NEW BLOOMFIELD, Mo. - The countdown has begun, and teacher Kathy Howell's classroom looks like a box of colorful crayons exploded.
A pile of dinosaurs lay on one desk. Stacks of primary colored baskets rest against an outside wall. The front of the teacher's podium is plastered with depictions of Dr. Seuss characters.
Aug. 17 - the first day of school at New Bloomfield Elementary - is fast approaching, and Howell is almost bouncing with excitement.
"I can't wait for them to get here," she said, grinning.
Early days
Howell, 50, grew up on her family's farm near St. Louis, but across the river was the city, events and shopping.
"We had the best of both worlds," she said.
She went to Orchard Farm High School in St. Charles with about 100 students in her class and then on to University of Missouri-Rolla for a year before transferring to the Columbia campus.
She had several majors, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in education. She pretty much always was a teacher.
"When I was growing up, I went to a little parochial school with three grades in each classroom and eight kids in my grade," she said. "I was always helping them."
Howell said her favorite subjects then were math and science.
"Even in high school, I loved science and math," she added.
There was another major passion involved in her decision to teach.
"I like kids. I love little kids," she said. "They're so fun."
In her 25 years as a teacher at New Bloomfield Elementary, that's never changed.
"I think about what I would do if I retired, and I got a second career - and I can't think of anything," Howell added. "Kids are just fun."
Howell and her architect husband, Bill, have one child, Emma, who is 13 years old.
"We live in Columbia," she said. "When I graduated (from college) in December 1989, there were no teaching jobs around. I was a secretary at the university in the bio-chemistry department; then I got offered this job."
The thought of the 27-mile commute was a bit daunting. Howell said she figured she would work at the New Bloomfield district a few years, then apply for teaching jobs in Columbia.
"I never applied," she said. "I love a small town."
Her career is doubling around on itself.
"Now, I'm old enough to have former students' children in my classroom," Howell said. "It is fun."
Why teach?
"The relationship you form with your children, even the kids that are really challenging - the kids that struggle, the kids that are bright - you form that relationship, and they're almost like your kid," she explained. "Just talking with the kids; they're hilarious. They're interested, and they want to know things."
Howell remembered a lesson from one of her own teachers.
"She was my high school geometry teacher. She was a very spunky lady," Howell said. "She had one rule: you couldn't copy off each other."
But one time - just one time - Howell's classmate copied from her notes, and they were caught.
"We both got an 'F' on that assignment, but I respected her more for having taught me that lesson," she added.
Every year, many new graduates venture out on their first teaching position. Howell has some words of advice for them.
"I'd tell them to get to know their kids as individuals and form relationships, form bonds with those kids," she said.