5,6,7, and 8th grades math and science. In February of that year, my father passed away and life as we had known it as a family changed drastically. Mother moved to Kansas City to be close to her siblings and my father's family, and I took a job in public school in Pueblo, CO. For the next 31 years, I taught for School District 70 in Pueblo. During my career, I had experiences as a teacher in grades 3 thru 9....ending my career there as a 5th grade teacher. I opened a tutoring service in Pueblo West, CO, which I sold prior to my moving to Kansas City. During my years in Pueblo, I married and divorced twice. YUCK!!! Much to my dismay, neither choice was wise, but out of my first marriage I was blessed with a son. When my son was five, I adopted a baby girl and became a single mother of two. My second marriage was to a widower with four sons. Blended families with totally different backgrounds can be o...Expand for more