Angela Feocco began teaching at the Montessori School of the Finger Lakes in the fall of 2002. Her resume is impressive: undergraduate degrees at Cazenovia College and Cortland State, a master's degree from Elmira College, in addition to American Montessori Preprimary Certification from the Center for Montessori Teacher Education in New Rochelle. She was a teacher at the Ithaca Montessori School in Ithaca, for nine years before coming to Auburn to teach.

After working with her this past year I have come to know firsthand what her resume cannot convey. Angela lives and breathes children.

All jobs can be pressure cookers. Teaching is no exception.

What you see in the classroom belies the preparation, deadlines and hard work that go into making each day a success.

Angela wanted the best for her students and expected the very best from herself as a result.

I watched her tireless efforts this past school year. She didn't have an easy year. She lost a friend and fellow softball player to domestic violence, her family relocated to Florida and the mother of one of her 5-year-old students died of cancer.

I watched her keep a stiff upper lip on the phone with the mother, promising to take good care of her son.

I watched her on the floor at circle time, barely pushing back the tears, leading the children in a song about flanges and metacarpals.

Angela has a special ability to keep her composure and to shower children with love and affection, even when they weren't putting their best foot forward. I learned from Angela that the real talent of a teacher lies not in her coursework, but in her ability to hang on when her heart feels like it's had enough. Angela taught me, by example, that being a teacher means giving more - when you feel like giving up.

Angela is moving on to teach at a Montessori School in Florida. She leaves behind grateful parents and co-workers who know their lives were blessed by her gifts.

She leaves behind friends who will miss her beauty, sense of style, warmth and humor. She leaves those of us who worked with her, something even longer lasting. In each students eyes we will continue to see a reflection of Angela's teaching. Those students will grow and someday leave, but even after she moves we will continue to see what she taught each of them and how happy they made her.

The Montessori School of the Finger Lakes, the board of directors and staff , its students and their families, wish Angela Feocco all of the happiness in Florida that she brought us in Auburn.

Sue Tanner is the administrative coordinator for the Montessori School in Auburn.