Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Dorothy Rouse participates in the annual dragon parade earlier this year at Van Meter School.

Retirement won't keep teacher out of classroom

By Shari Kaplan

"I really love teaching. If I'd won the lottery, I'd still go on teaching!"

Even her retirement, which commences this month, will not keep Van Meter second-grade teacher Dorothy "Dot" Rouse from the job she loves--she plans to return this fall to help out in the classrooms because "it's too hard to quit cold turkey."

Upon receiving her bachelor's degree in education and teaching credential from San Jose State University, Rouse taught in Santa Clara's former Jefferson Union School District before coming to Los Gatos Union School District about 26 years ago.

The Los Gatos resident transferred to Van Meter about 13 years ago, after more than a decade at Lexington as well as some substitute teaching. Although she has taught kindergarten through second grades, she says people still think of her as a kindergarten teacher because she did it for so long.

As an elementary school student, Rouse recalls having some difficulty with spelling. At the same time, though, she liked assisting others.

"I think I wanted to be a teacher a good part of my life. School wasn't as easy for me as it was for some, but I remember helping other kids with things, and I thought that was neat," she says, adding that she originally wanted to teach middle- and high-school age students.

Getting married and having two sons, she says, showed her the uniqueness of younger children and the rewards of working with them.

"Every human being is unique and should be allowed to be who they are. There's so many ways to get to the same place--you just help them choose the best paths," she says of the way she feels students should be taught. Among the most rewarding experiences she's gained from teaching is seeing the ways children develop in school.

"I think being there when kids suddenly learn something is so exciting. I love seeing the growth and independence they gain," she says, citing reading as a prime example of something that thrills children when it finally "clicks."

Among the things that make her classroom stand out, Rouse says, is the emphasis she places on art, drama and writing. Artistic endeavors teach children an important way of expressing themselves, she says, although the written word is equally powerful: "Kids write really amazing things. They see the world through sometimes painfully clear eyes."

The way her students lately see her, Rouse recounts with a grin, appears to be in a grandmotherly way. Just as some students accidentally call a teacher "mom," when her students call her the wrong name, it's usually "grandma." She considers this beneficial because sometimes children do things for their grandparents that they might not do otherwise.

Animals also seem to inspire children to do certain things, adds Rouse, who has had classroom pets including rats, chinchillas, guinea pigs, rabbits, fish, birds and snakes.

"Kids develop compassion for animals before they develop it for people, and it transfers. They learn to be nurturing with animals and then do the same with people," she says.

As a retiree, Rouse plans on devoting more time to her five grandchildren as well as to her hobbies of gardening, painting, writing and traveling with her husband--domestically and abroad.