Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Van Meter teacher Marlene Lamb works with some of her favorite people--students (from left) Maurice Van-Galder, Stacy Bates, Jazel Acosta, Jamie Morales, Mariela Martinez, Brent Drygas and Ben Kern.

'Vital' is the word that best describes Teacher of Year

By Deanna Wulff

When Marlene Lamb, special-education teacher at Louise Van Meter School, arrived for class clad in a blue denim dress and a white carnation corsage, her students wondered why she looked so pretty.

"One student asked if I got dressed myself this morning," Lamb said. "They knew the flower was special, but they didn't know what a corsage was."

So, she made a short lesson out of it.

She took the corsage off and handed it to her students, explaining what it was, what it was used for and how to spell the word. "I like to be spontaneous, and I like the fact that teaching special kids is different. Every day brings surprises," Lamb said.

The corsage came from the 27th annual Teacher Recognition Day awards ceremony, during which Lamb was honored as a Teacher of the Year by the Santa Clara County Office of Education. The Sept. 30 event recognized 27 county educators selected by their district colleagues for outstanding contributions to the classroom.

"If I had one word to describe her, it would be 'vital,' " said Anne Rickel, a teacher's aide at Louise Van Meter School. "She is just full of energy and life."

Lamb smiles often and walks tall. She is known for her devotion to teaching and enthusiasm for children. "I've known her 25 years, and she is a very warm, caring person," said Toni Impey, secretary at Louis Van Meter School. "She is devoted to her family and students."

Despite her glowing reviews, Lamb never intended on teaching. "When I was in college, I was majoring in history, and I did not want to be a teacher," Lamb said. "But I've never worked as an adult in anything but teaching."

She majored in science and history at Washington State University and thought of becoming a bacteriologist.

Following school, she married and focused on raising her three children, Michael, Kaitlin and Daniel. She took care of them for five years, while her husband worked.

But then came the divorce.

"I never intended on teaching, but I needed a job to support my children," she said.

Luckily, she had both experience and education. She had worked a short time with seventh-graders at Jefferson Union Elementary in 1958. This helped her get a job teaching 42 sixth-graders at St. Mary's, a private Catholic school in Los Gatos.

She would teach class and then pick up her children from school. "It was hard to teach at that time," she said. "I qualified for food stamps and would have been on welfare if I didn't have a car."

Despite her work load, Lamb did well as a teacher and was asked to teach the following year at St. Mary's. Instead, she got a job at Ming Quong when it was a school for emotionally disturbed children.

There she met Anne Rickel, a teacher's aide and her classroom partner for life.

For 24 years, the two have been working together, Rickel as the aide and Lamb as the teacher. "We look alike, we've been together so long." Rickel said. "We've never argued, we've never had a disagreement, we mesh. I guess it is because we have a deep respect for one another."

Rickel credits Lamb's ability to work with special children to her sense of humor and positive attitude. "She just makes the best of everything," she said. "We've been through some bizarre situations."

When they worked at Ming Quong, one student climbed up on the roof and started throwing things into the classroom from the skylight window. "We've worked knee deep in the water," she said. "There we were, with high heels, beehives and dresses, teaching in the middle of a flood."

Lamb likes these challenges.

"Every day is different and interesting," Lamb said. "Special children really need your help, and besides, not every child has to be on page 46."