Cari L. Sadler (L) and Joan F. Kaywell (R) after their interview at the Florida Council of Teachers of English (FCTE) conference in Orlando, FL.

Cari L. Sadler, who had just completed her seventh week as a teacher, interviewed Joan F. Kaywell, her professor at the University of South Florida (USF) College of Education. Joan told Cari about her relationship with her mentor, Ted Hipple, and described the Ted Hipple Young Adult Literature Collection, a collection of autographed YA books that she started to honor Ted after his death. Cari pointed out that Joan honors Ted the most by passing onto her students the support and respect that he gave to her. Cari confessed that while Joan intimidated her early on, she is now inspired to maintain academic rigor by Joan’s example and teaching.

Later that day, Jeffrey N. Golub was interviewed by his former student, Michael J. Vokoun. While Jeffrey has retired from his teaching position at the USF College of Education and now lives across the country in Washington, he attends the FCTE conference every year to support his former students.  Jeffrey always pushed his students to attend conferences because of his own positive experiences there as a young teacher. Jeffrey remembered his first years attending teachers’ conferences in the 1970s, when he and other young teachers slept on the floor of their mentor’s hotel room to save money.

Michael confirmed that Jeffrey’s insistence has paid off — he published a book that was based on a talk that Jeffrey encouraged him to give at a National Council of Teachers of English meeting. Michael also told Jeffrey how honored he was when, after his retirement, Jeffrey shared his file cabinet of teaching materials with him. Jeffrey replied that he felt confident sharing the materials because Michael had evolved as a teacher to a point where he could effectively use any materials he encountered there.

Michael J. Vokoun (L) and Jeffrey N. Golub (R) after their interview at the FCTE conference in Orlando, FL.

Michael also remembered what it was like to study at USF under both Jeffrey and Joan. While Joan was known for her very specific grading requirements, Jeffrey says his only requirement was that students “do the work and do it well.” This combination of teaching and grading styles, Michael says, “was a great experience—they played off of each other.”

Remember the days when children were born in hospitals for less than the arm-and-a-leg charged today? Well, technically, Phyllis Hart doesn’t either, but during her visit to StoryCorps, she proudly displayed her proof from 1925.

The StoryCorps Door-to-Door team has had quite a busy February, with the completion of its first month-long Door-to-Door event sponsored by Florida Hospital in Orlando, FL. With eighteen hospitals located throughout the state, 2009 marks Florida Hospitals’ centennial celebration, and as a gift to its employees and local community, StoryCorps was brought in to record a story for every year of the institution’s history.

One-hundred stories in a month? Mission accomplished – and then some! Of the 108 stories shared, Phyllis’ family memories of her 1925 birth in the formerly named Florida Sanitarium are quite remarkable. “I don’t remember it, of course, but I have pictures of the building. It was like a framed house, very small.” Seeing Phyllis’ mother’s hospital bill made it that more memorable:

14 days’ room and board – $75

10 meals – $7.75

Tray service – $0.60

Physician service – $15.00

Medicine and supplies – $05.17

The total cost of Phyllis’ world debut: $103.52.

Now 83 years old, Phyllis misses more than the cheap price tag on childbirth. “Wouldn’t that be nice? When you have a baby you have two weeks just to lay there.” she says.